MINNEAPOLIS – As general manager of Minneapolis-based Hewing Hotel, Catherine Hall (pictured) was not on the job long when the pandemic hit in March 2020. As a veteran in the hotel industry, Hall joined Hewing two years ago. As GM of the 124-room boutique hotel (owned by Aparium), she has seen the crash, the rise, and now another period of uncertainty. HX: The News sat down with Hall to get a better sense of how far the hospitality industry has come since the dark days of April 2020.
Greg Thompson, editor, HX: The News: How would you compare Sept 2020 to Sept 2021 from a business standpoint?
Catherine Hall, general manager, Hewing Hotel, Minneapolis: We are nearly back up to Aug-Sept of 2019 numbers.
Thompson: What types of travelers are you seeing?
Hall: The segmentation of business has changed somewhat, so we’re seeing largely transient as opposed to corporate travelers. However, corporate travel since June has been growing more and more. There was kind of an apex in July 2021 of corporate travel, and we’ve seen it back off just a little bit from what we were seeing in June and July—mostly because of renewed concern over the Delta variant. I would say numbers are almost there. It is honestly just the segmentation that’s mostly different.
Thompson: And the Delta variant is affecting corporate travel, correct?
Hall: Yes. Certain corporations are putting travel restrictions on their people again. What we’ve been seeing is mandated by corporations.
Hewing Hotel, Minneapolis, Minn.
Thompson: Do you think that segmentation will continue or will it revert to Aug 2019 someday?
Hall: I don’t think it’s going to stay the way it is. I think it will definitely return more. Whether or not in the next couple years we will be back to 100 percent of corporate travel, I doubt it. However, I do see that there will be a resurgence once we’re able to get more control on the Covid situation.
Thompson: How much enthusiasm is there for corporate travel?
Hall: I think there is still a desire by corporations to travel. Everybody has been doing Zoom calls for a year and a half now. At first I thought; Well, maybe corporations will just adjust and continue to use that as the vehicle. The feedback I’ m getting from guests is that Zoom does not take the place of in-person meetings—particularly in sales. Those are the first ones we saw come back because that one-on-one experience between sales person and customer is so integral to the process.
Thompson: How has the pandemic affected your staffing levels?
Hall: We were closed for two months in 2020, and when we first reopened in June 2020, we did it with 12 people. We quickly ramped up from there. I would say right now, from this past May until now, we are at about three quarters of what we were in 2019 as far as positions go. Some of the positions have not been filled, not because we are not hiring for them, but because the job market has been so tough to find people. It’s more of a supply problem than not having jobs posted. We definitely have the demand, and are concerned about having the appropriate amount of people in order to give really amazing service. It’s been a challenge trying to find people. Many people got out of the hospitality industry when Covid hit, so finding those people now is difficult.
Thompson: What was the situation right before the pandemic?
Hall: In March we were doing gangbusters right up until the announcement came out that the state was shutting down. I was a little bit taken aback honestly. I saw it coming to a certain degree, but it all wound up happening within the course of a week. And so we were shut down. I believe third week in March through third week in June, so I guess actually that would be three months.
Thompson: Was there any talk of going out of business?
Hall: No.
Thompson: What’s your level of optimism about the hotel industry?
Hall: Honestly, I’m very optimistic. We have beat budget every month since we’ve re-opened. Of course, beating budget those first few months was entirely different than beating budget now. But given that we are back close to 2019 numbers, I anticipate a bit of a dip just because of Delta. The only thing that I am extremely worried about is staffing. Other than that, the revenues are there. I am optimistic regarding 2021 and even more optimistic about 2022.