On Wednesday night, Trump SoHo appeared in some ways to be still living up to the excess of its eponym. Two pocketbook-size Pomeranians pranced across the tawny marble of the lobby, towed by separate guests to check-in. One dog wore a Barbour jacket. At the concierge desk, guests could book a 90-minute-long “Ivanka’s Choice” facial for $370. Vitrines along the wall held bath products encrusted in faux diamonds and a Trump-branded terry cloth bathrobe of a kind that the president himself may or may not wear. A group of Russians milled in the lounge.

But the glitter masked a challenging reality, according to a longtime member of the staff who asked not to be named because employees had signed a nondisclosure agreement. After LeBron James publicly refused to stay at the hotel last year, the corporate clients and 20 or so sports teams that had been regular guests almost entirely disappeared, the staff member said. Porters whose base salaries were once buoyed by up to $60,000 a year in gratuities have earned half as much in tips.

Many employees, some of whom are immigrants from countries targeted by Mr. Trump’s policies, quit, the staff member said.

Yet for some visitors like Saman Gohari, 32, the association with Mr. Trump was the draw. The creation of the hotel was first announced on “The Apprentice,” Mr. Trump’s television show, and though it had been tangled in lawsuits, for Mr. Gohari it still had the burnish of success. “For me, the Trump brand is better than Versace,” he said, after posing for pictures with the golden logo on the doormat outside.

In a room on the 35th floor, things still felt opulent. Guests could be enveloped in Trump bathrobes while shod in Trump slippers, sipping a $75 bottle of Trump wine from the minibar and snacking on a $35 packet of milk chocolate nuggets shaped like gold bullion with the word TRUMP stamped in the candy — all overlooking New Jersey across the Hudson River.