U.S. President Barack Obama will stay at the Hilton hotel here when he is attending the Fifth Summit of the Americas on April 18-19, a cabinet minister of the host country said.
The Trinidad Express quoted Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of Finance Mariano Browne as saying so on Thursday. Obama is expected to stay two nights here, arriving on April 17 in time for the opening ceremony at 5 p.m. local time (2100 GMT), according to U.S. and Trinidad news reports.
The Hilton hotel has a reputation to accommodate top-level foreign dignitaries like former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Britain's prince of Wales and former South African President Nelson Mandela, Xinhua reported.
However, when asked about Obama's scheduled stay at the hotel, Hilton Trinidad's general manager Ali Khan said "We don't disclose the privacy of our guests, it's our policy."
In 2004, the Trinidad government renovated the 47-year-old hotel. Most of the leaders of the 33 attending foreign nations, however, will stay at the Hyatt Regency, which is also the site of the summit's opening ceremony. Each of the 33 delegations will be allocated one suite at the 428 room-Hyatt for the head of state or head of delegation and six additional rooms.
Obama, the first U.S. president to attend the summit, is expected to lead a 1,000-member U.S. delegation, headed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. They will arrive on 25 aircraft. The host nation even build a new hangar at the airport of Port of Spain exclusively for Air Force One, a three-deck Boeing VC-25 that will carry a 26-member crew and 76 passengers. It will be the largest of the 30-plus planes transporting 34 national leaders and 5,000 delegates attending the summit on April 17-19 in Port of Spain.
Tucked into the belly of one of the U.S. aircraft will be "the Beast," Obama's official, military-grade, armor-plated, tinted- glass limousine. The president's personal physician and medical team will travel with him, bringing along a supply of Obama's blood in case he should need emergency treatment.
Aside from attending the opening ceremony, Obama plans to hold three separate group meetings in addition to the official closed- door session between all participating heads of government. The group meetings are likely to be with Caribbean leaders, Central American leaders and a third group composed of heads of state of South America and Mexico, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.