The new Hotel June in the beach district of Playa Vista in Los Angeles was due to open last spring. With 250 rooms, two restaurants, a pool, and tons of outdoor common spaces, it was a hip, vibrant, and relatively affordable option for guests visiting the west side of LA. It was also the launch of an entirely new brand of Proper Hospitality, already known for its upscale properties of the same name in cities like San Francisco and Austin. Of course, none of this happened as planned.

As in restaurants, the hospitality industry has been hit hard by COVID-19. Major hotel chains recently reported massive losses – Hyatt lost $ 703 million in 2020; The losses totaled $ 720 million, according to Hilton, triggering permanent cost-cutting measures. A November survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association found that more than 60 percent of hotels were operated by less than half of their total staff. At the beginning of November, the occupancy of the hotels in large urban centers was 34 percent after almost 80 percent in the previous year. It’s no wonder. A hotel stay these days – with all the plexiglass, masks, disinfectant, plastic-wrapped remote controls, and lack of housekeeping (though some hotels provide sheets and towels for you to change into) – doesn’t exactly scream ” Vacation”. And the loss of business has led hotels to get creative with what they offer beyond a bed, with a range of perk packages that sometimes feel like a consolation prize when they come to terms with the realities of hotel stays in a pandemic.

Hotel June opened in June 2020 after LA lifted some initial COVID restrictions. “One of the nice things about launching a hotel brand during COVID is that we have to completely rethink and reevaluate literally every element of the way we wanted to run the hotel in light of the pandemic,” says Brian De Lowe, President and Co-Founder of Proper Hospitality. And, of course, find a way to operate that could withstand far less business than originally planned.

Instead of advertising out-of-towers, which make up three-quarters of hotel guests in normal times, Hotel June has established partnerships to appeal to its neighbors: rooms that can be rented during the day, daily rates with outdoor workouts, and passes to the pool. “We doubled up on the Staycation and Daycation packages, making sure that even if people aren’t coming to spend the night, they can benefit from an experience they want outside of their home,” says De Lowe.

A year after living in a pandemic, almost any out-of-home experience is welcome, even if it comes at a cost. Many hotels have brought back the daily rate and converted overnight rooms into work areas for everyday use, often with whimsical and attention-grabbing perks. At Meliá’s Innside (stylized INNSiDE) in New York, guests can bring their dog for the day or even overnight and get access to in-room perks such as dog beds and pet-friendly blankets. The hotel’s “day stay” was introduced late last year and recently updated to accommodate animals. Pets can have dinner with their humans al fresco on the heated patio and now even have access to their own menu. For USD 55, dogs can choose between salmon or grilled chicken with steamed vegetables, lemon, and dessert. For an additional $ 3, get a cook-made peanut butter dog biscuit.

When Jeff Hong was packing to move out of his Brooklyn apartment that summer, he and his girlfriend decided to take it for a short vacation. The couple stayed at the 50 Bowery, a boutique hotel in New York’s Chinatown owned by Hyatt. For two weeks they played tourists in Manhattan and enjoyed a suite with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge for less than $ 100 a night. Hong says he wasn’t particularly loyal to any hotel chain and paid cash, not points. The rate was too good to miss, he says, but the experience was great too. “They gave us a ton of credit that we could use on their rooftop bar because everything was outside so you could get snacks and treats,” he says. The hotel interrupted its typical room service but did offer a takeout from the upstairs restaurant, the Crown, and worked with a few restaurants in the neighborhood to offer free breakfast up to a certain dollar amount. “Since their restaurant was only open at certain times, they outsourced breakfast to local guests,” says Hong. “To be honest, it was fantastic.” The biggest surprise, he says, was the number of out-of-town tourists at the hotel who took advantage of cheap COVID rates to visit New York for the first time.

But there is one new customer who makes an even bigger impression: the work-from-hotel set. The resorts on the beach offer Wi-Fi enabled cabanas for remote working. Guests traveling with their school-age children at the Pittsburgh Hotel Monaco, a Kimpton hotel, can sign up for a distance learning package that includes a desk, school supplies, a packed lunch, and treats like mini oreo and fruit snacks. For an additional USD 75, parents can book an adjoining room for the day so that children and parents have enough space to work – separately. The package is delivered with the help of a Chief Virtual Learning Officer, who has the task of setting up children for the school day at a desk with working WiFi. In this case, it is Hotel Monaco’s Sales and Marketing Director, Greg Goffin. He says a handful of families have taken advantage of the offer so far. “I give the parents a password that is their child’s name for the WLAN. The kids go crazy when they find out their first name is their password, ”he says. But really: “The snacks are the big thing.”

So there is space in the open air. Hotels fortunate enough to have open-air features ensure that potential guests know about it. Margot Kong owns Journeys Unparalleled, a luxury travel consultancy for family travel. Marketing is different now, she says. Hotels and resorts are promoting rooms with outdoor spaces and standalone options like cottages, villas, and casitas. “At least people ask for an outside entrance,” she says. “Things like outdoor space and private gardens and separate entrances are really important to people.”

Some hotels in milder climates have repurposed their outdoor spaces and moved things like spa services and other gatherings outside. Often guests can book a socially distant time at the pool. In California’s wine country, local traveler Allison Ball and her husband were given two poolside lounge chairs during the summer for the duration of their visit. “With everyone assigned seats by the pool, it was really easy to make space and leave a towel with no worries,” she says. “The manager did a great job looking after us, especially around the pool. He gave us a little tour, explained their guidelines, and really went above and beyond talking about the changes they made and the like. That in itself was definitely more thorough than a normal check-in experience. ”

It’s also not all large, eye-catching packages that move the needle during COVID. During a recent visit to Five Pines Lodge in Sisters, Oregon, Marzia Della Corte was delighted to receive a breakfast box that was specifically tailored to her plant-based dietary needs. But perhaps more exciting was having a trash can for every day of their stay. “We could just leave the rubbish at the door and it would magically disappear,” she says. “Not being able to clean rooms, at least having the ability to throw away the trash that easily made it very helpful.” Daily garbage collection was not common in other places where she stayed last year, she says.

While there have been early signs of early success, Hotel June is not immune to the challenges all hotels face. It is still not fully occupied and today counts its employees in the tens, not hundreds. De Lowe said real estate sales in his company’s portfolio have dropped between 50 and 100 percent, depending on local restrictions. Still, he says, the remaining team is working harder than ever to keep up with changing regulations and tweak concepts to make the business work.

But the most important thing, hoteliers say, is that these changes are temporary. It appears that COVID is generally viewed as a short-term problem by the hospitality industry. They are not doing major renovations or other permanent changes to ensure the long-term life of a pandemic. The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of new technologies like contactless check-in and keyless entry, but most say these changes were already in the pipeline. Proper Hospitality still has some new projects in the works and according to De Lowe: “We are not designing for COVID at all. I think if a hotel that is being designed today actually opens, the pandemic better be completely behind us – or we have bigger problems. ”

Kristen Hawley writes about restaurant operations, technology, and the future of business from San Francisco.

Carolyn Figel is a freelance artist living in Brooklyn.

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