With state troops in D.C. staying at the Marriott Marquis, Arne Sorenson will have a tough time making claims to wokeness. Here are 5 facts about hotel stays for the National Guard troops in D.C.
- National Guard troops from South Carolina, Utah, New Jersey, and Maryland descended on D.C. to control protests. They need to spend the night somewhere.
- There were false rumors that Guard troops were being put up in the Trump hotel in D.C.
- Instead their primary lodging location is the Marriott Marquis.
- The government is paying the maximum allowable rate of $256 per night. Even with hotels nationwide at 36% occupancy, the government isn’t taking advantage of low rates as it fills up this Marriott. In fact this is more expensive than almost any other night I can find at the property where a room is for sale.
- D.C.’s Mayor wants Guard troops out of the city. There were claims she would “invoke the third amendment” to kick them out. That was silly. The amendment reads,
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
The federal goverment wasn’t putting troops up in a home against the owner’s wishes. The hotel took reservations and is profiting handsomely.
Though Marriott CEO Sorenson says one of the ways they deliver value to guests is through resort fees it appears they don’t consider protests an add-on leisure activity because the property isn’t currently adding destination charges to bookings:
Disgusting.
Yep, that’s right. We’re paying our taxes, top rates, to be tear-gassed and shot at.
So much of this post is wrong….. For Government employees, to include military personnel are required to book Government rates when staying at the hotel. Those Government rates are preset and are a variable based on the city/state of the hotel as well as the month. As you can see in GSA’s per diem rate for Washington DC ( https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates/per-diem-rates-lookup/?action=perdiems_report&state=DC&fiscal_year=2020&zip=&city= ), the $256 rate is the negotiated per diem rate for Washington DC for the month of June.
Other rates such as Member Rates, AARP, AAA, etc are typically prohibited from being used. In my experience, in a “normal” time, the Government rates are cheaper than any of the other prevailing rates.
Thanks for letting me know what hotel to avoid. I have a business meeting coming up in the next couple of weeks in DC, and I’ll be sure to avoid the Marriott.
@Paulz – there’s nothing I’ve written that’s wrong, you haven’t said anything that contradicts my post, I link to the GSA website with the rate and the news article confirmed this was the rate paid.
How wonderful for the Guard! It wasn’t so long ago how they were so poorly treated. Anybody against were the Guard is put up apparently has no idea how these troops were taken out of their job and away from their family.
For all the phony woke folks, are you too young to remember how the scarred public cheered on the Guard when it arrived in Manhattan after 9-11? The Guard represents the epitome of the citizen-soldier.
Hate to disappoint all the anti-Trumpeters, but the Guard is in our cities to preserve order; not kowtow to the anarchists hell bent on destruction, looting, and injuring people.
The Utah National Guard just got evicted from the Marriott because the Mayor of DC won’t pay for the hotel bill to have them around to help protect her city from looting and riots. Pretty low class move I think.
I don’t have any problem with them staying at the Marriott, but the government (and likely other large orgs) should be more nimble to book a lower rate when its available. In other words, they are paying a higher government rate for bureaucratic reasons only. If its one room maybe not a big deal, but since there are many of them, the government should have been more creative on the rate. But the same thing could happen in a large corporation, they are just stuck in the mindset of following policies and simply will not work outside the box. This can happen with managed business travel.
@daninmci – that doesn’t make much sense. I’m not a DC resident but if I was I wouldn’t want to be asked to pay for quartering troops in my city without the consent of my elected representative. Bowser should decide what’s needed for DC’s security and balance that against budget priorities. If the citizens don’t like her choices they can vote her out of office.
Your statement indicates you don’t believe the people of DC should have a say how their local tax dollars are spent. That’s not normally how our federal democracy works.
@DaninMCI “because the Mayor of DC won’t pay for the hotel bill to have them around to help protect her city from looting and riots…”
In case you’ve missed… everything?… that’s happened in the last week, law enforcement is the literal cause of the riots and the primary escalator of violence. They’re the ones people need protection FROM, so kicking them all out seems like the least any semi-competent mayor would do to “protect her city.”
I live in DC.
