Local hotels keeping their doors open
TEXARKANA — The hospitality industry has been particularly hard hit with the challenges brought by COVID-19. From the rough days of the shutdown, local hotels have emerged and are managing things.
They do admit, however, that they do have a ways to go before things return completely to normal.
“When Texas and Arkansas opened up following the shutdown, we noticed an increase again in the level of our business,” said Stacey Hughes, general manager of Ramada by Wyndham. “However, since the news reported the
spike in COVID, there has been a drop off.”
The summers are normally a busy time for the hospitality industry. This summer has been a softer one for Ramada by Wyndham, but they have managed.
“We still did good business and made enough money to tide us over,” she said.
While the COVID situation has been going on, both guests and staff have been taking extra precautions to keep safe and healthy.
“We have extra cleaning measures in place for everyone’s safety, for both guests and staff,” she said. “Room cleanings take longer due to those extra measures. Also, we’ve been buying extra linens and especially towels. We take extra care to ensure both are thoroughly cleaned. And if there is any reason at all to believe contaminated material has been in contact with them, they get thrown out and new cloth is used. We are buying towels in bulk for that purpose.”
Hughes says the staff is getting used to the new procedures.
“We have daily A/C filter replacement,” she said. “Room features that get lots of handling, like light switches, TV remotes, doorknobs, anything that guest touched, once again, wiped down, extra cleaning.”
The staff wears masks and gloves, which are changed often.
The pool is available, though cleaned more often.
“It is shocked and vacuumed three times a week,” she said. “Also, we have another refurbishment going on, and the pool area is part of it. This refurbishment will take about a year.”
Over on the Texas-side, Trenisse Jales, front desk representative and guest services official at the Residence Inn, says that things have picked up for them and guest amounts have just about returned to normal, with all the floors of the hotel returning to service. However, the coronavirus situations have restricted some of the favored features they have for their guests, for the time being.
“We still have not brought back our complimentary breakfast buffet, yet,” she said. “Also, our weekly social event, The Mix, we have not yet brought back. That’s a lot of fun and we miss it, too, as do our guests — the free food, beer and wine. We love those and can’t wait to bring them back.”
Also, its staff is not yet back up to full capacity.
“Our housekeeping staff is fully staffed at this point, with all our employees returned,” she said. “But we are still short at the front desk.”
Ramada by Wyndham is located at 5100 N. State Line Ave., Ste 300, Texarkana, Arkansas. Residence Inn Texarkana is located at 3900 St. Michael Drive, Texarkana, Texas.