Struggling hotels try to draw in local tourists

As South Florida hotels stage their comeback from the coronavirus pandemic, there is a consensus among owners and industry leaders about who will lead the charge — local residents and other Floridians who will arrive by car.

The reason: The steady flow of thousands of travelers delivered here annually by airlines and cruise lines has all but dried up.

Most came from elsewhere around the U.S. and outside the country. No more.

Cruise lines are under a federal government “no sail” order through July. And air carriers have drastically reduced flights as passenger loads plunged by 80% to 90% after government mandated business shutdowns all but grounded the nation’s airline fleet.

In addition, an executive order by Gov. Ron DeSantis requiring 14-day quarantines for visitors from virus hot spots including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Louisiana blurred the travel plans for people from those states. In Tampa, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino advised them they aren’t welcome through July 8, the date the order expires.

“All indications are that staycation experiences by residents and visits by our Florida drive market will be our key target markets,” said Jonell Modys, senior executive for marketing and communications at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We also expect as the summer progresses, the drive market will grow to include areas throughout the Southeast and even farther that used to be fly markets.”

She said the bureau will be offering “enticing deals through our LauderDeals campaign that will be launching soon with hotel deals and packages, 2-for-1 at

traction offers, the Dine Out Lauderdale program, as well as spa and other specials.”

Corina Szefler, manager of The Elmar Boutique Hotel near Fort Lauderdale Beach, said her hotel is counting on the Florida traveler.

“It’s definitely going to be more domestic travel than international, and we’re definitely going to gear more towards that ‘Florida person,’” she said. “It’s a different clientele. We are still completely booked for next year for season, so that will be interesting, and I’m going to be calling my international people and my people from up north to see if they will be keeping their reservations.”

Andrew Kaphusman, director of finance at the Atlantic Hotel and Spa in Fort Lauderdale, said he’s looking forward to seizing on pent up-demand from customers who have been locked down at home for weeks.

“We’re getting calls all the time, and the number one call I am getting is ‘Are your beaches open?’” he said. “We’re trying to capture everybody we can get, but we know that the airlines are running less flights and people are scared to travel that way, but we’re definitely looking towards Florida residents who can drive.”

Matt Densen, general manager at the Snooze Hotel, also on the beach, said in the past, about 60% of his clients were international guests.

“However, I’m discovering that there’s many people who have been cooped-up for a while here in Florida and are coming in order to get away and relax,” he said.

Catching up

It was Palm Beach County that was first out of the box in South Florida to reopen its hotels to the leisure traveler.

“Hotels are open or gearing up to open, after receiving the ‘all clear’ on May 15 to accommodate leisure guests,” said Gina Kramer, spokeswoman for Discover The Palm Beaches, the county’s tourism marketing arm. “A number of hotels are taking a phased approach to reopen their public spaces.”

The Hilton West Palm Beach’s Galley restaurant and pool reopened Thursday, she said.

The venerable Breakers in Palm Beach, erected by pioneer rail baron Henry Flagler, is slated to reopen Saturday with the exception of its Flagler Club. Among the hotels that will open in the near future are Boca Raton Resort and Club on June 1 and Eau Palm Beach on July 1.

Discounts are in play, with hotels such as the Casa Grandview in West Palm Beach shaving $70 off its standard price for bed and breakfast rooms, a manager said. After the holiday, rooms that were once $259 will be $189.

Hotels in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties will miss the lucrative Memorial Day weekend as city and county governments grappled with uniform procedures for reopening hotels and beaches.

But Broward on Friday set a reopening date of Tuesday for hotels, gyms and fitness centers, while simultaneously lifting barriers to its beaches. There was no immediate information on the number of hotels set to reopen, as the visitors bureau is still compiling a list.

Miami Beach, meanwhile, is reopening hotels and beaches on June 1, while Monroe County is set to greet visitors to the Keys on the same date.

Keep it clean or they won’t come

Now that government clearances have been given or are imminent, it’s up to managements on the front lines to see what will work with consumers who are eager to shed the bonds of shelter-in-place orders — but do so safely. On Friday. the American Hotel & Lodging Association announced a “Safe Stay” program composed of industrywide cleaning guidelines for hotels and motels across North America.

Locally, many have already implemented standards based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The large brand hotels including Hilton and Marriott, as well as some independents such as the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas Boulevard, have adopted the association’s guidelines, said Mozell of the Fort Lauderdale visitors bureau.

