Weathering the Storm

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated economies around
brthe globe and unfortunately, no industry has been immune. One sector of the economy which has especially taken the brunt of this pandemic-induced shutdown is the tourism and hospitality industry. With people hesitant to venture from their residences for fear of contracting the coronavirus, fewer folks are traveling for leisure and staying in hotels. This decrease in business directly impacts hotels and their employees as some properties closed for several months, others furloughed staff due to reduced business while hotels everywhere have adjusted their operations in areas like food service and housekeeping. Frisco has a robust hotel scene, whether it’s the community fixtures of The Westin Stonebriar and Embassy Suites Dallas-Frisco or newer properties like Omni Frisco, the community has considerable options for accommodations to both out-of-towners and locals wanting to get away for a day or two. However, Marla Roe, executive director for Visit Frisco states that even as the pandemic has reached the one-year mark in the States, local tourism remains down about 40 percent from where it was one year ago, and Frisco hotels are still feeling the effects. Jeff Smith is the general manager for Omni Frisco and he mentioned that the property is currently operating at about one-third the business it would normally have. “The biggest challenge a lot of them are seeing right now is they’re still getting some business, but it comes in these short bursts,” Ms. Roe said. “If you think about a hotel that’s running on fewer employees due to occupancy levels and things like that and suddenly, you’re sold out for three days and you have to ramp back up, it’s a challenge for them to keep that staffing. They want the business because they need that to thrive and survive, but it presents challenges.” Since tourism has such a broad impact on communities like Frisco, that decrease in visitors also delivers a ripple effect to local restaurants and retailers.

A New Level of
brCleanliness and Safety
One new norm across the industry is that all hotels have adopted new protocols for more stringent cleaning of rooms and other areas. As a Hilton brand, Embassy Suites operates under Hilton’s CleanStay program, under which common areas and guest rooms are more frequently cleaned and other aspects of the guest experience like foodservice, including room service, have been tweaked. “We allocate quite a few more minutes for every room to make sure it’s disinfected, so there are more cleaning protocols,” said Rich Lundt, general manager for Embassy Suites Dallas-Frisco. “Every room has Lysol wipes for customers. They have that available to them when they check-in.”

As for food service, Embassy Suites continues offering a fresh, hot breakfast to guests. But instead of food available in a self-serve buffet style, guests are now served and the omelet station has been discontinued. Guests can also get prepackaged items like yogurt and bagels. Mr. Lundt added that the Frisco hotel bar is now open on weekends and prepackaged snacks are available, but Embassy Suites is currently not offering room service.Hyatt Regency Frisco still offers room service, but the process has been adjusted to ensure the utmost safety for hotel guests and staff. Like many restaurants, the hotel is posting QR codes where guests can download menus and then order food. However, food is no longer delivered to rooms as guests are asked to retrieve their order downstairs once it is ready. “That [QR codes] is kind of a big deal for us because we can change that [information] in an instant where before when you had all the printed material in the guest room, that wasn’t always easy to do,” said Lance Stumpf, general manager for Hyatt Regency Frisco. “Right now, you can use the QR code to call down and order the item. We will give you a time limit as to how long it takes to prepare it, and then you come down to the market and pick it up. It is pretty streamlined.”