Beijing hotel workers already 'fed up' with Obama entourage

[schwartzie]

Low-class scum...  



Beijing hotel workers already 'fed up' with Obama entourage in 3400-square-foot, $8,350-per-night suite inconveniencing 'pretty much everyone' – and the first lady's mother is 'barking at the staff'

Michelle Obama, her daughters and her mother Marian Robinson are staying in a sumptuous presidential suite at a Beijing Westin hotel
Mrs. Robinson has been 'barking at the staff since she arrived,' a hotel staffer said, adding that 'we can't wait for this to be over'
Secret Service agents are monopolizing elevators and booting high-paying guests from their rooms to occupy a block of space near the first lady
Both front and back doors of the hotel are blocked off, with Chinese and U.S. security agents screening everyone who enters
Ordinary Chinese describe Mrs. Obama and her family as kind and gracious, but hotel staff are 'fed up'

By David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor

PUBLISHED: 16:12 EST, 21 March 2014 | UPDATED: 16:19 EST, 21 March 2014



Michelle Obama and three of her family members are staying in a $8,350-per-night Beijing presidential suite, but despite a 24-hour butler and other perks that come with the lodging, her entourage has inconvenienced 'pretty much everyone' and made the hotel staff 'fed up,' a well-placed hotel staffer has told MailOnline.

The sumptuous pad at the Westin Beijing Chaoyang hotel – its website calls the room 'an oasis of comfort – is a 3,400-square-foot masterpiece including a private steam room, 'corner sofas with silk pillows,' and in-room dining for six.

But the Obamas' stay has already affected staff and guests at the hotel, with the Westin front-desk veteran alleging that Mrs. Obama's mother Marian Robinson has been 'barking at the staff since she arrived.

Full story with lots of pictures:  link

[PrisonerOfHope]

Press covering Michelle Obama shoved, screamed at, blocked from events in China
By Paul Bedard | MARCH 24, 2014 AT 10:03 AM

First lady Michelle Obama's Spring Break trip to China with her daughters and mom has received some glowing news reports, but not because her press corps has had an easy time covering the event-filled trip.

Reporters say that they have been blocked from events, screamed at by officials, held back with red tape and told not to move from prepositioned lookouts, possibly to avoid taking embarrassing photos.

On Monday, the New York Times filed a pool report about the first lady’s tour of Xi’an, a city dating to the 14th century. “Event below marred for press by obnoxious Chinese advance man screaming and shoving us behind his ever moving red tape line,” said the report.
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Another from Friday said that officials wouldn’t dish what the first lady and Chinese President Xi Jinping talked about or even ate during their dinner.

On Sunday, reporters were rushed out of the first lady’s meeting with educators, students and parents for one of her big events to discuss education inside the U.S. embassy.

“Although pool photographers were allowed to take pictures of the roundtable, the names and bios of the participants have so far been withheld by the White House, and the pool was only allowed to hear roughly four minutes of opening comments by [U.S. Ambassador Max] Baucus and Obama,” said the pool report from the McClatchy Newspapers reporter. “News officers said they were not releasing names so participants could talk candidly with Obama about education issues.”

Later, the same reporter had to quote “news officials” on what the first family had for lunch before walking on the Great Wall: noodles, dumplings and salads.

And for that photo opportunity on the Great Wall, reporters and photographers were prepositioned to catch the first family walking toward them. “Photographers and reporters covering the visit were sent ahead to Tower 15, and told they could not move from the top of the tower until told to do so. After a while, we could see Ms. Obama, Malia and Sasha walking down the steps, through Tower 14 and down toward Tower 15,” wrote McClatchy’s Beijing bureau chief.

“Had photographers been able to shoot from Tower 14 as the family walked north, the photographs would have captured them walking the wall with a massive rock inscription on the hillside above them to the north, which read in Chinese characters, ‘Loyal to Chairman Mao,’ ” he added.

The report noted that it wasn’t the only potential embarrassment officials avoided. Sales of a popular t-shirt sold at stalls near the wall that show President Obama in a Mao military-style hat were temporarily banned.

“That tip turned out to be true. Several merchants denied carrying such items, but one merchant quietly took this correspondent to the back of her tent and showed off a whole box of the popular, normally seen t-shirts. As we were negotiating prices — she wanted 360 yuan, or roughly $60, an outrageous starting price — other merchants came by, and in Chinese, told her to be careful. The merchant became visibly rattled and put the t-shirts away,” wrote pool reporter Stuart Leavenworth.


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