The Fairmont Grand Del Mar in San Diego, a luxury hotel owned by a group led by Richard Blum, a private equity chief and the husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), received $6.4 million from the program. The hotel has been closed and most of its hundreds of workers are unemployed and unpaid, union officials said. To maintain their health insurance, workers send money back to the company.
A large group of restaurant companies operating under the umbrella of Orlando-based Earl Enterprises — including Planet Hollywood International, Bertucci’s and Buca di Beppo — similarly received loans in amounts ranging from $26 million to $54 million, according to the federal data, but in the places most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the restaurants employ only limited crews. The rest of the staff is unemployed and unpaid, employees said.
And the Omni Hotels & Resorts, owned by Texas billionaire Robert Rowling, were approved for multiple loans from the program — one for each of 15 hotels — totaling $30 million to $71 million. But seven remain closed, and at those, most workers are on unpaid furloughs, union officials said. The company also has declined union requests to continue to pay health insurance for furloughed workers, union officials said.
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