1. We didn’t ask for out-of-state National Guard units to come to our city.
2. We want them to leave immediately.
3. We don’t want to pay their hotel bills while they are here.
4. The violence at the protests on Monday afternoon was initiated by Federal forces (US Park Police, etc), not by the protestors, all of whom were peaceful.
@ check out complete disclosure of all Marriott nuisance fees
*Protest fee
*Corona virus cleaning fee
*Resort fee
*Local looting & riot clean up fee
*Social distancing fee (due to lower occupancy)
* Water surcharge fee for putting out fires
* Curfew fee donation (optional)
@daninmci – Charging people for troops they neither want nor ever asked for has been a no-no since the redcoats in pre-USA days. Are you that against the basis of fundamental rights that you want people in D.C. to actually want to PAY for soldiers to attack them for protesting?
What is silly is an article about what hotel soldiers are staying at a time when the administration had ordered the national guard to use force on peaceful protesters (and then lied about it) and when the local government elected by the people of that jurisdiction has made clear they don’t want them there.
@Christian – Those troops are there so that your “protesters” don’t burn down half the city. The people of DC also have a right to not have their homes and business ransacked and burned by an angry mob of thugs. If your pathetic city government can’t protect it’s own city from these rioters, the Guard will do it for them.
Referencing the 3rd amendment implies that the government “owns” all hotels (and businesses in general) within its jurisdiction. This should scare most Americans.
@Joe – might want to go back and review the news footage this week. Those protesters in DC were peacefully demonstrating, until the Fascist-in-Chief tear gassed them for a photo op.
Methinks if this were a Hyatt, the Federal Government might have actually tried to negotiate
UA-NYC – Would those be the peaceful demonstrators that hurled molotov cocktails at the secret service, injuring 50 of them? Or the gentle protesters that tried to burn down St, John’s church? Were the protests so peaceful that the far left mayor of DC asked for the Guard to be brought in? I suppose all the other fires set, monuments defaced, and cars overturned were all totally peaceful too.
Glad the mayor bonvoyed the unneeded Guard
no looting since the raw being – and most violence and destruction then cause by right wing tRump supporting fascists
STPO FEDERAL OCCUPATION OF MY CITY!
@Joe – don’t let the actions of a few tarnish a broader movement. There are bad actors, and they have been broadly condemned. Just like the few White Nationalists posing as Antifa don’t tarnish ALL White Nationalists…right? LOL.
BTW – Fox News is the only “source” (note: not saying reputable) who is quoted about the 50 SS agents supposedly injured – care to source that from a legitimate news source?
@UA-NYC – Why don’t you get a source about those dreaded “white nationalists” posing as antifa?
Also that lie is never going to stick. Thousands of businesses across the country were trashed over the last week. Not hundreds, THOUSANDS. These were no rogue acts by a few bad actors, it was widespread, and all allowed to happen by Democrat mayors and governors. It will come back to bite your side.
More importantly for me: did the rate include breakfast (continental, to go or full buffet), WiFi Internet, laundry/pressing, free valetor parking? I’m guessing they didn’t get lounge access!
@Joe – here’s a source for you: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/twitter-takes-down-washington-protest-disinformation-bot-behavior-n1221456
Can also source from a dozen other sources (even Fox News!!!) Can you? I doubt it.
Check your swing state polling BTW – not going well for your Agent Orange. Even Texas (Texas!) is a statistical tossup right now. YIKES this isn’t going to go well for the Reds.
@Joe – while my post w/link gets posted, use your fingers to Google “white nationalists posing as Antifa”, and the first links come up from NBC, ABC, CNET, Business Insider, CNN, FactCheck.org, and Reuters.
Then go Google “molotov cocktail DC 50 secret service” or the like, and not a single reputable news source has any sort of post about it (and every single source link links back to a single Fox News “source”).
Methinks if this was actually a real thing, it might actually be widely reported. Because, you know, #FactsMatter
@UA-NYC – Oh I wouldn’t worry too much about the polls. After all, they accurately predicted a Hillary blowout didn’t they? Maybe this time will be different. Maybe XD.
