Big Progress In The Big Apple | The Hotel Experience

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Bleak in 2020, rebounding in 2021, and roaring in 2022—that’s the hotel industry vibe from the heart of the Big Apple. The dose of optimism comes courtesy of Christian Brosius (pictured), general manager of The Moxy Times Square in midtown Manhattan—now also overseeing Moxy Williamsburg and Moxy Chelsea.

HX: The News has checked in with Brosius periodically to get a feel for the NY business climate. With nowhere to go but up, occupancy had ascended at The Moxy back in June 2021 with Brosius revealing a 68% occupancy rate. A year later, HX: The News revisited The Moxy to get a better idea about the present climate and Brosius’ predictions about the future.

Greg Thompson, editor of HX: The News: Summer has officially started. How is business?
Christian Brosius, general manager of The Moxy Times Square: It’s very good. We came into the year very tentatively. We wondered; What does this pent up demand really mean? Segment after segment in our industry—be it business travel or leisure—it all came roaring back. It’s the same with group travel.

HX: The News: What about international travel?
Brosius: We are still lacking some of the international travel up to now, but after the vaccine requirement for international travelers was lifted, we’ve seen that pick up in recent months as well.

HX: The News: How are occupancy rates?
Brosius: We’re running high occupancy. I would argue that the rate that we’re getting right now in our city is higher than where it was in 2019. I don’t know that for a fact, but I know it’s true for our portfolio of hotels. From a business perspective, things are looking good.

HX: The News: Is the pandemic a distant memory or does it linger in your head?
Brosius: It still lingers, and I’ll tell you why. What’s happening is that a lot of people did not travel for two years. By now it’s been two years and three months since March 2020. So when you have guests that are returning to a hotel after 20-something months out of that environment, you need to be cognizant of how they feel about interactions, about sleeping in someone else’s room and eating in a restaurant—going out and being around a lot of people.

As an industry, we need to be aware that there are people who have not traveled in a very long time. We also need to be aware that New York in itself is an exception to the extent that this was a heavy hit area during the pandemic, and there might be perceptions from travelers that this is not the safest place. I always joke about having full buffets where everyone reaches in, and maybe we got a little smarter about that. We’re still focusing on having hand sanitizer stations available, and still allowing employees to wear masks if they choose to do so.

HX: The News: How business in the F&B sector?
Brosius: It has been going very well; Not only with the pent-up demand from travelers needing or wanting to come to New York, but also with locals wanting to go out and experience what they weren’t able to experience for a very long time. A rooftop bar, anything that is some sort of an attraction even for locals, is doing tremendously well. From a service standpoint, we’re able to service the guests.

HX: The News: And you are not requiring employees to wear masks, correct?
Brosius: Correct. We’re not requiring employees to wear masks, but they are certainly allowed to and some still do.

HX: The News: What about buffets?
Brosius: We are serving food the way we always used to, which is a la carte. We never had a buffet anyway.

HX: The News: How is your staffing situation?
Brosius: It’s improving month over month, meaning the amount of applications is increasing, the quality of candidates is increasing. We’re very optimistic. It is still a very competitive job market on all levels in our industry—and that is from room attendant, front desk agent—all the way up to general manager, chief engineer, director of finance, and so on. I think people are weary of switching jobs because no one knows what the next winter holds.

A lot of individuals have left this industry and are tentative about coming back and we’re having a hard time convincing people to join the industry right out of the gate. Given that it was hit so hard and we’re competing with retail on the entry level. We’re competing with the gig economy and gig jobs that are out there which might seem more appealing. It is a 24/7 guest-facing industry. You can’t have an off day. You’ve got to be there. We are open on weekends and holidays. That might not be appealing to everyone, but it is getting better.

HX: The News: How do you think the rising fuel prices and inflation are or will be affecting the hotel industry?
Brosius: It will impact local weekend travel that is solely discretionary income. So you head to the city for a show, and instead of going home you say, ‘Let’s go out and just spend the night in a hotel.’ I think you’re going to see a little bit of that falling short. What’s more concerning is fuel prices as airfare becomes more expensive.

HX: The News: What about in New York?
Brosius: People will still come to New York, but they might stay a little shorter to save on the room. They are going to have less money to spend while in New York. So I am not as worried about the hotels per se, but I’m very worried about the local coffee shop or wherever visitors spend money while they’re in New York.

HX: The News: What’s your prediction for business travel?
Brosius: Given that people haven’t traveled in two years, there’s just so much pent up demand that they just have to travel. At this point, they have so much savings that it will be okay for a while unless there is a recession coming—that might change it. I think business travel will be strong at least for the remainder of the year. Until that point, I think we’re going to be okay from that perspective. People are going to come to New York. People want to be here. What they are going to do while they are here might be a little less than before.

HX: The News: How confident are you about the future?
Brosius: I am very confident in the business model that we have, which is this very communal-driven, select-service type of hotel—like the Moxy brand with its cozy rooms, extensive food and beverage offerings, and very integrated into local communities—it is going to do very well.

HX: The News: What worries you?
Brosius: The future of hotel talent worries me.

HX: The News: Why?
Brosius: There’s been a lot of negativity around our industry and how some organizations maybe treated their employees and how hard this was for two years. This turned off a lot of people from pursuing a career within our industry, and they are leaving for other areas. That is concerning. At the end of the day, we need to have people who are passionate in this industry. As an industry, we need to do better at retaining talent, attracting talent, and showing people that this is a great industry. You can be successful here and live a good life working in our industry.