The City’s Living Room Historic Hotel Congress defies turbulent history to anchor Downtown Tucson BY ALEX GALLAGHER Hotel Congress is not just a landmark of Downtown Tucson but has provided a quiet space for tourists and residents alike to enjoy a cocktail or listen to live music for over a century. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hotel Congress played home to a variety of events and a diverse audience of guests. “The best description of Hotel Congress is it is what a lot of people call the ‘living room of Tucson,’” says Todd Hanley, Hotel Congress general manager and proprietor. “Some days we were doing all-ages shows in the club for 16-year-olds all the way up to 75-year-olds; our core graphic demographic is mid-to-late 20s to midto-late 30s. “We are such an inclusive and diverse business because of the types of entertainment we provide and the staff we have,” Hanley says. Hanley vividly remembers the night he had to close his hotel’s doors when the pandemic hit in March 2020. “We were following COVID at the end of February and beginning of March. Really the pivotal moment was St. Patrick’s Day 2020; that evening we laid off 220 employees,” Hanley says. “The reality was, as of 8 p.m. on March 17, 2020, we were laying off 92% of our entire staff.” Shocked, Hanley did not even have time to react to the stay-at-home orders. However, he describes reopening as being the real challenge, as there were more hurdles he had to jump over. “From the economics to the safety to the community responsibility, there was such a roller coaster of emotions, because we wanted to be in business but we also didn’t know if it was the right time or the right thing to do,” Hanley says. “We were just trying to be ready, trying to have the correct number of staff, trying to have the correct amount of food, trying to have the hotel
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rooms ready. It was just completely wild,” Hanley says. The biggest impact the pandemic has had on Hotel Congress’ business has been best seen outside its rooms. “You can sit down and have breakfast, lunch or dinner or have a cocktail, but you can’t interact as much, you can’t move around and engage the entire experience of the Hotel Congress,” Hanley says. “It’s not quite the same experience, even though we’re open and busier than we’ve
ever been since the pandemic.” Another way the pandemic has affected Hotel Congress has been through the minimization to the once elaborate Agave Heritage Festival. “We have a shell of our Agave Heritage Festival, which has become an internationally acclaimed festival celebrating the culture, traditions and history of the agave plant,” Hanley says. The festival usually draws large crowds to Tucson, but this year Hanley is pre-
pared for the decrease in crowds. “That’s usually such a big part of Tucson’s tourism, and it’s a big blow for the Hotel Congress,” Hanley says. “It’s usually 12 days with 30-plus events that we squeezed into a day or two, and a couple of events that we can squeeze in around late May or early April. “We’re going to be doing some tiny, COVID-safe events around small tastings and small concerts similar to how we’re currently executing our business day to day at the Hotel Congress.” Hanley has, however, tried to do as much as he can to keep the human spirit alive in Tucson while also keeping his guests safe and acting responsibly. “We allow 75 to 100 people on our plaza. Typically, a normal Friday or Saturday we would have 500 to 600 people packed into the plaza, but we feel
Hotel Congress is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel of what has been a difficult year. (Photos courtesy of Hotel Congress)
comfortable that we can execute small, intimate, private and safe food and beverage events, but nothing like what we’ve hosted in the past,” he explains. “We have no true ‘big events.’ We just have events that keep the human spirit alive, keeping that human interaction alive, and it’s all to bolster the restaurants and the Hotel Congress rooms.” One way Hotel Congress has done so has been by bringing some food and music events to its stages. “On Friday and Saturday we host live music on our stage; on Sundays we consistently offer a ‘Blues and Barbecue’; and then once a month on Wednesdays we offer a ‘Soul food Wednesday,’ which is a wonderful collaboration with Blackowned businesses, DJs, live music and food trucks,” Hanley explains. Though there has been an ease on restrictions, Hanley is still relying on his gut to make the best decisions for his hotel. “Our bars are still not open inside. We’re still not comfortable with that type of situation,” Hanley says. “We’re not emotionHotel...continues on page 7 www.LovinLife.com