Skip to content

Search

Latest Stories

Congress reaches deal on COVID-19 relief funding

Hotel industry associations pushed for political unity to avoid economic disaster

ANOTHER DAY PASSED without Congress approving relief funding to help hotels and other small businesses weather the economic storm from the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, after midnight, a deal was struck.

A vote on the motion to proceed on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, & Economic Security Act in the Senate failed by a vote of 49-46, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association.


“House and Senate Leadership continue to negotiate,” AHLA said.

Those negotiations finally seemed to bear fruit with an announcement of a deal early Wednesday morning, according to CNN. Few details of the deal were known when this article went to print.

"Ladies and gentleman, we are done," White House legislative affairs director Eric Ueland said just before 1 a.m. ET, according to CNN. "We have a deal."

AHLA members have sent more than 74,000 letters to Congress supporting the act.

The $2 trillion CARES Act would provide Small Business Administration loans and other assistance hotels need to stay open as occupancy plummets, said Cecil Staton, AAHOA’s president and CEO, in a statement.

“America’s small businesses and their employees are running out of time while Washington insiders play politics with their futures. Congress needs to come together and deliver critical financial assistance to the industries and workers hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Staton said. “As the negotiations continue, we urge Congress and the Trump administration to include real economic relief for small business owners and address the liquidity crisis facing thousands of hotel owners across the country.”

Staton had also said in a previous statement that the maximum set for the loans needed to be expanded to four times the annual average monthly operating expenses, with a cap of $10 million.

Democrats in Congress have held up the bill out of concern that it would not do enough to ensure that companies use the money to keep workers on the job.

“The Senate Republicans’ bill, as presented, put corporations first, not workers and families,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said before unveiling the House’s own version of the stimulus, the Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act.

The Democrats’ bill would require that any corporation that receives taxpayer money from the stimulus use it to pay wages and benefits, not stock buybacks or salaries for CEOs. It would also shore up Unemployment Insurance to help cover workers who lose their jobs.

The bill also includes more funding for healthcare workers and hospitals to purchase personal protective equipment and calls on President Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act to increase production of the equipment. However, Republicans said the bill also contains extraneous expenses for Democratic causes like the Green New Deal.

More for you

CBRE: US Hotel RevPAR to Grow 1.3 Percent in 2025

CBRE: RevPAR to grow 1.3 percent in 2025

U.S. HOTEL REVPAR is expected to grow 1.3 percent in 2025, supported by urban markets from group and business travel and increased demand for drive-to and regional leisure destinations, according to CBRE. Occupancy is forecast to rise 14 basis points and ADR 1.2 percent year-over-year.

This represents slower growth than CBRE’s February forecast, which projected 2 percent RevPAR growth based on a 21-basis-point increase in occupancy and a 1.6 percent rise in ADR, the commercial real estate and investment firm said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Palette Hotels to Transform DoubleTree by Hilton in Washington, PA

Palette to manage Washington, PA, DoubleTree

Palette’s Expertise in Hospitality Management

SUNRISE GOLD HOSPITALITY recently selected Palette Hotels to manage its 140-room DoubleTree by Hilton Washington Meadow Lands Casino Area in Washington, Pennsylvania. Palette will oversee renovations, including Hilton Connected Rooms technology upgrades, new signage, landscaping, building systems and updates to the lobby, guestrooms, bathrooms, meeting spaces, restaurant, bar and lounge.

Sunrise Gold Hospitality is led by owner Ramesh Pandya, and Palette Hotels by Founder and CEO Richard Lou.

Keep ReadingShow less