The hotel industry is struggling to fill rooms as travelers are staying home during the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stayed in a hotel two weeks ago. All they had was one dispenser of hand sanitizer,\u201d said business major Priscilla Rosas, 20. \u201cWhen you walk into the hotel room, there\u2019s nothing special, just a standard hotel room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rosas said that the hotel lacked safety precautions that would make her feel safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey give you forms to see if you\u2019ve been in contact with someone with COVID and
\nask if you\u2019ve had a high temperature, but that\u2019s really it,\u201d Rosas said. \u201cThey don\u2019t even tell you if your sheets are clean or if someone recently stayed in it or anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
General manager of Marriott Hotels Rhoda Balbas said her hotel has seen a dramatic drop in
\noccupancy since people are traveling less because of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s safe to stay in a hotel right now,\u201d Balbas said. \u201cWe do a lot of cleaning, high
\ntouch points; and we wash everything in the guest rooms.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Marriott has updated its safety measures by following Center for Disease Control guidelines for COVID-19.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pool is closed, and the fitness center is closed. Our complimentary breakfast — which was buffet style — we had to close that also,\u201d Balbas said. \u201cThere is social distancing in all our public areas — borders up by the front desk so we can keep six-feet apart social distancing. Our employees do checks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The McKinsey Consumer Leisure Travel Survey found more intense cleaning, temperature tests or rapid response testing for COVID-19 for every guest as well as offering free hand sanitizer among the top actions hotels can take to protect guests.<\/p>\n
Balbas said she hopes the Marriott will be completely booked with business workers
\nand travelers, but during the pandemic, having only one-third of the hotel full is a success.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Governor Newsom shutting everything back down, we don\u2019t know when businesses
\nwill be back up and running,\u201d Balbas said. \u201cSummer is usually a busy season, so this is painful for the hotel industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Balbas said she thinks normal may never return since San Jose relies heavily on business travel, and businesses are seeing the benefits of working from home.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, the clientele is more leisure,\u201d Balbas said. \u201cWe have associates using associate rates, and a small number of business travelers, and of course, you can imagine another group of clientele.\u201d<\/p>\n
Balbas said that they have had to fire a portion of their staff because of lost revenue from the
\ncoronavirus outbreak, and she said she fears that the end (of the pandemic) is far.<\/p>\n
Despite suggesting stronger measures that hotels could take, Rosas regrets her decision to
\nstay at a hotel.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe if they had sanitizer stations and cleaning supplies available, but as it is, if I had
\nthe choice, I would not stay at a hotel again. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s safe. The only people I think who
\nwould need a hotel right now are hookers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Rosas, history major Owen Raymond, 21, said that he would not feel safe staying at a hotel because of COVID-19.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only are you endangering yourself when traveling, but other people, too,\u201d Raymond said. \u201cI just don\u2019t think it\u2019s a smart idea to stay in a hotel during a pandemic regardless of the safety precautions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ethan Cunningham, enrolled in JOURN 22 News Writing and Reporting course, was a journalism student at San Jose City College this summer.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The hotel industry is struggling to fill rooms as travelers are staying home during the coronavirus pandemic. \u201cI stayed in a hotel two weeks ago. All they had was one dispenser of hand sanitizer,\u201d said business major Priscilla Rosas, 20. \u201cWhen you walk into the hotel room, there\u2019s nothing special, just a standard hotel room.\u201d…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[40,869,913,91,42,93,915,85],"staff_name":[1262],"class_list":["post-14894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-city-college-times","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-journalism","tag-journalism-program","tag-san-jose-city-college","tag-shelter-in-place","tag-sjcc","staff_name-ethan-cunningham"],"yoast_head":"\n