Since March 20, the massive Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino complex in Hollywood, with its huge Guitar Hotel, has been closed. But late Thursday, the tribe’s Tampa operation opened its doors to a surprising number of patrons who were eager to gamble, said spokesman Gary Bitner.

“The Tampa reopening last night was very successful, and the players came back in droves,” he said. “It was really amazing to watch.”

Patrons and staffers wore masks. Social distancing was maintained with every other slot machine in operation. Plexiglass partitions separated players at the table games. And no events took place.

But would-be visitors from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Louisiana, all coronavirus hot spots, got a stern message from the Tampa hotel’s website: “We must advise that you are required to isolate or self-quarantine for 14 days from the time of your arrival in Florida, according to the Florida Governor’s Executive Order number 20-82, which is currently in effect until July 8, 2020.” And as a result of that order, “you will be unable to occupy a room at Seminole Hard Rock Tampa if you are arriving from those states.”

Bitner said that while no date has been set to reopen the Hollywood complex, customers will likely see similar safety measures there.

Along Fort Lauderdale Beach, hotels prepping to greet leisure travelers are of the same mind.

“We have a number of new policies that are in place,” said Matt Densen, general manager of the Snooze Hotel. “In addition to our rooftop terrace we have a smaller ocean-front terrace and we will require people to wear masks there, during check-in, and on the elevator. We have a hotel supplier who has N-95 masks, so we have purchased those and gloves for the team, and every single surface of the rooms are being cleaned with Clorox as opposed to just the standard cleaner. We’re going to try to keep the vacation experience unaffected, but still keep both the guests and my team safe.”

Some got an earlier start than others on new safety protocols.

As the coronavirus expanded its deadly spread in South Florida, Cathy Balestriere’s boutique hotel in Delray Beach offered a unique program to shield her guests from the pandemic.

On March 18, the general manager of Crane’s Beach House Boutique and Luxury Villas in Delray Beach shifted gears to a “no contact” service plan where guests checked in remotely, paid only with credit cards and never crossed paths with staff members.

And now that Pa l m Beach County has allowed hotels to reopen to leisure travelers, Crane’s is heavily booked for the Memorial Day weekend — to the extent her safety protocols will allow.

There are no house cleaning workers who interact with guests. When visitors leave, the room sits for 24 hours while a purifying machine clears the air and the staff gives it a thorough cleaning.

When new guests arrive, they are handed a “safety welcome kit” with such essentials as disposable face masks, gloves and hand sanitizers. Those procedures are now part of county rule books.

“We’re creating a program where we’ll never have 100% occupancy,” she said. “We’re trying to do our best to make sure everybody says safe.”

It’s the price owners and operators are paying for returning to business while a major public health crisis remains unresolved.

Measured in lost jobs, revenues and customers, the pandemic has had a devastating effect on the hospitality industry that traditionally has been a bulwark of the region’s economy.

“We are already in a deep depression as it is as an industry,” said Jorge Pesquera, CEO of Discover The Palm Beaches. “That is the reason our industry partners, and particularly the hotel sector, know the importance of earning the trust and confidence of the customer. They know they need to establish a safe sanctuary for customer.”

Uphill battle

Although a number of owners think they can weather the downturn, a toll is being taken on employees who run hotels with skeletal staffs.

“Unfortunately, now, [those who work here] are wearing a lot of hats,” said Kaphusman of the Atlantic. “I am working at the front desk, and I am answering phone calls, and I’m taking reservations and booking people too. It’s interesting because I worked in the accounting department, but never the front desk.”

Not all guests have been cooperative.

“It is [nerve wracking] at times,” said Densen of the Snooze Hotel. “I had some folks who came in and were adamant that they would not wear a mask, and I told them that they were not permitted to stay. In order to ensure that this familyowned business continues, there is an increased exposure risk, so our extra precautions will hopefully mitigate that.”

“It’s going to take us years to recover from this,” he added. “We are surrounded by 500-room deluxe resort hotels that can absorb this much more than a 19-room boutique hotel. The loss has been well over a hundred thousand dollars.”

Densen said he asked that his salary be cut in half so he could bring his full staff sooner.

“There are only four of us that work here, and we are all a family, and we’ve all been impacted,” he said. “We’re just managing as best as we can, and hopefully there will be sunnier days ahead.”