Note: This is personal commentary about the history of Radisson. If you're only interested in what's happening today and how it affects your travel, feel free to skip over this post.
Originally Posted by
jsn55
Curt Carlson would be aghast at this latest dumb move by Radisson. Growing up in Minnesota, Radisson Downtown Minneapolis was a really big deal, and some of their European properties are spectacular ... so the brand's had my loyalty in spite of themselves. Today I got the email about the separation of international and domestic ... only because I "read everything" did I have a look at it right away. OK, I said, another wrinkle in the corporate foolishness ... remember Residor and all the name changes??
I spent nearly a decade working at that "flagship" property in Downtown Minneapolis. Everyone from the General Manager down to the hourly workers took pride in the fact that we were the first Radisson and (arguably) one of the best in the chain.
Although the original hotel was razed and a new mixed-use tower was built in it's place, the history of the hotel was always a part of new employee orientation. The following information (compiled by Carlson Companies' Public Relations Department) was a part of the training. While I was there the Executive Housekeeper had parts of that history translated into the Hmong language because a large portion of the Housekeeping staff were Hmong.
https://www.hotel-online.com/News/Sp...l_Jan1998.html
While I didn't have more than short superficial interactions with Curt Carlson, I had several friends at the hotel who worked directly with "the Family." It wasn't unusual for a chef, our catering manager, and a group of hotel employees to be requested to run an event at the Corporate Office or the family home. Everyone who ever did those events always said positive things about Mr. and Mrs. Carlson. (Like many businesses, that hotel was full of gossip mongers. If the Carlsons weren't nice, we would have heard about it.)
Based on my experience, I concur with your statement about Curt Carlson's opinion on this move. Pardon my dark humor, but I'm guessing he turned over in his grave. The good news, however, is that he's probably resting more comfortably today (assuming turns aren't 360 degrees) because he undoubtedly turned over the first time when his granddaughter sold the hotels to the Chinese conglomerate in the first place.