San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
HOTELS FIND NEWWAYS TO FILL THEIR ROOMS.
Tango, microweddings, a quiet place towork, anyone?
Every weekend, Hotel Valencia Riverwalk turns over its courtyard to tango. Two dancers perform one of Argentina’s greatest artistic exports two hours a night, Friday through Sunday, in front of onlookers seated nearby and guests lounging on the patios of their rooms.
The performance is one of Hotel Valencia’s answers to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has slowed San Antonio’s visitors industry to a crawl. The idea is lure locals and in-state visitors to the hotel with the sensual power of tango.
With guests staying at least 6 feet from one another, of course.
The nightly performances are unique, but the hotel’s efforts to bring in new guests isn’t.
With many people still shunning air travel — which is crippling the convention and meeting business — hotels are beefing up their entertainment offerings; marketing “staycation” packages to San Antonians and others who live in the region and want to get away for a night or two; and convincing workers to work remotely from the properties.
Hotels are also finding some success hosting “micro weddings,” gatherings of 20 to 50 guests — replacements for big, lavish weddings.
Behind all these innovations is this reality: The financial situation of hotels is grave. Industry experts expect some San Antonio hotels to fold in the next few months, especially if the number of COVID-19 cases continues to surge, and local and state governments impose new travel and business restrictions.
Vaccination programs to protect people from COVID-19 are expected to launch within the next month. But even if the process goes smoothly, it could take till mid-2021 to vaccinate large segments of the U.S. population and make vacationers and business travelers feel safe again.
The key for many hotels is just surviving the next few months, said Paul Vaughn, senior vice president at Source Strategies, a San Antonio-based hotel consulting firm.
“Hotels are scrambling around to see how they can be creative to fill rooms,” he said.
Most downtown San Antonio hotels have reopened, slowly gaining more business each month. Despite the improving picture, however, more than 63 percent of downtown hotel rooms, on average, were empty last month, according to hospitality industry firm STR.
Across the San Antonio metro area, 57 percent of rooms were vacant in October, which is below what’s generally needed to make a profit at most hotels.
The Hotel Valencia Riverwalk plans to be one of the survivors.
The tango performances have been a success, convincing guests like Sylvia Rodriguez, 60, of San Antonio to spend a recent weekend night at the hotel with her girlfriends.
“We were celebrating milestone birthdays this year, and because of COVID, we couldn’t travel, so we decided to do a staycation,” said the recently retired Valero worker.
Rodriguez said she loved the performance so much she’s ready to go to Argentina with friends — once borders reopen and it’s safe to travel again.
The performances have helped push occupancy at the 213-room hotel to as much as 80 percent on weekends, said Trent Freeman, the hotel’s general manager. Overall occupancy is hovering around 50 percent, higher than many of Freeman’s competitors.
The Valencia stayed open in April and May when other downtown hotels were closed. But on a few nights, all its rooms were empty.
“All we heard were crickets on Houston Street,” Freeman said.
The managers at the Spanishthemed boutique hotel came up with the dance performance idea in July after studying live country and rock performances at Cavalry Court in College Station and Lone Star Court in Austin. The Valencia and the two Court hotels are part of the Houston-based Valencia Hotel Group.
The concerts drew visitors, Freeman said, but “country and rock bands were probably too loud for us.”
He said 21 rooms with balconies face the hotel’s interior, multilevel courtyard, making it a good setting for socially distanced performances, and tango