Focus: Reassessing office layouts PAGE 12
CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I SEPTEMBER 21, 2020
Look Back: 25 years of the Rock Hall PAGE 23
CRAIN’S SPECIAL REPORT | HOTELS IN THE COVID-19 ERA
Unwanted guest
Todd Vanek of Avon ties down birthday balloons on the rooftop of the Ariel Broadway Hotel in downtown Lorain. Vanek is celebrating a friend’s birthday during the hotel’s rooftop sunset series. Owner Radhika Reddy, inset below, is finding creative ways to attract customers. | PHOTOGRAPHS BY LISA DEJONG FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
Until COVID-19 checks out, hotels will be in sick bay BY MICHELLE JARBOE AND STAN BULLARD
On March 6, Radhika Reddy opened a 56room hotel in downtown Lorain, in a historic building overlooking the Black River. Eleven days later, she shut the doors. The coronavirus pandemic forced Reddy, a longtime economic development consultant and first-time hotelier, to furlough most of her staff and become her own general manager. When the Ariel Broadway Hotel reopened in late May, she practically lived at the property for weeks. She greeted guests, took bookings and filled other gaps while searching for ways to cut costs and boost revenues. Now the hotel that Reddy expected to fill from May to October is lucky to have eight or nine reservations on a weeknight. And weekend bustle is likely to die down as the weather cools. See HOTELS on Page 18
Think your day has changed? Try checking into a hotel
Pandemic precautions are shaking up hotel operations in visible — and invisible — ways BY STAN BULLARD
The scene at many hotel front desks conjures up an image of bygone days and operations on the wrong side of town, when clerks used to labor behind bulletproof glass in setups similar to teller cages. A new version of that is afoot as the hotel industry copes with COVID-19. Plexiglass barriers are now commonplace — even at the Ritz-Carlton Cleveland, although a spokesman describes it as tastefully done. Signs point out how often counters and doorknobs in public areas get
cleaned, and staffers are wiping things down. Welcome to a hotel in 2020 as the industry grapples with a pandemic threatening the livelihood of more than a few properties. Travel, especially for business, has taken a big hit, and hotels are undertaking steps big and little to protect their mask-wearing guests and workers. Insiders estimate the line item for disinfectant-strength cleaning product is up 20% at hotels, and electrostatic cleaning machines are commonplace. See PRECAUTIONS on Page 20
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