Boston’s Long Wharf Mariott hotel was the site of an early outbreak of COVID-19. Hotel guests may be frightened by the idea of mingling with hundreds of travelers at once in a large hotel.

It was conventional wisdom in the hotel business that bigger is better. Large hotels are more efficient to run, easier to market and generally were more profitable. These properties, which were generally targeted for convention–goers, urban businesspeople and airport travelers, were at the top of the food chain.  

Today, however, all metrics for hospitality have been turned upside–down. In the era of COVID-19, size still matters but now it is the smaller that is better. 

The new buzzword in virtually all living and working environments is “dedensification.” The more intimate the site and the less interpersonal contact, the better. For those owners of once–perfectly positioned properties, they are now in the crosshairs of an economic disaster the likes of which none of us have ever experienced. The difficult reality is making a 400-, 500- or 600-room hotel attractive to a population that has become hyper-germophobic will require extreme creativity and significant investment.  

The hotels that will recover first will be boutique properties which are both manageable in size and in location, and that are “drive–to” versus “fly–to.” These hotels include niche urban properties and high-end resort inns and spas. Small–scale operators will find it easier to institute protocols to make visitors feel safe and create distancing from one another.  

Peace of Mind Is Top of Mind 

No matter what the hotel type, the most important amenity will now be environmental safety and the peace of mind associated with it. Beyond 1,200-count sheets, Godiva chocolates on the pillow and high-speed internet, guests will first want to know what is being done to disinfect rooms and common areas.  

Marriott has recently announced its own COVID-19 protocol for disinfecting all their hotels and is promoting it across the country. A local company based in Allston, called BioClear Pathogen Solutions, is going one step further and providing both conventional spraying and fogging techniques along with the application of UV tools and new technologies to give landlords and users alike the confidence to enjoy their stay. Products from thermal imaging heat sensors to determine guests’ and workers’ temperatures to robotics that can replace cleaning personnel, as well as advanced HVAC treatment systems will become commonplace, according to BioClear. 

Another major concern for the hotel industry is the health of the airline business. It is widely believed that at least one major carrier will likely fail or be forced to merge as people’s willingness to sit inside an enclosed capsule for hours at a time has been dramatically reduced.  

The advent of Zoom has opened people’s eyes to the fact that face to face business meetings are not always essential, thereby reducing the number of business travelers. The airlines ability to protect passengers from the spread of COVID-19 is therefore paramount for the hotel business and the sooner they recover the sooner we will see a return of business for a large sector of the hospitality industry.  

Bruce Percelay

The good news is that all pandemics die out, either by the creation of vaccines or the arrival of herd immunity. Fortunately, we live in an area where the likely solution to the pandemic may come from our extraordinary life sciences and medical community and the economic incentives to find a cure will certainly expedite this process.  

After the threat of COVID-19 dissipates however, the return to normalcy will take time and will require both patience and economic resiliency of hotel owners. Those who are able to weather this perfect storm will find themselves in an environment with less competition and may ultimately find themselves in a stronger position than they are today.  

Bruce Percelay is founder and chairman of The Mount Vernon Co., a Boston-based real estate investment firm.