Visitors dislodged by strike told to ‘try the hotel down the road’
Dan Tie Ten Quee and his family spent most of the day driving from their home in Belleville to Windsor on Friday where they had a hotel room booked at Caesars Windsor. “When we got to the hotel we saw the picket lines,” Tie Ten Quee said Saturday on his drive back to Belleville. “And it was at that point we learned the hotel was closed.” Tie Ten Quee was travelling with his parents, his sister and his 13-year-old daughter Julia, who was scheduled to compete in the Ontario Artistic Gymnastics championships Saturday at the Libro Centre in Amherstburg. Caesars Windsor temporarily closed the hotel and casino in the wake of strike action by 2,300 employees at 12:01 a.m. Friday. Those already in hotel rooms Thursday night were allowed to stay but had to check out by 11 a.m. Friday.
Hotel reservations for Friday through April 12 were cancelled. Pickets politely suggested Tie Ten Quee “try the hotel down the road.”
“Absolutely everybody was booked,” he said of a hasty telephone search for other accommodations. “If it was just myself and my son we would have been happy to sleep in the van.”
His wife back in Belleville found two rooms at the Quality Inn in Leamington.
Tie Ten Quee said Caesars Windsor had sent an email at midnight about the hotel situation but he hadn’t checked his mail before getting behind the wheel. Dharmesh Patel, the general manager of the Quality Inn, said the casino hotel “screwed all those customers” by not forewarning them of a possible work disruption.
“Do they really think those customers will come back to them?” Patel asked.
Many area hotels were full on theweekendwhatwithanOntario Basketball Association tournament being held in Windsor and the provincial gymnastics competition pulling in 1,300 athletes, 200 coaches and 60 judges. A spokesperson for Rose City Gymnastics said organizers had to scramble to help several families find alternate lodging Friday.
“We did hear about a few of them in a panic,” Rose City ’s Gillian Giroux said. “A couple of families had to just go home. A couple found places in Leamington and one family stayed in Chatham. “Giroux didn’t know how many people here for the gymnastics meet had planned to stay at Caesars.
One unhappy patron posted his frustrations on the Caesars Windsor Facebook page stating, “I’ll never step foot in your casino, for any meal or show again. Thanks for basically no notice, it really shows you don’t care about customers.” The post was by Ken Calvert, who said he planned dinner and an overnight stay with his wife to celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary.
His wife, Colby, said they arranged and booked the special outing months ago.
Both of them took Friday off work, planning to drive in from their Chatham home and spend the day in Windsor.
“I lost a day’s pay. My husband lost a day’s pay,” Colby said. The Calverts were part of a group of 12 with dinner reservations at a Caesars’ restaurant. The midnight email scuttling their plans “makes you feel like they don’t care about their customers,” Colby said. “If there’s a potential for disruption you notify people well in advance.” A number of high-profile players in the National Football League and the Canadian Football League in town for a camp run by Windsor native Tyrone Crawford were also displaced.
Camp organizer Daryl Townsend had rooms booked at Caesars and a fundraising event scheduled Friday night at the casino’s Ariius Nightclub. Townsend managed to find some rooms at a Holiday Inn although players had to double up. “Some guys are bunking up but we’re all family and we made it work,” Townsend said Saturday. “They understand some things are out of our control. It was stressful but the guys understood so they relieved the stress.”
The fashion show and silent auction were for the benefit of the Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities. “We still had it,” said Townsend who managed to move the event at the 11th hour to Fourteen Restaurant&Skyloungeatthetopofthe CIBC building downtown. “They welcomed us,” Townsend said. “We definitely weren’t going to cancel.”
He said the event drew 150 people.
As for the ongoing labour dispute, Unifor Local 444 president James Stewart said no end was in sight Sunday.
“No new developments,” Stewart said. “No signal at all from Caesars that they have any intention as of yet to return to the bargaining table.”
Stewart said the union “has been putting together all the issues raised by our members at the ratification meetings in order to address them as soon as we can get the company back to the table.” Windsor Police responded to a call to the picket line Friday around 8 p.m. Local 444 vice-president Doug Boughner said there was a problem with one of the propane heaters and someone inside the building called after seeing sparks.
I’ll never step foot in your casino, for any meal or show again. Thanks for basically no notice, it really shows you don’t care about customers.