Regardless of threat, Foggy Backside inns choose to stay open for inauguration – The GW Hatchet

At least seven hotels in Foggy Bottom have chosen to stay open this week, despite concerns over a second uprising by pro-Trump insurgents around the day of inauguration.

As the National Guard takes the streets of DC and the campus closes for the inauguration, hotels like Hotels Eaton DC and The Line DC announced plans to close, and Airbnb promised to cancel DC reservations this week Guidance by city officials telling people to stay home. District residents are also trendy #ShutDownDC on social media amid fears of possible violence on inauguration day.

“Due to the special circumstances of the 59th President’s inauguration, including last week’s violence revolt In addition to the ongoing and deadly COVID-19 pandemic, we are taking the extraordinary step of encouraging Americans not to come to Washington DC and instead participate virtually, “DMV officials wrote in a joint statement.

But in Foggy Bottom, Hotel Hive DC, the Statesman, Courtyard by Marriott, Watergate, and a few others are still accepting reservations. Representatives from these hotels have not returned requests for comments.

Outside of Foggy Bottom, there are also several hotels from larger companies such as Marriott, Hilton, Holiday Inn, and Hyatt stay open in this week.

Jessica Comley, the executive director of the Residence Inn by Marriott in Foggy Bottom, which is open for business this week, said the hotel has taken steps to ensure that guests who have reserved for this week are not arriving for politically charged reasons but she did not explain how the hotel verified guests’ travel intentions. She added that COVID-19 procedures such as wearing masks would be enforced.

Off-Foggy Bottom officials from Eaton DC and The Line DC announced plans to close this week after pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol earlier this month. Sheldon Scott, the global manager of the Eaton DC Hotel, said the risk of violence and the spread of COVID-19 had made operations potentially unsafe for guests and workers.

“Given the threat of violence and the mayor’s travel ban, as well as the militarized approach to securing the inner city, we just don’t think it’s safe [to remain open]mainly for our employees, ”said Scott.

Eaton DC, which also closed during the Capitol riot, closed on Friday and will reopen next Friday. Scott said he was confident the feedback the hotel will receive at the close of this week will be positive. However, if there is negative feedback, the hotel is “open to the discourse”.

“I’m sure there is a general public backlash among people who are not necessarily connected to our communities in this way,” said Scott. “But you can’t be a place that focuses on creating a platform for historically marginalized voices and telling stories and giving them the opportunity to be further suppressed by another group.”

Line DC, which was open at the Capitol during the first uprising, published a Explanation Thursday announces its plans to close Saturday through Wednesday.

Unlike Eaton DC, however, The Line DC allows a small group of existing reservations to be made to people “known” to the hotel, including “members of a nonprofit that the hotel has partnered with for many years, a small private event for DC locals who were planned beforehand … and a handful of other LINE DC corporate customers ”, so the statement.

The hotel wrote in the statement that guests were “thoroughly screened” to ensure they were not associated with the Capitol riot or hate groups. However, the statement did not specify how they were verified.

One big company stepping on the scene is Airbnb and its subsidiary HotelTonight.

The company released a Explanation Wednesday all reservations in the greater DC area will be canceled until the week of the inauguration. Airbnb will refund guests who made this type of reservation and refund Airbnb hosts for the money they said they would have earned.

The statement cited warnings from “various local, state and federal officials” urging Americans to stay away from the Capitol as the main reason for reservations being canceled. “Reports” of the presence of armed militias and known hate groups expected to instigate violence in DC tomorrow were also recognized.

Airbnb added that it “identifiedAny active reports of anyone linked to violence at the Capitol two weeks ago, or active members of hate groups through the media and law enforcement agencies, who have banned those individuals from using Airbnb or its affiliates.

“We are continuing our work to ensure that hate group members are not part of the Airbnb community,” Airbnb said in its statement.

This article appeared in the Friday Packet for January 19, 2021 of the hatchet.