TAMPA, Fla. — With traveling and vacations coming to a halt, hotels in tourist hot spots like Tampa have found themselves empty, and in some cases closing.
“March is typically our best month, we are usually full and that’s when we make our money, January, February, March and April, the busy season for us, and the rest of the year we either break even or lose money so this has definitely killed our season,” said Jim McCready, owner of the Hyde Park Hotel.
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Inside his office, McCready looked at the bookings from last April, and then compared it to this April. Right now, only three of his 24 rooms are occupied. He expects to lose $40,000 to $50,000 this spring.
“It’s very depressing looking at this,” said McCready.
However, he is determined to stay open because people are depending on him.
“I didn’t really want to lay off the employees that I have,” said McCready. “There may be some health care workers that are in need of a place to stay, too.”
McCready has taken some extra steps to ensure the safety of his guests.
“We’ve instructed the cleaning crew to wipe things down more than usual, make sure they don’t miss a square inch of any kind of counter top surface or anywhere any viruses might be,” said McCready.
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He also just received a shipment of Ozone Generators.
“According to some of the studies that I’ve seen, it kills pathogens and particular viruses,” said McCready.
He’s also cut down on human contact by allowing guests to check in themselves, no front desk necessary.
“Push the button on the call box, it will call who ever is on duty 24/7 to buzz the guest in,” said McCready.
McCready said it doesn’t matter how many rooms sit empty, if and when needed, the Hyde Park Hotel will be ready.
“When you are a small business you have to work harder anyway so I figured the best thing to do is just go ahead and stay open,” said McCready.
For more information on the hotel, click here.
