Posted on 04/18/2006 7:12:49 AM PDT by Ooh-Ah
Calling on Hilton to be the kinda corp it claims to be.
Few Americans would argue that American soldiers should not receive the thanks of our nation for their service, and fewer still would argue that, if returning to our country less than whole and in need of help, soldiers should not receive the support of America's corporate giants.
Hilton Hotel Corporation, then, has something to answer for.
Every Friday is Veterans' Day at Fran O'Brien's Stadium Steakhouse in Washington, D.C., where owners, Hal Koster and Marty O'Brien, bring soldiers — primarily amputees — recovering from their wounds at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital to the restaurant and treat them and their families to a full steak dinner. It is often the first place soldiers appear in public after losing limbs and it is a coveted part of their therapy. You can see the progression — new attendees hang out mainly in the private party room; regulars migrate to the bar in the main part of the restaurant, mingling with patrons and buying drinks.
But Fran O'Brien's is located in the Capital Hilton Hotel and the lease ran out in December. The owners had been asking for a new lease since the fall and management had been assuring them it would be renewed. Two weeks ago, they were given until May 1 to vacate.
There are two possible scenarios, and neither says much for Hilton.
Scenario number one says Hilton is worried about a lawsuit. The hotel is in violation of Americans With Disabilities Act. Hilton has not made the basement restaurant ADA compliant — part of the lease negotiation was to have been for the replacement of a non-working escalator in the Hilton lobby with an ADA-compliant elevator. Since there were no negotiations, there is no elevator. The soldiers have been using a steep stairwell or the service elevator. Perhaps Hilton doesn't know that there have, in fact, been several accidents, but the soldiers, being soldiers, are more interested in dinner than lawsuits.
ADA noncompliance is illegal, but more importantly, it is shameful when the chief victims are veterans who have been injured in service to our country. But the compliance issue is the better of the two possibilities.
Scenario number two is that Hilton is uncomfortable with so many wounded soldiers passing through its lobby on the way to the restaurant and worries about the impact it will have on the hotel guests.
Hilton's website proudly boasts of its corporate philanthropy and starts its paean to itself with, "We at Hilton recognize our responsibility to corporate citizenship wherever we do business." How better to be responsible corporate citizens than to continue to house Fran O'Brien's and the wounded soldiers it serves?
Hilton has been inundated by calls and e-mails from Americans who are appalled to see veterans treated shabbily by a corporate giant. The Capital Hilton's website Monday — for a few hours — announced the eviction of Fran O'Brien's as "strictly a business decision" and that the hotel had offered to host a dinner for the troops on May 5. But by evening, the notice was gone and the website had its usual advertisement for the restaurant.
Col. Jonathan Jaffin, at the time commander of the medical corps at Walter Reed, wrote of the dinners:
The benefit to these soldiers and their families is incalculable... While the steak dinner is in itself a treat for those who have been eating in a dining facility... the meal is so much more than a dinner: it is a night out, a chance to get away from the hospital environment for a few hours, an evening to do something as normal as going to a restaurant for dinner. Even more, it is a tangible demonstration of the support, respect, and even love that Americans feel for our troops.
Hilton Hotels should be doing everything it can to ensure that our soldiers have a safe, friendly, ADA-compliant Fran O'Brien's as a "tangible demonstration of the support, respect and even love" that a corporate giant can show to our troops. Anything less is unworthy of a major American corporation.
Shoshana Bryen is director of special projects for the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), a proud supporter of the Fran O'Brien's Friday-night dinners.
Ping
The Hotel Management has an agenda...it would seem.
Right on. Let's bring in the power of the govt and use the ADA to force a private corporation to behave "correctly".
I don't know about this one. What would be Hilton's motivation to disrespect wounded soldiers?
Could be this is just another case of an expired lease, high costs to bring the restaurant area into ADA compliance, and a decision not so spend that money on Hilton's part.
It's possible that stuff is being read into this that isn't there.
I just love how some conservatives embrace big gov't when it suits their particular agenda. Don't you?
Given the money blown (pun intended) by Hilton hieress, Paris Hilton they could afford to make these changes.
The hotel does not make profits from the restaurant, which leases the space. It is strictly the landlord.
It's called "hoisting them on their own petard" and I do enjoy seeing it.
Steakhouse [Forced] To Close, Ending Tradition For Wounded War Vets
Thanks. I'll check it out.
"The hotel does not make profits from the restaurant, which leases the space. It is strictly the landlord."
That's true. Perhaps the cost of the required upgrades would make leasing that space unprofitable at this time. I can imagine that bringing the space into ADA compliance could be very costly.
I'm just not certain that this is some sinister plan on the Hilton Corp's part to disrespect injured troops. I can't see how that would benefit Hilton in any way at all.
Thanks for the link to the earlier thread. I guess I still don't have enough information, even though I read that thread.
I'm hopeful that some other DC area restaurant will step up and offer a similar deal.
I suspect there was a third option not mentioned by this author, a business decision revolving simply around money (as most do). Why would Hilton go month-to-month leasing for 4-5 months and then suddenly just boot the tenant? My guess is that it took that long to conclude negotiations with a "preferred" new tenant. And Hilton can do what it wants with its properties. But to not anticipate and expect this backlash, sheesh! Instead of being proactive, Hilton is being reactive. And they deserve whatever grief they're getting, IMHO.
I'm still boycotting Target for booting the Salvation Army. But at least Target handled it well. They notified the SA in January, after one bell-ringing season but in plenty of time to plan for the next. And they also donated a significant sum to the organization to help make up (in their eyes, anyways) for the lost income.
Hilton has plans in place for a 5 May dinner. Beyond that, who knows? Hal and Marty, co-owners of Fran O'Brien's, want to relocate somewhere within downtown D.C. If they do, I suspect the dinners will soon follow them to the new location. But to put them in this position of jumping through hoops is unprofessional.
This information needs to be sent to Rush, Sean Hannity and Oliver North so that it can be broadcast to the country? It needs to be exposed nationally ASAP. IMO, our wounded soldiers deserve as much care and attention as was heaped on the 9/11 families. Where are the star-studded telethons in support of our troops and their families? If this country can collect millions for tsunami survivors via corporate and private donations, then it can surely support our brave troops.
None of this would be happening at all if it weren't for that greeeaaaaat conservative... George W Bush, Sr.
Thanks George.
Oh, shutup.
Hannity's already aware of this. He mentioned it late last week.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.