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Millenium Hilton Is Again Open for Business
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New rooms, old friends and unrivaled views of the progress taking place at the World Trade Center site await guests upon check-in at the Millenium Hotel on Church Street, where the mayor and governor helped cut a ceremonial ribbon yesterday to mark the grand reopening of a downtown landmark that had been closed since 9/11.
At the lunchtime ceremony, the flags that flew in front of the hotel the day the Twin Towers collapsed were raised "as a symbol of how this city and this state are rising again," said Gov. George Pataki. Pataki joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Hilton executives in addressing a crowd that included city and state officials and more than 300 Millenium staff members who have returned to their jobs after a 20-month absence.
"These individuals collectively exemplify what's best about New Yorkers," said Bloomberg of the returning employees. "Loyalty, resilience and a fighting spirit that's unmatched anywhere in the world."
Of the 350 employees now on staff, 90 percent worked at the hotel before September 11, 2001. "It's like bringing everybody back home," said Jan Larsen, the general manager.
It's a homecoming made possible in great part due to Local 6 of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, which joined with the Millenium to provide continued health and welfare benefits for employees and their families in the months while the hotel was undergoing reconstruction.
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| Many of hotel's rooms overlook World Trade Center site |
During those months, some employees found interim jobs, others turned to charitable organizations for assistance and still others took the opportunity to go back to school.
"I just kept myself busy because the hotel made it clear that I'd have a job to come back to," said doorman Rey Torres, who has worked at the Millenium since it first opened in 1992. Torres, who enrolled in computer networking classes while on leave since 9/11, estimated that three in four of the people he knows at the hotel also went back to school. "Jobs were hard to come by," he said.
Another doorman, Michael Padilla, worked as a disc jockey while waiting for the hotel to reopen. Despite offers from other hotels, he said he never considered not returning to the Millenium. "It's just good to be back, and it's good to see my co-workers back."
Old Employees, but a New Hotel
While employees worked to make ends meet, management worked to restore the hotel. Though the building suffered no real structural damage, most windows, including the glass canopy over the entrance, were shattered, sending debris everywhere.
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| Refurbished rooms have cutting-edge features like plasma TVs |
Because of the debris and concerns about asbestos, the owners of the hotel had all of the furniture, wallpaper and carpeting ripped out and replaced, said general manager Larsen. "The only thing left was the marble in the bathrooms," he said.
A $31 million facelift has given the hotel a more modern look and the benefits of advanced technology. Each room now boasts 42-inch plasma television screens, alarm clocks equipped with CD players, data ports for computer hook-up and two cordless phones. Rooms also offer more standard features like a minibar and personal safe.
The layout of the hotel, however, has not changed. Of the hotel's 565 rooms, 78 percent have a single king-size bed, a fact that leads Larsen to expect the hotel's clientele to remain the same as it was before 9/11, 75 percent business travelers.
Given the chance, Larsen would have added more rooms that could accommodate two double beds. "It gives you more flexibility," he said, and makes the hotel more attractive to families with children. As it stands, there are two rooms with two double beds on each of the hotel's floors, as well as two "junior" suites, featuring a bedroom and a separate living room with a pull-out sofa bed.
Filling the hotel's rooms, no matter the number of beds in each, hasn't yet posed a problem. "Every room I have available is booked," Larsen said a week before the ceremony. The hotel's lowermost floors have been completely renovated, and 150 rooms are ready for guests. Each day, renovation will be completed on three additional floors, and the entire hotel will be finished by the end of June, Larsen added.
Last to be finished will be the hotel's top floor, 55, featuring the Governor's Suite, the Presidential Suite and the Mayoral Suite. Asked what a night in the Governor's Suite, which affords stunning views of the East River from both the bedroom and the whirlpool bath in the master bathroom, will go for, Lars replied with a smile, "I haven't decided yet."
Book now, and maybe you'll get a deal.
For more information on the Millenium Hotel or to make reservations, visit www.hilton.com.
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