Hotel Ground Zero

{{Short description|2009 film}}

{{More citations needed|date=November 2023}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}

{{Infobox television

| image = hotel ground zero.jpg

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| genre = Documentary
History

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| country = United States

| language = English

| num_episodes = 1

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| runtime = 45 minutes

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| network = History Channel

| first_aired = {{start date|2009|9|11}}

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| related = {{Plainlist|

• 102 Minutes That Changed America (2008)

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Hotel Ground Zero (titled The 9/11 Hotel in the UK) is an American television documentary special that premiered on September 11, 2009, on the History Channel, marking the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The program features the overshadowed story of the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC) on the day of the attacks, resulting in its destruction caused by the collapse of the adjacent South Tower followed by the North Tower, as told by people who had escaped from the hotel.{{cite book|title=Hotel Ground Zero|date=September 11, 2009|url=http://documentaryvine.com/video/hotel-ground-zero/|publisher=DocumentaryVine.com}}

The documentary included the story of Leigh Gilmore, a disabled woman who used a wheelchair and was stuck in her 5th-floor room with her mother, Faye. Arnulfo Ponce, the building's chief engineer, remembered about Gilmore, who had called him on the 10th about a broken grab bar in her shower. Ponce then sent his colleague Gregory Frederick to get the two women out of their room. Gilmore went on to be an advocate for multiple sclerosis awareness and better preparedness for evacuating disabled people in emergency situations. After Hotel Ground Zero premiered, the four learned that each other were still alive, and reunited.{{Cite web |last=Jensen |first=Trevor |date=2010-01-02 |title=Leigh Gilmore dies at 50; advocate for the disabled |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-leigh-gilmore2-2010jan02-story.html |access-date=2024-09-10 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}