Howdy all and yes, this is NOT a review. Really. Look last week you may have seen my City Rumble featuring Washington DC and San Francisco. Whilst prepping it I checked out hotels in both cities, and the Trump International Hotel was one of the very first that appeared on Trip Advisor. And I looked at the rooms, and the prices, starting at over $500AUD and only on certain websites, generally it was over $800AUD (over $600USD) so it’s fair to say that unless they have some mad specials on, and I am back in DC by coincidence at the same time, I won’t be staying there in my lifetime.

The only hotel that comes close is Singapore’s Marina Sands but that’s still less. I couldn’t help but wonder how such a high price could possibly be justified, and I couldn’t imagine someone thinking it was worth it.

The only thing I can say is that Washington DC appears to be a very expensive city for hotel rooms. So you start off with it being dearer than many other cities. And I guess you pay for the name ‘TRUMP’. Don’t forget Donny gets diplomats to stay at this hotel when possible.

Now Trump owns a lot of property and buildings in the world. From what I can glean from the ol’ interweb there are six which are hotels – DC, New York, Chicago, Honolulu, Las Vegas and Vancouver. But on top of those there are a lot of other Trump buildings, and on top of that Trump for a fee will lend his name to other buildings.

Let’s go back to that price tag before we look at a couple of rooms and also a couple of reviews from Trip Advisor. How much have you ever paid for a hotel room? What’s the most? I would have to say I don’t THINK I’ve ever paid more than $300AUD for a night – that would be around $230-$240USD. And I don’t think I’ve spent that much. $250AUD, maybe a couple of times. Generally though apart from more recent times I prefer to keep it under $50AUD. So would I pay a minimum of over $500? And if I did, why?

Well the only real reason would be the novelty I would say. Regardless of your opinion of the man, and I’m not going there, he’s a BIG guy in so many ways, not just because he was the 45^th President of the United States. But at the end of the day, I would need to get a room for significantly less than $500AUD. To that end I searched the Trump International in Las Vegas and on average it was more like $200AUD a night with a website offering it a room for as low as $119AUD. The rooms were similar to the DC rooms, although looked quite a bit smaller.

So let’s look at a room at Trump International DC.

This first one is called the ‘Capital Suite’ and I can only imagine this would be well over $1000 as it has multiple rooms it seems. In truth it looks like a very lavish room and something that you might find in a Presidential Palace in Central Asia. In fact my mind wandered to the Navruz Palace in Dushanbe for this kind of opulence. (Check out Navruz Palace – Through My Lens) At the same time it’s rather white and garish. It’s almost what someone imagines MIGHT be stylish and classy. But they push it a little too far. The use of gold is a bit much for me but at least there’s a TV which probably only gets Fox News.

This is the Executive King Room. And in fairness it does seem to be a room and bed for a king. The bed seems high with a pretty elaborate headboard. Like, does anyone need this sort of thing? I find big fluffy bouncy beds to not be the best for sleeping to be honest. Again it looks garish and overdone to me. Fancy yes, and well, worth staying for the unique experience and the novelty.

This room is definitely too much. Bed posts and that sort of canopy … not appealing honestly. I feel like when you look at the building exterior the design is trying to capture some sort of historic design. But clearly the aim is to emulate some sort of palace possibly from the 19^th century. The thing at the end of the bed I’m not sure of the purpose because it’s quite high. Do you put things inside?

The hotel is very highly rated on Trip Advisor with a 5.0 rating which is very rare indeed. Here are some of the reviews.

Let’s take a good look at the exterior now, and you have to say, it’s a curious choice. It really is a big of a castle, with turrets and things. And these reviews I find really interesting. It’s such a highly rated place – admittedly outside Trip Advisor it’s more of a 4.5/5 star place, but still. But the reviews are so positive and honestly, are people paying $800 a night or more for a room even the sort of people who use Trip Advisor??? Yes, I wonder if there are a few, if not more, fake reviews.

So anyway, can I afford it? No. Would I take a free night there? Yes I would. Would I spend a fair bit of money for the novelty – yes but probably limited to $250AUD. I mean really, what do you need that hotel can provide but only if you pay over $250?? I can’t actually imagine. Do they carry you up the stairs? Your own personal butler? The keys to the city?

Frankly, using the Trump name is the main thing that Trump has been really successful at. And theirs no doubt that the price tag mostly comes down to his name being on the building. Which was, by the way, also his father’s name. If it wasn’t for you know, laws, international laws, people might put Trump here, there and everywhere on businesses to reap the benefits. Just sayin’.

Thanks for popping by. Is there any circumstance where you might consider staying at a Trump hotel? Please comment below! And May the Journey Never End!