The good news is that summer 2021 is on track to feel very different from summer 2020. If the vaccine roll out continues to be successful, Americans should be safe to travel and gather with certain precautions. With this in mind, hotels across the country are gearing up for what is expected to be a phenomenally busy season.
Like much of the travel industry, hotels had to recalibrate, swiftly and suddenly, as the pandemic set it. “Last summer was difficult,” says Amar Lalvani, CEO of The Standard International. “No one knew exactly how to operate.” But with a year of best pandemic practices under their belt, hotels are swinging open their doors with more confidence this summer, to a market hungry to get back out there. You shouldn’t expect your annual stay at, say, Ocean House in Rhode Island to feel exactly as it had in the years before, but you can assume it will feel more familiar than it would have last year. Just remember, this renewed sense of optimism doesn’t mean you can leave the mask at home. Here, what you need to know.
Book now
Word is that hotels are filling up fast. “We are starting to see a surge already,” says Tina Edmondson, global brand and marketing officer of Marriott International and Condé Nast Traveler Advisory Board member. Edmondson attributes the demand to longer booking windows. “Early in the pandemic was all about searching on Monday for a stay on Friday, that is all people could plan for.”
But as the vaccine rolls out, that window gets longer and longer. As early as March, Marriott’s 30 brands, which include St. Regis and JW Marriott, have been seeing bookings into September. At cozy Surfrider in Malibu, owner Emma Goodwin says that their daily bookings report in February was six times the average and that, as of March, the hotel was already 90 percent filled for May with bookings through October.
It’s also worth noting that many hotels are continuing to operate at a lower capacity for safety reasons, which makes competition even stiffer and forces rates to climb more quickly as bookings pick up. If you can’t get the days you want, Mike Minchin, chief marketing officer at Auberge International says don’t give up. “People do cancel. Call the hotel or keep checking the website.” The best advice? Be flexible with dates. “This is the summer to stay Sunday through Thursday,” says Minchin. In other words, use your vacation days.
‘Flexible’ has new meaning
If there was one silver lining for travelers last year, it was that nearly every booking was fully flexible and refundable. Though we can expect most properties to honor credits through the end of this year, conditions will start to change. At Auberge, whose retreats include Utah’s Lodge at Blue Sky and Austin’s new Commodore Perry Estate, booking is still flexible but Minchin says this will shift as demand continues to increase. Edmondson echoes this. “There will be periods of time across the Marriott portfolio where we will have to be more strict for pragmatic purposes, but the goal is to provide flexibility.” Ask in advance what the conditions are before you book to avoid any surprises.
Safety matters
Last year the American Hotel and Lodging Association rolled out its five-point Stay Safe guidelines, which outlined mask wearing and other protocols to keep staff and guests safe. At press time those protocols remain in place, though it is up to the individual hotels to implement.