Burlington Archer Hotel reps on COVID’s toll and future of travel
The Archer Hotel, Burlington’s stylish lodging fronting Middlesex Turnpike’s 3rd Ave. complex, has, like the…
The Archer Hotel, Burlington’s stylish lodging fronting Middlesex Turnpike’s 3rd Ave. complex, has, like the town’s retail and restaurant industries, been deeply impacted by the ongoing pandemic. Earlier this month, Town Accountant John Danizio told the Board of Selectmen revenue from hotel rooms was down 65{d54a1665abf9e9c0a672e4d38f9dfbddcef0b06673b320158dd31c640423e2e5} over the previous year. While staffing has been cut in response to reduced occupancy, management is optimistic that the traveling public will return as pandemic restrictions continue to be lifted.
Cheryl Gilliam, senior vice president of brands and marketing at LodgeWorks, and Albert Kowalczykowski, the Archer’s general manager, spoke with the Burlington Union about the past year’s impacts on the hospitality industry in general and locally. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How are things with the Archer Hotel right now, as compared to earlier in the pandemic?
Albert: Archer Hotel Burlington is beginning to see glimmers of the return of travelers. Like many of our hospitality counterparts in other hotels and restaurants, our guests are becoming more comfortable with the effectiveness of our diligent protocols and the promise of vaccines.
Cheryl: The first guest to thoughtfully, cautiously come back is the leisure traveler. They are primarily getting into a car and driving. They have been working from home, teaching from home and they and their children just need a change of scenery. Burlington has been more active in terms of smaller businesses and business travelers starting to venture out. Many larger companies still have travel restrictions in place, and that is a large piece of our corporate traveling audience.
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Can you talk about the conditions of the industry in general?
Cheryl: The impact has been universally devastating but has varied a bit by region, depending on infection rates and state and local restrictions. We have had to shrink our staff, from 70 to about 22, which has been heart wrenching. Our dream is to welcome back as many of those members of our work family as possible as travel resumes this year and in 2022.
Who are your main clients?
Cheryl: We are pretty traditional and comparable to other hotels in the area. The typical guest Monday through Thursday is the business traveler. The leisure guests arrive Thursday through Sunday. That doesn’t mean we don’t have leisure guests come in for the week, but that is primarily the breakdown.
Albert: Early in the pandemic we hosted frontline healthcare workers, traveling nurses and other essential workers. It was a huge responsibility and honor to care for them. As restrictions have eased, we saw local and regional leisure guests who just needed a change of scenery or could finally visit family. We are just beginning to see some of our corporate guests, primarily from smaller companies who need to get back to business. Many larger companies continue to restrict travel and while we understand their caution, our business will not return to normal until they do.
There is talk about people continuing to work from home after the pandemic, less interest in returning to commercial office space. How will that impact you?
Cheryl: Obviously, we’ve heard the same thing. No doubt some industries and companies will be more thoughtful about changing why and when they travel, just as some companies have decided they can be just as effective working from afar as they balance their bottom line and rent and utilities. What we’re finding is that is industry or individual specific. What I’ve discovered is people who love travel and making personal connections can’t wait to travel again.
Albert: We are seeing smaller local companies, CEOs and executive teams come in and represent the company. We are starting to see a small percentage of business travel, and that is exciting to see.
What is the plan for recovery?
Albert: Our primary goal is to continue to be diligent about safety. That’s the best thing we can do to make our current and future guests comfortable. We are reaching out to all of our business contacts to understand their plans for recovery and we continue to adapt. I’ve been in the hotel business here in Burlington for 20 years. It’s been the worst of times for our industry, but the best of times as I’ve watched the care and concern we’ve had for our team, for longtime guests and clients and for perfect strangers. It’s only made me love more than ever what I get to do every day.
The town is in the very beginning of the budget season and looking at greatly diminished receipts from the hospitality industry. What is the conversation about recovery and the future?
Albert: It’s an understandable concern. Our occupancy levels are hovering around 35{d54a1665abf9e9c0a672e4d38f9dfbddcef0b06673b320158dd31c640423e2e5} compared to 75{d54a1665abf9e9c0a672e4d38f9dfbddcef0b06673b320158dd31c640423e2e5} in 2019. That is a lot of missed occupancy tax revenue for the town. It sounds crazy but we’d love nothing more than to see our hotel full again and contribute that essential revenue to the community.
What changes that you have had to make will you keep after things get back to normal?
Albert: This has been quite a learning experience. We have learned how to adapt and change quickly. Social distancing will be around for a while. I hope normalcy will return at some point soon. We will always adapt and adhere to what guests and clients feel is most important to them.
Cheryl: We live in a world where there are crises and tragedies that happen, but never in my career have I experienced something that impacted all of our hotels. I think this allowed us to sharpen our skills. I think we have become very aware and proactive and I think we will be ever so more thoughtful going forward. We have now a renewed appreciation and sensitivity for the uniqueness of our guests and what they might be going through. It has been a masters class on having sensitivity for the cares and concerns of our guests and team members. That will stick with us going forward.