Also I find it cute that you dismiss Fox while championing NBC, CBS, and all the others. They all just run the same story. You know that right? Also it seems a bit unlikely that white nationalists would be able to rush into black neighborhoods across the country and trash them unimpeded, but maybe I’m missing something.
By the way, that Jobs report from this morning was very encouraging. It looks like the recovery is already starting. It will look pretty good for Trump of the economy recovers rapidly, won’t it? I bet you’re a bit nervous about that.But hey, you’ve go your polls, and they have a stellar record of predicting elections. I mean, Trump couldn’t possibly outperform them again, could he?
@Joe
1. The jobs report is going to be short lived and only over the next three months. When you have lost this many jobs a small gain is good, but hardly anywhere near what has been lost in total. The plateau of gains will hit in August, all achieved from the lowest point in generations. And we will be years from ever seeing what we gained under Obama. The bleeding has stopped. But the cancer is still very much there.
2. Please keep touting the Clinton campaign and the loss in 2016. I think it’s great. Underestimating is exactly what she did and I am loving that you are now in that seat to do the same. You are right, we are in terrible trouble and you should just sit back and rub your hands with glee. I am sure, according to your President today in a tweet, that George Floyd is looking down with happiness at the great work being done and that everyone will follow.
@Joe – show me one legit news source. Don’t you think FIFTY Secret Service agents being injured would be KIND OF a big story? Yet it’s nowhere. Let me guess – you think it’s a MSM cover-up? LOL.
Trump in 2016 conned everyone as an “outsider”, going against a polarizing candidate…3.5 years later, universally acknowledged (outside of white nationalists, real estate developers, and Evangelicals for god knows what reason) as the Worst President Ever, the highest unpopularity ratings ever at this point in a first term…he’s done. Many thought it couldn’t get lower than Charlottesville…but somehow he “succeeded” this week, tear gassing peaceful protesters. Truly a disgrace.
Can’t wait for all of y’all to leave this blog come November 4th and head back underground…can’t come soon enough. Don’t know why I keep arguing with these MAGA trolls but it’s enjoyable. BLM!
@Joe – The redcoats were only there for everyone’s protection too. What a coincidence… If the D.C. residents had a problem with things, they could just contact their Senators. Oh wait, they don’t have any Senators, only a mayor who objected vociferously. I presume that you believe that they should have Senators so they don’t have taxation without representation, since every native born American deserves that, right?
Paulz is correct the maximum per diem rate is $256; however, nothing prohibits a Government employee from booking a room over or under the per Federal per diem rate. If the rate is under, the employee is reimbursed actual cost. If it is over, the employee pays the extra cost unless there is a pre-authorized exception. There is likely a travel agency involved doing a group booking. My take from what is stated in Gary’s post is this compliant with the Joint Travel Regulations but no one involved is making sure the Government is getting a good deal given the current hotel occupancy rates.
@UA-NYC Link to CNN blurb discussing more than 60 secret service officers and agents injured in the protests (with 11 going to the hospital):
https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protests-05-31-20/h_cb459ab077b164295d8d61d80987e3fb
@Christian – it was the mayor who called the guard in the first place.
Uh, do people realize that the Federal Govt pays for troops under Title 32 orders? Bowser said she would recommend they be kicked out; she has no power to compel the NG to do something since she is not a Governor.
@Erik – Mayors have zero control over the National Guard. Please, please show me proof to the contrary. D.C. residents get a big middle finger because they get no Governor and zero Senators either. Ain’t representative government grand when some people have representation but not others? What was that phrase from the American Revolution? Help me out here, it went something like “No Taxation Without…”. What was that last word again?
The point of the National Guard is to protect citizens from looting, property destruction, and violence. That’s what a lot of these protests devolved into. Anyone who is against the national guard protecting citizens from having their businesses or homes burned down need to look in the mirror and do some soul searching.
The BLM movement has nothing to do with police abuse. It is about pushing anti white racism and anti white discrimination on the public. According to FBI crime statistics, violent crimes involving whites and blacks is 85.5% black on white, despite blacks being 14% of the population and whites being 63% of the population. Police abuse is a serious concern because it affects all citizens. 445 white people were killed by police in 2016.215 black people were shot by police in 2016. Blacks are killed at a higher rate than whites, but they commit a disproportionate amount of violent crime. Whites do need to wake up to the reality that police abuse affects millions of people each year, however, it is not a racial thing. All cops abuse all people.
