It’s understandable that some establishments use a dress code to maintain a certain atmosphere, but one New York City hotel is now apologizing after an employee enforced a strict set of clothing rules for the hotel’s popular rooftop bar, reportedly refusing to allow a Navy officer in because she was in uniform.

According to a member of the group, three of them were in cocktail attire while the sailor was in her white uniform during a Fleet Week visit to the Manhattan hotspot on Saturday, reports the New York Daily News.

That’s when a bouncer blocked them at the elevator to get to the hotel’s rooftop bar and lounge, the husband of the sailor’s cousin told the paper.

“We walked in, went to the elevator and were stopped by a doorman who said, ‘Hey man, there’s a dress code,’ ” he recalled. “I said, ‘Wait, are you rejecting us because someone is in a service uniform?’ He kind of rolled his eyes and wouldn’t budge.”

He says he asked someone at the front desk for help and was told the decision was up to the “lounge’s discretion.”

“We were all shocked and upset,” he said, noting that it was Memorial Day Weekend.

Though the sailor wants to remain anonymous, her family emailed the hotel’s management about the situation. A general manager responded by Sunday and asked the sailor to come back.

“We most certainly do appreciate and take a lot of pride [in] all the young people giving their lives to defend our nation,” the manager wrote in an email to the family, noting that “as per regular protocol, our team” at bar “is instructed to enforce a dress code — which obviously should not apply to military uniforms.”

“Once again, our sincere apologies for the miscommunication at our end, the issue has been brought to all of our team’s attention and it will certainly not repeat itself,” she added.

One of the members of the group says the apology is a good effort, but now it’s up to the hotel to follow through and “really examine its policies.”

“The fact that her uniform wasn’t labeled Versace shouldn’t have prevented her from going in,” he said. “They need to have a greater sense of the bigger picture.”

Hotel apologizes after Navy officer turned away from lounge during Fleet Week [New York Daily News]

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