SLEEPING GIANT: Hoops star Yao Ming, who's 7-5, will be treated to a twin bed added to a king-sized bed (above) at the Dumont Plaza. MING-SIZED BED February 25, 2003 -- EXCLUSIVE It's a bed fit for a Ming - Yao Ming, that is. A Manhattan hotel is doing its best to accommodate the Houston Rockets' 7-foot, 5-inch, 296-pound basketball sensation, building the perfect mattress to fit his humongous frame. "We've added a twin bed to the end of a king-sized bed," said Tom Chamberlain, the general manager of the all-suite Dumont Plaza on the East Side, where the Rockets landed last night prior to tonight's game against the Knicks. "It's a nice change of pace for him to sleep with his feet on a bed," Chamberlain said of the 9-foot, 8-inch-long mattress, three feet longer than a standard king-size model. Indeed, before the 22-year-old center was selected No. 1 in the NBA draft last June, he lived with the Chinese national team in a dismal dormitory with beds built for the average-sized Chinese citizen. That "average-sized" Chinese male is two feet shorter than Yao. But since the draft, Yao has been super-sizing everything. Last October, when Rockets officials picked up Yao at the Houston airport, the skyscraping center was able to stretch his 54-inch legs in an 80-foot-long limo. Chamberlain said the Dumont Plaza wanted to "anticipate all of his needs." To that end, the hotel also installed a waterproof chair in the shower - and a hand-held shower head - so Yao can sit while he bathes. The big man is a giant marketing machine, making an estimated $20 million annually in endorsements - plus his four-year, $18 million salary. He's currently plugging products as diverse as Chinese beer, ESPN, Visa and PowerBook laptops.
I think the writer got mixed up since its the Rockets organisation who endorses the Chinese beer, not Yao. -G'day-
This isn't the first time a hotel as accomidated him like that. They did the same thing at the Marriot (? whatever Hotel it was the players stayed at for AS weekend) but Yao had like a 11 foot bed. Quite nice! Too bad hotel beds suck anyway!
Not all hotel beds suck. The Ritz-Carlton in Chicago actually makes a little side money by selling their beds through their gift shop to impressed guests. I looked up the Dumont Plaza Hotel and I'm surprised to see it only had 3.5 stars. I thought they'd be in a 4-star place, if not 5.
