Showing posts with label hotel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hotel. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Hilton Hears A Who


In the Dr. Seuss classic tome, "Horton Hears a Who!", Horton the elephant hears a tiny speck of dust talking to him. The speck turns out to be a wee planet inhabited by teeny tiny Whos that ask Horton to keep them safe.

When the other animals discover this, Horton is subjected to ridicule, since no one else can see or hear the tiny Whos. Seuss posits, via the story, that "even though you can’t see or hear them at all, a person’s a person, no matter how small." Horton beseeches the Whos to pull together as a society in order to be heard, and eventually, saved.

Which brings us to the Hilton hotel conglomerate, which has been accused of significant corporate espionage by rival Starwood, owner of Westin, W, Sheraton, and other chains. Starwood claims that two Hilton employees stole 100,000 pages of documents when they left Starwood to join Hilton, and used this insider information to start Hilton's luxury brand, labled Denizen.

Apparently Hilton isn't so sure that they're not guilty as hell, since an article in the Wall Street Journal points out:

Since the imbroglio began Hilton has fired, or placed on leave, about 30 members of its luxury-brands group, many of them former Starwood employees, according to people familiar with the situation.

Hmmm. But Hilton also publicly claims that the lawsuit is "without merit." I guess in lawyer-speak that means there hasn't been a guilty plea or verdict, so technically, we're innocent until we're not. Neener neener.

Did Hilton listen to the voice of honesty and decide to do the right thing for the benefit of society? Perhaps, but don't overlook the fact that a federal grand jury is currently pondering whether to charge Hilton and its executives criminally.

Via Columbus Journalism Review



Monday, June 15, 2009

The "W" Hotel Goes Gangsta

Ever the hip and trendy lodging choice for business and pleasure, The W Hotel thrives on service and image. It seems the W is looking to grab hotel market share starting at an usual age and demographic.

How else do you explain this coloring book, available online at W Hotels - The Store? Clifford the Big Red Dog too pansy for your kid? How about some east coast - west coast representin' using some blunt Crayolas to bring some hue to Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, yo?

The W explains thusly:
48 pages of line drawings of "Gangsta" rappers, done with the thick black line we all remember from the coloring books of our youth...

The juxtaposition of the outlaw image of the rappers with the childlike innocence of a coloring book makes for an instant laugh.
Right up until the point where someone pops a cap in your punk ass.

Thanks to Rapmaster Ed for pointing this out to the Gecko. Ed may look all prim and studious, but his roots are old-school fo shure.