Other Ways Hotels Are Helping Updated …The Rest of the World..Australian Quest Apartment Hotels has Offered 80 Serviced Apartments Properties as Isolation Facilities.

Main Photo: A great initiative from the American Hotel & Lodging Association – AHLA

Date: March 2020

Locations: Global

Name: First off the block…Accor Hotels, AHLA, Quest, Interglobe, Oyo, Sands Hotels, K-Club, Tetrarch, Red Doorz and many others to follow

No. of Keys: As many as it needs

Who’s Done What Thus Far: Regarding the requisition of hotels, Accor hotel group reacted to ‘Hôtellerie Restauration’: “Accor has made the safety and well-being of its customers and employees a priority every day for more than fifty years. In this particular context, we are committed to making our services available to healthcare workers, peacekeepers, and all French people involved and mobilised in the fight against the spread of Covid-19. We have also decided to open our doors to the homeless people who need to be confined. We are currently in discussion with the government, the APHP and hospitals in the regions to study the best response and help with our hotels.”

Voluntary or government action in France? – the Minister responsible for the City and Housing, Julien de Normandie, Secretary of State for the French government, has just specified: “We are requisitioning hotel rooms and working with these hotel groups to be able to free up places and put in them homeless. ” The Kellermann hotel in Paris has already been requisitioned. “More than 170 places will open” before the end of the week. The Minister must meet with the leaders of the “large hotel networks” quickly.

Update: March 24th…Accor have introduced a national platform to provide healthcare professionals and disadvantaged people with accommodation solutions in the Group’s hotels.
Accor has been prioritising the safety and well-being of its’ customers and employees on a daily basis. France currently faces a health crisis and the Group has decided to make its services available to front-line medical staff, to all French people engaged and mobilised in the fight against the spread of Covid-19, and to the most vulnerable populations.

The CEDA telephone helpdesk – Coronavirus Emergency Desk Accor – has been created in order to centralise needs and provide accommodation solutions across France in collaboration with Accor Group’s hotel owners and the relevant authorities. Requests can be sent directly by email . So far, more than 40 hotels, a mix of hotelF1, ibis budget, ibis, ibis styles, Mercure and Novotel are offering a total capacity of 1,000 to 2,000 beds to accommodate homeless people throughout the country. Accor is continuing to work in conjunction with the Minister for Cities and Housing, Julien Denormandie, and Samu Social (emergency service for the homeless) to continue to identify additional needs and respond as effectively as possible to requests nationwide.

At the same time, the Group has decided – in collaboration with the AP-HP university hospital trust and its partners – to open this service to all medical staff involved in the fight against Covid-19. They will therefore be able to access accommodation near their place of work via the CEDA platform.

California will house hundreds of homeless people in Oakland hotels amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The state secured 393 rooms across two hotels, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday night, “to get people out of these encampments.” That number could rise in the coming days as his team works to find additional hotel beds for people sleeping outside.

The news comes as the governor announced a homeless resident of Santa Clara County had died after contracting COVID-19. Officials have also said they plan to distribute trailers around the state where homeless people can shelter or be quarantined. And on Monday Newsom said shelters were working to create distance between beds to help stop the spread of the virus.

California has more than 100,000 residents who sleep on the streets on any given night, including thousands of people in the Bay Area. “We will overwhelm ourselves if we don’t move with real urgency in this space,” he said.

Newsom said his team had identified more than 900 hotels that could be suitable for housing the homeless. His team, he said, was in the process of negotiating to convert some of them into temporary living quarters for the homeless. San Francisco has moved to set up trailers where sick homeless people who need to be quarantined but not hospitalised can go.

Los Angeles Hotels Offer 10,000 Rooms As Temporary Shelter for Those in Need
March, 30 2020 …More than 115 hotels throughout Los Angeles County have volunteered their hotels to the County Public Health Department, providing access to more than 10,000 rooms as temporary shelter to support the COVID-19 response, the Hotel Association of Los Angeles announced on Friday.

The unprecedented response by the Los Angeles hotel industry represents approximately 15 percent of all Los Angeles hotel rooms, which are available to protect and isolate population segments vulnerable to the coronavirus outbreak.

“Our hotel community response is just one more example of the extraordinary men and women behind the hotel business,’’ said Heather Rozman, Executive Director of the Hotel Association of Los Angeles (HALA). “Hospitality is a people business and in a time like this, we’re going to step up and take care of people, it’s what we do best.”

HALA and member hotels have been working with Mayor Garcetti, City Council members, County Supervisors and, importantly, County officials to determine how hotel rooms can best be deployed. Assuring the health of individuals who may occupy hotel rooms is a complicated process that is being addressed by public health officials and a multitude of state and local government leaders.

Australian group Quest Apartment Hotels has offered 80 serviced apartments as isolation facilities. The company is already supporting more than 500 families with self-isolation space, reports Hotel Manangement AU.