Love the massive Black Lives Matter street art leading right up to the WH. Beautiful!
@Ralph Silk – missing the part of the article that talks about the “50 Secret Service hit by Molotov cocktails” as claimed upthread.
Surprised there’s not more outrage from the Right on here about Barr’s secret army of unmarked Federal agents patrolling DC right now…isn’t that “creeping Federalism”?
Joe: the average of the 2016 polls had Clinton winning the popular vote by 3.3%. (Blowout? I guess it depends on your definition.) She ended up winning the popular vote by 2.1%. Not a huge miss.
So let’s look at the electoral college. 538’s poll analysis had her at a 71.4% chance of winning. So she was a favorite, but certainly wasn’t a lock. Not sure about you, but I wouldn’t get on an airplane if you told me it only had a 71.4% chance of safely making it to its destination.
Last point: Biden is doing better in the polls vs Trump than Clinton ever did at this point in the election cycle.
Well, goodbye View From The Wing. It was fun until you turned your pretty good travel/points/cc blog into a leftist screed.
I did not subscribe to a political blog. I can get that anywhere. There are several other travel/points/cc blogs that don’t feel the need to ram down their political views on their readers.
This post, which was my breaking point, actually was one of the least offensive political rants you’ve posted (but these comments flew off the rails quickly). You’ve been so blatant in others I was just right at the edge of leaving – and now I’m out.
I’m sure I won’t be missed. You didn’t respect me (or others when they complained about espousing your liberal views) when I was here, so I’m sure you won’t care that I left.
After all, in the blog world who cares about readership and clicks. It’s all about politics.
I’m sure you’ve figured out there is a fortune to be made in the niche market of angry liberals that want to read about travel/points/cc, because I know you’re slowly losing the middle and the right.
I’m actually disappointed I’m leaving, but I really don’t give a damn about your political views as much as you don’t care about mine.
Hey – does anybody know of a good travel/points/cc blog that doesn’t feel the need to be MSNBC? I’m looking for one.
@JFB – I’m sorry to hear that the post I wrote that offended you least caused you to leave, for what it’s worth I’m neither a leftist nor a modern liberal and certainly not angry. Is there anything in this post that you believe is factually incorrect? Best, Gary
Hey @JMB,
Good luck finding a blog that is completely silent on the most important issues of our day. The truth is that much of what goes on in the world of travel is related to these issues, so not to address them would be a form of censorship. If you think Gary’s post was too liberal for your tastes, you should go over to One Mile At A Time (OMAAT) and read the comments about an article that Ben linked at the top of his homepage. Lots of comments there too. My overall impression is that most of us readers appreciate these posts, but the ones who don’t are more vocal. By the way, Gary is certainly not a leftist. I personally find him to be too conservative.
@Joe As a former regular Army and Guard member, I find it funny these units from other parts of the country are staying at a first class hotel at tax payer expense. There are a couple of other Army posts around D.C. they could have stayed at. Obviously someone higher up had something to do with that. Chump, Barr or the Joint Chief?
The Guard had no business being there. Again transport of the Guard at taxpayer expense. There are plenty of police agencies in D.C. who could have handled this.
A salute to War General “Ole Bone Spurs chump” for using taxpayer dollars for an unnecessary waste of Guard resources.
As a man chump is a piece of sh#t.
Good grief. All this stuff about Gary the leftie. Has anyone read his CV from his day job?
I just wouldn’t feel comfortable donating money to a group to free looters and rioters incarcerated for breaking various laws.
Order has to be kept one way or the other, and we do have bad apples on both sides. But we don’t need agitators being freed by your friendly liberals pouring money for these people.
@Musketeer: What on earth are you talking about? Who is asking for donations to free looters and rioters? The looters and rioters were not associated with the peaceful protestors. Of course, under the US Constitution, even looters and rioters are entitled to legal representation when they are accused of a crime, and they’re going to get that legal representation whether people donate money or not.
Wow Joe’s comments didn’t age well. Poor Joe 🙁
Oh well