In July 2020, the statues at the front of the building were removed by management as a precautionary response to the toppling and removal of statues following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests. This move resulted from the belief that either two or all four of the statues represented Nubian slaves shown in manacles. Both histories of the hotel, that of 1951 by Elizabeth Bowen and that of 1999 by Michael O'Sullivan, state that two of the statues represent slaves or servants, with Bowen stating "on each stands a female statue, Nubian in aspect, holding a torch shaped lamp".
In July 2020, management decided to remove the statues at the front of the building as a precautionary measure following the removal of other monuments across the country during the George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter demonstrations. The move was based on the assumption that two or all four statues represented Nubian slaves shown in chains.