In November, my husband and I were invited by a friend to tour the hotel and have lunch. The friend held an executive position there. She gave us a tour of the hotel. We thought the public rooms were quite impressive. We were shown a few guest rooms, one of which was the magnificent suite which had been occupied by the honeymooning George and Amal Clooney. Other Canal-view rooms were lovely but not special, save for the beautiful views of the Canal. As we walked through the hotel, we noticed no other guests. It was surreal. She later confided that only 3 rooms were occupied. At lunch, we were initially seated at the same table shown in your report, and asked to move as the chairs were so uncomfortable. We were shown to a table in the adjacent room. There was only one other table being served and that was a family celebration of approximately 8 people, none of whom were staying at the hotel.
No one was in the bar. We could see the bar from our table and the bartender looked quite lonely. One other observation: I asked our waiter for directions to the ladies room. He kindly escorted me to an unmarked door. I will say it was one of the loveliest bathrooms I have ever seen in a hotel. Each stall was an individual powder room. However, I had a difficult time finding my way back to my table. I asked my friend why the doors to the bathrooms were unmarked, and she said that it was for aesthetic reasons. The lunch was only memorable in that the food was not outstanding and the portions were miniscule.