Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

This New York hotel quarantined the sick. Now the owners regret it.

This New York hotel quarantined the sick. Now the owners regret it.

Owners say one guest canceled booking after finding out COVID-19 patients stayed in the property

When the pandemic erupted last spring, the husband-and-wife owners of an upstate New York hotel felt compelled to offer the 43-room property to Monroe County authorities for use as a quarantine facility.

Silas Patel and his wife, Micky Patel, both previously worked in the healthcare industry, and they were eager to provide shelter at their Clarion Pointe hotel for people who had COVID-19, or had been exposed to the coronavirus. The couple also said it brought in some revenue when the rest of their lodging business had evaporated.

More than 15,000 hotels across the U.S. offered to provide temporary housing for emergency and healthcare workers, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association, though it isn’t clear how many actually served in this capacity. Many hotels didn’t publicize that their properties served people in quarantine. On hotel booking websites and their own property websites, they simply said no rooms are available.

Experiences have varied widely after government contracts expired and owners resumed more normal hotel operations. But the Patels have had a good deal of trouble with the Rochester property since reopening it this month.

They said at least one guest canceled a booking after realizing the property was once a "COVID hotel," and say it is impossible to know how many others are staying away because of the stigma. Occupancy has been around 20% since the start of April, the Patels said, well off the 69% occupancy rate in April 2019. It is also below the national average of 59.7% for the week ending April 10, according to lodging data firm STR.

Mr. Patel understands why guests would be hesitant to stay if they thought there was any lingering health risk. He spent $6,000 out of his own pocket and weeks cleaning the rooms, vents and furniture, and repolishing the floors. He stayed in many of the rooms before reopening to ensure that everything was in working order.

"You want guests to feel safe here," Mr. Patel said.

Yet the 44-year-old hotelier can’t help but wonder if he is paying too high a price for helping his community during a time of need. The county paid the owners a bit more than $450,000 to take over the property for the 11-month period, he said, though that covered only the costs of operation.

Upon returning to the property in February, Mr. Patel found busted microwaves and refrigerators piled high in a dumpster at the back of the hotel. There was much more wear and tear in the rooms, too, because patients spent many more hours there than a typical guest.

A Monroe County spokeswoman said the county fully complied with all the terms of the lease that was negotiated with the hotel, including with respect to cleaning.

Mr. Patel and his wife now plan to sell the property. "I don’t think they showed us the same courtesy as we did to them," he said.

With COVID-19 infection rates down nationally since January, vaccinations rising and millions of stimulus checks deposited in bank accounts, more Americans are itching to get out and travel again.

The Rochester hotel might be struggling more than most. That is in part because most owners continue operating their hotel when they take on government contracts during disaster relief or to house the homeless, lawyers said. Often, these agreements involve leasing a number of rooms with some services at a discounted rate.

In New York City, there are more than 130 commercial hotels used as shelters, including 67 locations that house around 10,000 individuals relocated from congregate shelters at the height of the pandemic, according to the Department of Social Services.

"It’s impractical for the government to step into the shoes of an operator and take over an asset such as a hotel," said Yariv C. Ben-Ari, a partner in the real estate department at Herrick Feinstein LLP, who advises hotel owners.

County officials didn’t respond to a request for comment on the question of operation.

Mr. Patel, who was born in London and moved to the U.S. as a child, spent more than a decade working in healthcare finance and policy. His wife was a registered nurse. In 2018, they purchased the Clarion Pointe hotel, which is about 9 miles from Lake Ontario, and renovated it the following year.

The county said it followed the guidelines set by the New York State Department of Health for cleaning and disinfecting areas housing individuals under movement restrictions, according to emails sent to the Patels and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Patel said he is grateful that he didn’t lose the property to foreclosure, but even with the revenue from the county, he is financially strapped. The lease payments from the county started off near $80,000 a month in April 2020, were nearly cut in half in June, and then roughly cut in half again in September.

The total wasn’t enough to dig the Patels out of their financial hole. After a grace period of three months, lenders and vendors have imposed late fees after they missed payments, Mr. Patel said. Mr. Patel said his insurer also dropped coverage after late payments and because it was unsure how to insure a building housing COVID-19 patients.

"We were committed to this," said Mrs. Patel. "But frustration built up over time."

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
EU Proposes Phasing Out Russian Oil and Gas by End of 2027 to End Energy Dependence
More Than 150,000 Followers for a Fictional Character: The New Influencers Are AI Creations
EU Prepares for War
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Druzhba Pipeline Incident Sparks Geopolitical Tensions
Cost of Opposition Leader Péter Magyar's Economic Plan Revealed
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
×