What's it like to open a brand new hotel during a pandemic? - The San Diego Union-Tribune

surongtana.blogspot.com

Developers bringing a new hotel to Imperial Beach spent a decade working out every detail.

First, they figured out the zoning, height limits, and number of rooms the hotel would have. Then they worked out what type of decorative stone would line the façade, what kind of lounge chairs would surround the outdoor heated pool, and even what local brewers they’d feature in the lobby bar.

After all that work, right around the time the hotel was scheduled to open, the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the country and shut down the leisure travel industry.

“Timing has never been my forte, I guess,” said Colton Sudberry, president and CEO of Sudberry Properties. “You work on a project for 10 years and then you open in the middle of a pandemic.”

With the hotel already built and the staff hired, Sudberry and the management company operating the hotel, Tharaldson Hospitality Management, decided to open its doors to essential travelers.

Opening a brand new hotel in the middle of a pandemic has been an interesting experience for Richard Garcia, regional director of operations for Tharaldson, who has been in the hotel industry for years.

“This situation is like no other,” he said. “I was around for the 2008 Recession, my boss was around for 2001 and 9-11, and we have never experienced anything like this. This is just unprecedented.”

On top of doing everything that goes into opening a brand-new hotel, the team also have to learn how to operate in a COVID-19 world.

That included buying face masks for all employees, stocking up on hand sanitizer, and having thermometers available to ensure staff doesn’t come to work with a fever.

There are also new rules staff has to implement.

The heated pool, for example, is open but only for guests who make reservations. And, those guests must be members of the same household. Guests can only rent the pool for two-hour blocks, then hotel staff spend 30 minutes sanitizing every surface before a new group of guests can enjoy the pool.

“We have a motto, that we have to be fanatics about service and cleanliness,” said Garcia. “With this whole coronavirus pandemic, we kicked it up several notches.”

There are also limits on the number of people allowed inside the elevators at a time and there’s a new check-in procedure to ensure guests are essential travelers.

In the week that the hotel has been open on a limited basis, guests have already left several five-star reviews on Trip Advisor. All of them specifically mention the bartender, Erin.

The bartender, an Imperial Beach resident, was actually one of the last employees hired at the hotel. One day she showed up with printed stacks of online reviews from her job in a San Diego steakhouse and was hired soon after, said General Manager Robert Blatt.

Local hiring has been a priority, and the majority of employees live in Imperial Beach, the South Bay or just south of the border in Tijuana.

That focus on local hiring isn’t just important to hotel management, but to the local City Council.

Imperial Beach has been trying to grow its relatively small tax base by attracting more businesses and specifically hotels.

Unlike most coastal cities in California, hotel tax revenues account for a small portion of Imperial Beach’s general fund.

In 2017, for instance, hotel tax revenues accounted for 24 percent of Coronado’s general fund, 20 percent of Del Mar’s and only 6 percent of Imperial Beach’s.

Mayor Serge Dedina hopes this hotel – and a couple under construction or in the planning stages – change that.

“Not only will this landmark, beautiful, new hotel be an invaluable resource for visitors, but it will have a major economic impact on our community: the resulting hotel room taxes will be used for civic improvements for the entire town,” Dedina said in a written statement.

For now, the 100-room hotel is limited by restrictions that only allow them to accommodate essential travelers.

Once those restrictions are lifted, they hope to host families, and people connected with the U.S. Navy.

The federal government is building a $1 billion Navy base in Imperial Beach. Hotel management want to attract families visiting relatives stationed at the base and contract workers on business trips at the base.

The director of sales has already been in contract with Navy officials in bases in Coronado and Imperial Beach.

So, despite opening during a pandemic, the people behind the hotel remain hopeful.

“We believe in the long-term viability of the site,” Sudberry said.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

"hotel" - Google News
June 06, 2020 at 08:16PM
https://ift.tt/2BwSSHN

What's it like to open a brand new hotel during a pandemic? - The San Diego Union-Tribune
"hotel" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3aTFdGH
https://ift.tt/2xwvOre

Bagikan Berita Ini

Search

What's it like to open a brand new hotel during a pandemic? - The San Diego Union-Tribune

0 Response to "What's it like to open a brand new hotel during a pandemic? - The San Diego Union-Tribune"

Post a Comment