EXCLUSIVE: Meghan Markle’s NYC baby shower hotel The Mark is slammed over RATS ‘spotted in its caviar restaurant’
The luxury NYC hotel that hosted Meghan Markle’s infamous baby shower has come under heavy fire after alleged rat sightings at its caviar restaurant.
A mother and daughter eating at The Mark on Manhattan’s Upper East Side last week told DailyMail.com that they saw two huge rodents shuffling under a table just a few feet away from them.
The shocked couple were eating a $500 lunch at the Caviar Kaspia restaurant at the time. It specializes in fancy fish roe dishes and charges up to $1,100 for a baked potato topped with caviar.
‘It was just awful. We had a mother daughter lunch. We ate potato with caviar and a glass of champagne each,” one of the women, who wished to remain anonymous, told DailyMail.com.
‘We enjoyed it and had a good time. We then had a sorbet as a palate cleanser, then we planned to go shopping. Then my daughter gasped and screamed that there were two rats under a table five feet away from us.”
“We were in the front and I jumped up. There were two other women at another table, equally shocked.’
Two New York socialites have claimed they saw rats at New York’s luxurious Upper East Side Hotel, The Mark, where Meghan Markle held her $500,000 baby shower
This DailyMail.com exclusive photo shows what appears to be rat droppings scattered on the floor of The Mark’s Caviar Kaspia restaurant
The photos, taken on Wednesday, came as staff at the establishment admitted to DailyMail.com that The Mark had recently battled a rodent problem
A publicity photo for Caviar Kaspia as it appears on the restaurant’s Instagram page, promising diners an “unforgettable evening”
A selection of dishes appearing on the Caviar Kaspia menu, including a baked potato topped with caviar, which costs $1,100
“A waiter came up to me when I was grabbing my phone to take a picture, but before I could do it he stood in front of me and explained, ‘Oh, I know, it’s a problem in New York, we are very sorry. ”
The shocked restaurant claims that the hotel would only take the dessert off their huge bill as an apology for the stomach-churning sighting.
And earlier this week, while visiting the hotel, DailyMail.com witnessed what appeared to be multiple feces scattered across Caviar Kaspia’s deep-pile orange carpet.
In a subsequent conversation with staff, an employee was heard admitting that the five-star luxury hotel — whose cheapest room costs $1,000 a night — suffered from a rat problem.
The worker said, ‘We had a problem, we were told it was solved.’
They claimed a pest control company was brought in to deal with the rodent drama, saying the rodents came from a nearby construction site.
“We hired a company they came by and they told us they solved the whole problem. They said they were here (Caviar Kaspia) when we were closed for the night. I saw the receipt they came in and we haven’t had any issues since. It’s probably been two weeks since they came in.”
“Honestly, I’ve heard people saw it, but I didn’t. There’s a lot of construction going on outside and next door, we share a lot of the vents – we were told (that’s what) is the culprit.”
In recent years, the five-star hotel, which has become synonymous with opulence and style, made international headlines when Meghan Markle held her controversial $500,000 baby shower at the five-star hotel amidst a slew of A-list friends.
The Art Deco lobby, with marbled black and white striped floors and striking geometric shapes, has become the hotel’s signature style
The hotel supervisor admitted that the sight of rats in the restaurant was inconsistent with the elegant surroundings: “It is disgusting and unacceptable.”
The Mark has long been an A-list hangout, known as the official pre-Met Gala hotel where many of the guests invited to the lavish annual fashion gala get ready.
The reputation got a boost when Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, held her baby shower in the hotel’s $75,000-a-night penthouse in 2019.
The star-studded bash, which cost an estimated $500,000, was attended by such luminaries as Amal Clooney, Serena Williams and Meghan’s former best friend Jessica Mulroney.
The guests were treated to a performance by harpist Erin Hill, while they were showered with free gifts including roses, cotton candy and suitcases.
When it was time to return to Britain, Meghan traveled on a private jet courtesy of George and Amal Clooney.
The Duchess has repeatedly complained about the invasion of her privacy and expressed fears about climate change, with her behavior during the spectacle prompting accusations of hypocrisy.
Vogue editor Anna Wintour gets glamorous at the Mark before making her annual pilgrimage to the Met Gala at New York’s Metropolitan Museum
Stunning: Fashion designer Donatella Versace and actress Anne Hathaway shared a joke outside the Mark Hotel earlier this year
Supermodel Karlie Kloss is a regular at the Met Gala and makes her annual red carpet debut at The Mark
The Mark Hotel is the place for celebrities to get glamorous ahead of their red carpet debut at the Met Gala. (Pictured Irina Shayk)
Earlier this year, celebrities gathered at the Upper East Side hotel for the Met Gala.
The Mark has been one of the premier hotels for Met Gala attendees for over a decade, with Vogue editor Anna Wintour stepping onto the famous red carpet with the logo in front of the hotel.
Actresses Emily Blunt and Cara Delevingne, along with supermodel Karlie Kloss, all flock to a luxury establishment to get glammed up before making their Met Gala debut.
The iconic 1927 building was transformed into a luxurious retreat by legendary designer Jacques Grange and features 100 rooms and 53 suites.
A spokeswoman for The Mark said: ‘The Mark takes rodent claims very seriously and therefore has several pest control services visit the property every week.
“While there was a recent complaint from two diners, which our management promptly addressed, no rat or mouse sightings have ever been reported by Caviar Kaspia employees.
“Follow-up visits by our pest control have not verified the presence of rodents or feces in Caviar Kaspia.”