Going to a hotel in California will look completely different than it did before the global pandemic hit in early 2020.

David Bowman, board member of the California Lodging Industry Association, said there will most likely be self-parking instead of valet, automated doors instead of doormen, bottles of hand sanitizer on countertops, spaced out furniture in the lobby, a grab-and-go breakfast instead of a continental one, and employees with masks, gloves, and maybe even protective eyewear. As far as the room, Bowman said everything will be single-use.

“It's going to be different, but you're going to see a very happy staff,” he said. “So many people are going to be happy to be back to work because 70 percent of the people in our business have been out of work ever since [the novel coronavirus] hit.”

While it differs by county, Bowman said most California hotels will only fill up to 50 percent occupancy.

“You’re going to see occupancy improve at all the drive-through destinations, coastal properties,” he said. “A lot of people want to get away, and this their opportunity.”

While it might be shocking at first to arrive at a hotel that operates completely differently from the way it did before COVID-19, Bowman said guests will get used to the environment and enjoy their stays.

“The pools will open gradually. There’s some guidelines for opening the pools. Other things will be closed for a while, the exercise room will be closed,” he said. “We’ll get there, but I think this is a big first step.”

While Bowman believes Airbnb increases tourism in California, he doesn’t worry about individual properties competing with hotels for business.

“We think that hotels have more to offer because the franchise hotels, so many hotels, have a distinct protocol to follow. Airbnbs are pretty much on their own,” he said. “I think a lot of people are going to feel safer at a hotel because there’s a corporation or owner or somebody who’s following very strict guidelines.”

During the pandemic, many California hotels have housed essential workers and people experiencing homelessness through Project Roomkey.

“It’s very difficult to operate a hotel profitably at a low occupancy rate because so many of the expenses of a hotel are fixed: The building, its maintenance, its insurance, its utilities, the variable expenses [like] the housekeeping, the supplies, things like that. So it’s tough. It’s tough on these hotel owners,” he said. “The government programs have helped. We’ve helped guide a lot of our members with the economic injury disaster loans, with the payment protection plan, which have helped fill the gap.”

While hotels have suffered greatly during the pandemic, Bowman said owners and operators in California are resilient.

“They believe in what they're doing. They believe in the state. They’re going to be OK, but it's going to take some time.”

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