ROOM FOR CHANGE
CityCentre hotel looks to local market to boost stays during pandemic.
As Midway’s boutique hotel in CityCentre turned 10 years old, the Houston-based developer brought in a new hotel management company to rebrand, naming the hotel after Midway’s late founder Jim Moran.
Jerome Strack of HEI Hotels & Resorts arrived in Houston in December 2019 to spearhead changes at Midway’s Moran CityCentre. The 266-room west Houston hotel near Beltway 8 and Interstate 10, previously known as Hotel Sorella, is part of Midway’s 47-acre CityCentre development, along with shopping, dining, office, residential and entertainment components.
The hotel, one of 87 operated by Norwalk, Conn.-based HEI, ramped up from 17 employees to 150 by the end of February as Strack assembled a team. Then COVID-19 hit.
“Two weeks later, I had to lay off 125,” Strack said. “We went back to a very skeletal team. We all had to put on a different hat and adapt to the situation.”
The director of HR became the director of housekeeping. The director of sales oversaw laundry duties.
“Literally, in the first few days of the pandemic, we went from 90 percent occupancy to 5 percent occupancy,” Strack said.
Nearby companies in the Energy Corridor no longer needed meeting space or lodging as workers hunkered down at home. Business travel, which makes up 70 percent to 80 percent of sales, slowed to a crawl.
“We had to switch gears,” Strack said.
The hotel introduced specials, such as a free night in the future with each room booked, aimed at Houstonians tired of being in their own houses.
The Moran made a deal with Darden, the Florida-based restaurant group, whose Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52 and Eddie V’s all have locations in CityCentre, for a package that includes a $100 gift card per night to any of those restaurants.
“People really wanted to get out and wanted to have a meal outside their home,” Strack said.
The hotel, which received federal Payroll Protection Program loans, is back to 45 people on staff.
December was the best month since the pandemic hit, with the U.S. Women's Open golf tournament in Houston helping lift occupancy to 40 percent, Strack said.
Employees do not go into rooms while they’re occupied, so there’s no room service due to COVID. Rigorous cleaning standards are in place for the rooms, public areas and restaurant. Elevator buttons and door handles are coated with wraps that keep them clean.
The hotel website was adapted to enable guests to make selections online to minimize contact at the front desk, Strack said. Customers can arrange for a conference room, late check out or a bottle of wine upon arrival.
Midway’s downtown hotel in its GreenStreet development had a tougher time. It has closed its Hotel Alessandra and dining concepts, Lucienne and Bardot Bar.
The company said it would reevaluate the property’s offerings.
Room rates at The Moran are about 30 percent lower than pre-pandemic levels, Strack said. Rates that were $180 are running around $140 or $150 per night.
As the vaccine becomes widely distributed, the first half of the year is expected to remain slow. Leisure is projected to make up 40 percent of sales in 2021, up from 30 percent.
“By Q3, we expect to see a pretty good return of business,” Strack said.