With more people staying home, events being canceled and business travel limited, hotels in Tomball and Magnolia are seeing significantly lower rates of occupancy.
“We had 99% cancellations,” said Yamini Mistry, general manager of Magnolia Inn and Suites. “Birthday parties and weddings had a lot of reservations canceled.”
Due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus, Harris and Montgomery counties issued stay-at-home orders in late March, followed by a similar state order March 31, which will remain in effect through April 30. However, essential businesses, a designation which includes hotels, can remain open.
Mistry said as of April 2, the lobby is currently closed, and there have been no reservations in the past few days; however, the hotel is still open for business.
A major concern for hotels is the ability to pay staff during this time, Mistry said. No layoffs or furloughs have taken place at the Magnolia hotel as of yet.
No furloughs have taken place at Residence Inn by Marriott in Tomball as of April 2 either, General Manager Dafne Torres said. However, Torres said it will become a concern if the situation persists for multiple months.
“There’s really nothing that we can do,” she said.
Jeremy Allen, front desk supervisor at Holiday Inn Express in Tomball, said event cancellations have affected that hotel as well.
“The rodeo, the [Tomball] German Fest and wedding cancellations [have all made an impact],” he said. “The rooms come from the groups, so with the venue canceling everything, it automatically takes those out.” The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was forced to wrap up early, and the three-day Tomball German Festival was canceled for late March.
No hotel staff at the Tomball Holiday Inn Express had yet been furloughed as of March 26, Allen said; however, some employees have beenmoved to work at other hotels owned by the same owner.
Travel restrictions have also contributed to decreased occupancy, Allen said, as corporate workers are not traveling for meetings and needing to stay at the hotel.
“March is usually our busiest month,” Allen said. “Right now, we are at an average of [a] single-digit percent or 10% at the most [for occupancy].”
