As hotels face steep declines in travel guests due to COVID-19, they’re trying to find a new hook to appeal to consumers. Some are now offering up rooms to people who are finding working from home too distracting. The hotel rooms can offer privacy, a desk, high-speed internet, a minifridge, and a special rate for just the day.
For example, the White Bear Country Inn, a Best Western Plus outside of Minneapolis, is offering a $49 room to housebound office workers who need a space to work from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Rick Hudella, an information technology management consultant, told The Wall Street Journal he’s been working from the hotel. He shares a small apartment with a friend, and the bad internet at his apartment made him want to relocate to the hotel during the workday.
"We've got to just get through this," Bill Foussard, owner of the White Bear Country Inn, told The Wall Street Journal about beginning to advertise its hotel rooms as office space. "If we're snoozing, we're losing. You've got to be doing something all the time."
Hotels have been hard-hit during the pandemic as shelter-in-place restrictions across the country have stalled travel. Revenue per available room at U.S. hotels fell nearly 84% the week ending April 11—the largest on record, according to the data company STR.
Some hotels have been offering 14-day quarantine packages for people asked to self-isolate, travelers who have been unable to go home, or health care workers. Hotel owners say they’ve stepped up cleaning efforts to make guests feel at ease, such as regular sanitizing of doorknobs, handrails, and all public areas.
Source: “Had Enough Working From Home? Try a Hotel Room,” The Wall Street Journal (April 20, 2020)
