The hotel industry has been one of the hardest hit industries since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The number of people vacationing has plummeted, and business travel is at an all time low which has severely impacted the Blue Springs Hampton Inn. Between widespread fear and the strict and swiftly changing government restrictions, owner Ashish Patel confides that initially, they did not know how they were going to survive.

“We didn’t know what to expect. It was scary not only from a safety standpoint, but from an occupancy standpoint. We didn’t know if we were understanding the health department’s mandates correctly and expectations were constantly changing. Everyday we found out something new and it just kept getting harder. There were days we were taking more cancellation calls than reservation calls. Team members were not coming

to work and we were running out of supplies as well.” recalls Patel.

While business people are not traveling due to job loss and company travel restrictions, people are traveling by car more now because they don’t want to fly. “We have gotten a lot of new clients that are driving across the country to visit family and need a reliable safe place to stay.” In fact, Patel says they have forged a strong bond with families that are traveling. “ A man traveling to New Jersey stayed with us, and when he got back

home, he told his family and friends about his experience with us. A month later, his brother stayed with us. Now when his family travels back and forth, they always stay with us. We are proud to offer them a safe environment and do not take their trust for granted.” But getting this far has taken a lot of hard work.

“Our first priority is creating a safe environment for our guests and staff. We now have an electro-static sprayer which we spray twice a day in the entire building. Every two hours our hotel staff cleans the entire public area, desk, credit card readers, luggage carts, lobby, fitness center, pool, everything. We are using all medical grade cleaners and housekeepers are spending 15-20 minutes more per room making sure to disinfect

what Hilton has identified as the 10 most touched places in a room.”

Keeping their employees safe at work has also been a top concern. “It’s been an adjustment, but our team understands that they play an important role in protecting people during this pandemic.” Patel explains “when employees come in, we take their temperature, and they sign a statement saying that they do not have COVID symptoms, and no one they share a roof with has COVID symptoms. We have them do the same thing when they go home, because we want to ensure that we protect their families too.”

Another big challenge has been managing guest expectations. “Most of the time with franchise hotels, guests know what to expect. But now, it’s a new ballgame. Now when they come in, their expectations are not what we were serving to them. Reduced breakfast items, limited elevator use, and other restrictions are very different from what they are used to, so we’ve had to retrain our guests in a way.” Patel states that communicating with guests prior to their arrival has been key to helping guests feel comfortable. “Our goal is to minimize face to face contact at the front desk. We call them before they arrive to find out what their needs are. We can take care of paperwork and explain our new protocols over the phone so all they have to do is come in, grab their room key and go.” Hampton Inn also offers a new digital key option allowing guests to use their phone as their room key, preventing them from having to visit the front desk at all.

“Our guests have reacted very positively,” says Patel. “We are now running the highest occupancy in the area. We are getting reviews from our guests stating that we are doing everything possible to ensure a clean, safe environment. They appreciate our extra efforts and our customer satisfaction score is 97.2 which is higher than last year. This makes us feel very good!”

If faced with another shutdown, Patel says he feels confident in their ability to meet and exceed the health departments requirements, but he doesn’t know how they will survive financially. “ Initially we were able to take advantage of government loans, and it helped a lot. I’m also very grateful for Blue Ridge Bank. They are truly a community bank, and when they realized the hotel industry was in trouble, they provided all the financial

resources they could to help us get by. But another shutdown will be very hard. Financially I don’t know how we would float.”

It’s a scary thought, but one Patel says they can’t dwell on. “We survived the bad days and I’m just incredibly thankful. Our condolences and prayers go out to everyone who has been directly or indirectly affected by this pandemic. I also want to thank my team, the community and our families for standing by us through the hard times. The Chamber of Commerce has been a great resource by keeping us in the loop and being a supportive shoulder to lean on, and Hilton and the Hotel Owners association have also been very helpful in providing training resources and new techniques.”

Visit Hampton Inn Kansas City/Blue Springs at http://www.kansascitybluesprings.hamptoninn.com or call 816-220-3844.

Thank you to the City of Blue Springs, The Examiner, Community Services League Blue Springs, and Downtown Alive for supporting our local small businesses. Together, we are #BlueSpringsStrong!

Photos by Jaime Russell, Anthem Photography