An open letter to the Capitol Hilton, Washington, D.C.

To: daniel_a_boyle@hilton.com
CC: bill_fortier@hilton.com; steve_bollenbach@hilton.com; jim.mcd@cox.net; VET66A@aol.com; HoffmanL@shns.com; Greyhawk@mudvillegazette.com

Mr. Boyle,

While fully aware that I do not know all sides of the Fran O'Brien's story, I must say that my admiration for, and gratitude to, Hal Koster runs very deep indeed. I have spent much time outside the borders of our country; I know how great are the blessings of liberty; I know that only the men and women of our armed forces make it possible for my children to enjoy those blessings; and I know from having grown up in a military town with a wide circle of military acquaintances how real are the sacrifices those men and women make on our behalf and how cheerfully they make them. The contrast between Fran O'Brien's behavior and your own cannot help but reflect badly upon your own establishment and on the Hilton chain in general, even if your decision is defensible on business grounds: not every decision a man of character makes, is made on the basis of the bottom line alone, as Mr. Koster himself demonstrates every week.

As a consultant who has been platinum on multiple airlines simultaneously and who used to log over 250,000 air miles per year, I have stayed in my share of Hilton hotels in the past, but I must say that I expect that it will be a long time before the first phrase that pops into my head when I hear the word "Hilton" is anything other than, "Fran O'Brien's." Certainly the next time I pass through Heathrow I will not, as I did on my last pass through en route to Kazakhstan, choose your sister establishment as my place to dine and sleep.

Yours in regretful sincerity,

Ken Pierce

For background, see Greyhawk and Castle Aarrgghhh!

Hilton has not exactly done well on this blog, as my only other entry involving Hilton is entitled, "Hilton Makes an Enemy" (the enemy, in this particular case, not being myself, but still I wasn't what you would call impressed). And besides -- can't they do something about Paris?

UPDATE: Jim McDaniel e-mailed me back to thank me for sending the letter. My reply to him was based on many a time when I've picked up the dinner tab or drinks for men and women in uniform who happened to be in the same restaurant or Starbucks I had wandered into on a business trip:

My pleasure, Jim, and thank you for all you have done for this country. Having heard it every time I thank a man or woman in uniform, I know in advance your answer -- "It's an honor to serve, sir;" and therefore I reply: "And it is a privilege to thank you."

I might add that I had to develop the technique of calling the waiter over discreetly and telling him to give me the tab of the soldiers at the next table without telling them who in the restaurant was paying for their meal -- because otherwise they had a bad habit of refusing to let me pick up the tab. "It's an honor to serve, sir" -- said in tones combining respect and firmness in a manner peculiar to these honorable men and women.