Trump Hotel in Rio Opens While Still Under Construction

08/25/2016 - 11h53

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CHICO FELITTI

FOLHA CONTRIBUTOR, FROM RIO

Donald Trump had promised to open his first hotel in South America in time to host guests for the Rio Olympics.

The businessman and Republican Candidate for President of the United States fulfilled the promise he made, in part.

The Trump Hotel Rio de Janeiro, in Barra da Tijuca, was partially opened for the Games, with 70 of its 170 rooms functioning and with a construction site installed inside the undertaking.

Receptionists informed guests as they were arriving that the business was operating under a "soft opening", a kind of pre-opening.

This is common for restaurants: the customer pays a reduced price for dishes, promising in exchange to overlook service errors some trial-and-error still going on in the kitchen.

In the case of Trump's Hotel, the failures to be seen are of the structural type. There is a scaffolding on the balcony of the first floor. The suites with a view of the ocean still aren't ready.

The rooms that are ready all have side views. The pool with a black slate and glass floor hasn't been inaugurated yet.

On Sunday (the 21st) the day of the closing of the Olympics, it was difficult to find a tourist staying in Rio. But a tourist who went to the locale could find a hotel room for R$ 600 (US$ 185), a fifth of the going rate for the cheapest room at the Copacabana Palace, an icon of Rio's hospitality industry.

But even the reduced price wasn't guaranteeing occupancy. During three hours, only one family of guests passed through the imported Turkish marble covering the hotel lobby. In addition to the four guests, there was a brigade of eight hotel employees and the smell of fresh paint.

The establishment's opening came after what was described by hotel employees as a "tumultuous" and "hurried" construction period, which also had labor regulation violations, according to the Union of Civil Construction Workers of Rio de Janeiro.

THE OTHER SIDE

When contacted by a reporter, hotel employees responded that no one was allowed to speak about the business and directed all questions to the headquarters of the Trump conglomerate in the United States.

Folha sent requests to the press relations department of the Trump organization in New York City, but didn't receive any response.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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