Quest CEO Paul Constantinou said the offer would reduce pressure on the hospital system. The country’s Accommodation Association is co-ordinating efforts by the sector to provide broader support to health professionals.

Easing pressure on the hospital system is behind a decision by Quest Apartment Hotels to offer 80 of its serviced apartment properties to the Federal Government as temporary quarantine and isolation facilities, the company says.

As part of an approach made through the Accommodation Association, the move by Quest is also part of a short-term shift in focus from corporate accommodation to assisting the public health system as occupancies continue their fall to and beyond 10 per cent.

Quarantine facilities can be used to isolate people and open up our hospital beds to more serious cases. The scale of isolation is unlike anything we’ve ever seen, so we must open up our hotels during this emergency.”

Throughout the initiative, Quest Apartment Hotels says it has adopted strict safety and health measures from the World Health Organisation to protect its staff and guests across all 170 locations in which it currently operates.

Accommodation Association CEO, Dean Long, says Quest has proven itself as a leader in this initiative but that other serviced apartment operators were considering similar ideas.

“People need to isolate themselves, but they can’t all occupy the health system and they still need access to amenities and essential services. It makes sense for serviced apartments and the government to work together,” said Long.

Only in India! New Delhi’s district magistrate Tanvi Garg on Sunday ordered Ibis, Red Fox, and Lemon Tree hotels in Aerocity to provide 36 rooms for setting up of paid quarantine facilities. The directive was issued under Disaster Management Act and Delhi Epidemic Disease regulations.

On Monday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said Mirage Hotel near the airport had been activated as a quarantine facility for flyers. After 24 hours, guests will be asked to quarantine themselves at their homes and will be monitored regularly by local health workers.

All hotels in Delhi’s Aerocity, including Marriott, Ibis, Pullman, Pride, and Novotel, were called for a meeting on Sunday afternoon and, subsequently, a circular was issued. Similarly, a meeting of municipal and government officials was held in Mumbai on Monday to finalise hotels to be used for quarantine.

To misquote The Eagles… You cannot check out any time you like
“The government reached out to us for support and we are fully prepared to offer the requisite facilities. We tick all the boxes,” said J B Singh, president and chief executive at InterGlobe Hotels that owns and runs the Ibis brand of hotels. A few guests checked-in on Monday, he said.

The hotels chosen by the government have to follow certain guidelines on room rate, number of meals, hygiene, monitoring, and other amenities, according to the Delhi government order. For instance, the rate per room has been fixed at Rs 3,100 (around £34) plus applicable taxes. The rates being offered to the guests from high-alert countries is almost half of the hotel’s normal rates and this is as per government order.

Oyo Hotels & Homes has offered to support the Delhi government by opening its hotels in the capital region for self-quarantining. Oyo has more than 1,000 hotel partners in the region.

The Spanish Government has confirmed that all hotels will be closed by next Tuesday (March 24th 2020) and has urged all tourists who are currently in the country to contact their tour operator to arrange travel back to their home countries. Spain has also shut its land borders to all but Spaniards, permanent residents and cross-border workers.

Hotels are already up and running as emergency hospital space. The four-star Gran Hotel Colon in Madrid, the country’s capital, is now using its 359-bed property to serve patients with mild cases of coronavirus. The hotel is a 10-minute walk from one of Madrid’s largest hospital.

Another four-star Madrid hotel, the Marriott Auditorium, is scheduled to start receiving patients on Friday. Hoteliers have offered regional authorities the use of a total of 40 hotels in the Madrid region with 9,000 beds to treat coronavirus patients, according to Madrid’s main hotel association.

One of Ireland’s most exclusive hotels, the 134-bedroomed K Club in Co Kildare has been offered to the State for free to help in the Covid-19 battle.

Michael Fetherston, the new owner of the five-star The K Club estate in Straffan, Co Kildare, said that his hotel, which closed earlier this week along with hundreds of other hotels around the country, could be used in whatever manner the Government or the HSE believed was most appropriate at no cost to the State.

The offer from the businessman and hotelier includes using the 134-bed hotel to house healthcare workers who may have to be separated from their families for periods of time, or to be used to house people with the illness.

The Irish Times understands that the HSE has not yet decided if and how it could best make use of the property.

Mr Fetherston bought the 550-acre estate – including the hotel and two championship golf courses from businessman Michael Smurfit in 2019 for more than €65 million. The K Club, which has operated as a luxury hotel for the past 29 years and employs approximately 230 people, was closed to guests from March 17th as a result of coronavirus.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Ireland’s largest hotel, the near 800-bedroom Citywest Hotel on the outskirts of Dublin, is to be turned into a field hospital by the Health Service Executive, following talks that are nearing completion with its owners, Tetrarch Capital.

