Why did the Looters meet with Hank Reardon in the same suite that Francisco D'Anconia used to lease? When Hank Reardon met with the Looters to discuss the Steel Unification Plan, he noted with some consternation that they were meeting in the same suite at the Wayne-Falkland Hotel that Francisco d'Anconia used to lease before he disappeared completely. Why did they meet there? Was this due to its personal effect on Hank Reardon, or was Ayn Rand going for symbolism here (i.e. the Looters were, in some sense, trying to replace talented people like Francisco)? Or did Ayn Rand do this mostly for the irony?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it was all three. The scene was reinforcing the point that, once talented people like Francisco d'Anconia are out of the picture, they end up getting replaced with people like Tinky Holloway and Wesley Mouch.

The book also points out its effect on Hank Reardon, who agreed to quit and disappear shortly after this meeting (and largely as a _result_ of this meeting, once he realized that he was enabling the Looters to continue in their behavior).