Bye bye GU Hotel and Conference Center

[SSHoya]

The Georgetown Hotel and Conference Center is set to lay off all its employees without termination or severance pay by June 30. Multiple hotel employees, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of consequences, spoke with the Voice about the instability and uncertainty the decision creates.

georgetownvoice.com/2022/05/01/georgetown-hotel-to-lay-off-employees-without-severance-pay-become-transition-housing/

[Bigs"R"Us]

Employees must have been aware of this outcome for years, no?

[SSHoya]

May 3, 2022 11:36:58 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

Employees must have been aware of this outcome for years, no?

Probably not years. I wonder if nonprofit educational organizations are exempt. My WAG is yes. But if WARN applies it seems it met the 60 day notice.

EDIT: The workers aren't GU employees so WARN applies to Aramark.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) protects workers, their families, and communities by requiring employers with 100 or more employees (generally not counting those who have worked less than six months in the last 12 months and those who work an average of less than 20 hours a week) to provide at least 60 calendar days advance written notice of a plant closing and mass layoff affecting 50 or more employees at a single site of employment. WARN makes certain exceptions to the requirements when layoffs occur due to unforeseeable business circumstances, faltering companies, and natural disasters.

www.dol.gov/general/topic/termination/plantclosings

[Nevada Hoya]

Oh, sorry to hear this. I stayed at the hotel on at least two occasions. Enjoyed my stay both times.

[DFW HOYA]

May 9, 2022 12:53:33 GMT -5 Nevada Hoya said:

Oh, sorry to hear this. I stayed at the hotel on at least two occasions. Enjoyed my stay both times.

I'm not surprised, given that Georgetown needs the rooms more than the conference center revenue.

When the Leavey Center opened in 1988, the idea of a Marriott conference center/hotel on a campus was an innovative move. As time went on, the Washington conference market became very competitive and I'm not sure how many conventions booked that property on a consistent basis. When Aramark took over for Marriott in 2008, the loss of booking through Marriott's worldwide reservation system took its toll as well.

The Aramark contract ends in 2027 and at that point GU will be looking for new ideas. The Subway closed in the food court and is down to two fast food restaurants, the two hallway restaurants (the "Faculty Club" that faculty never ate at and the nominative student pub that students couldn't drink at) need a new approach, and the loss of the hotel is a sign to Aramark to pull back on investment. Unless GU wants to run it themselves, the two major players in institutional food service are Aramark and Sodexho (the successor to Marriott Food Services), so it's like trading in an AT&T telecom contract for Verizon

By that time, the Leavey Center will be 40 years old and a overall review of the property is in order. In the intervening years, the hub of student activity has relocated to O'Donovan and the HFSC, the hospital has never driven quite the business it was intended to (and may or may not do so depending on what the new Medstar addition affects foot traffic), and its major tenant will come from a dorm.