All of the hotel’s room will be used to house patients, or medical staff treating them, the business website, The Currency first reported on Friday. Meanwhile, the hotel’s 11,000 metres of event centre and conference rooms will be used to house patients requiring treatment.

Eoghan O’Mara Walsh of the Irish Tourism Confederation stressed that the current crisis was “foremost this is a public health issue” but he said a large number of hotels and restaurants around Ireland were anxious to play their part in fighting the spread of the virus.

In an effort to support communities across the country during this unprecedented public health crisis, the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) today announced a new initiative – Hotels for Hope – to connect hotel properties with the health community, struggling to find housing and support as the COVID-19 public health crisis grows.

Las Vegas Sands to donate more than two million pieces of personal protection equipment PPE) April, 1…protective masks and suits being provided to Nevada, New York.
They will donate two million medical masks and 20,000 protective suits to help health-care professionals, first responders and non-profit organisations in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The PPE will be distributed from the company’s corporate headquarters of Nevada as well as New York, which has become the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. Each state will receive one million masks. The 20,000 protective suits will be donated to hospitals and first responders in Nevada.

“Hopefully our donations will help protect people on the front lines so they can continue their invaluable work, and we can start to see the numbers of people affected begin to diminish,” Sands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon G. Adelson said. “Our properties in Las Vegas may be empty right now, but our hearts are full of hope for the future. The determination and courage I have seen in our Team Members, which I know is the same throughout this country, gives me every confidence we will get through this unprecedented crisis.”

In addition to the protective gear donations, Sands is fulfilling its pledge to give $250,000 to several important local organisations during this time of need. The company is making contributions to Three Square, Southern Nevada’s largest hunger-relief organisation.

Sands also has donated 60 pallets of food and more 55,000 bottles of water to local organisations. In addition, the company is currently paying each of its nearly 10,000 Las Vegas Team Members, along with providing full health-care benefits, while its properties remain closed.

Another newly launched initiative, just announced in partnership with AHLA partner state associations across the country, has identified over 6,500 properties nationwide located in close proximity to established healthcare facilities that are at the ready to assist government efforts and work with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in coordination with the US Army CORPS of Engineers and local emergency management and public health agencies to provide access to hotel properties to support the health community and our nation’s first responders who may be in need of temporary housing during this crucial time.

Update: By April 7th, the number of hotels has risen to 15,000, the initiative has now identified a total combined 2.3 million rooms located in close proximity to established healthcare facilities.

Chip Rogers, AHLA president and CEO: “As an industry of people taking care of people, the hotel industry is uniquely positioned to support and help strengthen our communities and first responders who are on the frontlines of dealing with this ongoing public health crisis. Hotels have always been an active member of our local communities, and this time is no different. AHLA, in partnership with our partner state associations, are proud to work on behalf of our member companies to facilitate partnerships with federal, state and local governments to support the health community during this critical time.”

Hotels interested in joining AHLA’s “Hotels for Hope” initiative can volunteer HERE. Already, examples of hotels partnering with local and state officials in communities are being reported in Chicago and California, and more efforts are expected in the coming days and weeks, including New York City and Texas.

RedDoorz, Southeast Asia’s fast-growing online hotel management and booking platform, announced the launch of ‘Red Heroes’, a new regional initiative that will provide free temporary accommodation for emergency services and frontline healthcare staff battling COVID-19. The programme is being rolled out across Southeast Asia.

The group will also supply and distribute health and well-being kits as part of this initiative. Each kit consists of washable face masks, alcohol-based hand sanitisers, energy drinks and droplet hats. Kits will be distributed equally across the rooms to ensure frontline healthcare staff are well equipped with all of the essentials during their stay at select RedDoorz properties.

“We are launching our Red Heroes initiative in the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore, to help alleviate the heavy pressures placed on national governments by providing clean, safe and comfortable accommodation for free, for those on the frontlines. We are positive that we will be able to overcome this challenge if we stand together,” said Amit Saberwal, CEO and founder of RedDoorz.

The initiative was first launched in the Philippines following calls from the Manila City government requesting hotel and motel operators in the area to help house medical practitioners residing in the capital amid the Luzon-wide lockdown.

In Jakarta, it has partnered with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy to provide free rooms for frontline healthcare practitioners and emergency first responders treating COVID-19 cases in the local hospitals. In Singapore, where the firm is headquartered, it has been working closely with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to help house foreign workers entering and returning to Singapore who have been issued with the recently announced mandatory 14-day Stay-Home-Notice (SHN).

THPT Comment: Our previous report was mainly UK-focused…now we report on the rest of the world…Fab Accor for their plan for homeless people…Quest Australia – Paul great job…This is a work in progress – calling on all global hotels…what’s the best action-plan for hotels in your country? Oyo…one could argue they need the business!

First Seen: L’hotellerie Restauration and others. Business Standard

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