SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY

Northern Kentucky hotels look to rebound, expand following the pandemic

By Tabari McCoy, Scooter Media

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC MAKES

the prospect of traveling, especially following local, state and/or federal mandates warning millions not to, potentially hazardous to the health of yourself and others around you? According to Justin Ham, general manager of Hotel Covington, exactly what you would expect.

“The pandemic really hit us hard, just like every other business. In both Northern Kentucky and across the country, especially with the hotel industry, there was a huge hit in occupancy – occupancy matters … If we don't have heads in beds, it's very hard to start or keep the business going,” says Ham. “One of the biggest things that happened is that we closed the hotel, which was a very scary time. Being in the industry for almost 18 years, I've never had to put chains on a door before.” Brian Fry, President of Commonwealth Hotels’ five hotels throughout the Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati region, also knows the pain of the past two years.

“Let's start with the fact that 2020 was the worst year in the history of the hotel industry, and 2021 was the second-worst year in the hotel industry. So, we had a dip, no question,” Fry says. “When the initial pandemic hit, everybody froze. We had to decide ‘Are we going to reopen hotels, are we going to close hotels?’ Very tough decisions had to be made in those early weeks.” Those tough decisions, however, are now not only giving way to increasing individual and group hotel bookings but also to expansion plans to guarantee visitors can enjoy plenty of southern hospitality as only the Northern Kentucky Metro can deliver.

ROAD TO RECOVERY

According to STR, the benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights firm that tracks the global hospitality industry, hotel performance across the U.S. has shown improved comparisons against 2019 through mid-March. That’s welcome news to people like Ham and Fry considering their 2022-23 plans. Fry says the past two years saw Commonwealth Hotels’ local holdings, which include the Covington Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inn in Florence, rely on pandemic response business for their survival. Without it, the 56% decline in revenue and 86% fall in profit Commonwealth experienced between Feb. 2020–Feb. 2021 could have put the 274 people employed between the company’s five area hotels and two restaurants in a precarious situation. Now, as opposed to National Guard troops, first responders and other medical professionals occupying rooms, Fry says they are seeing an uptick in “bleisure travelers” – or those who mix family time with business trips, albeit not quite at the pre-pandemic level of business. That helps explain Commonwealth rebound over the same period between 2021 and 2022 with annual revenue reaching 85% and profit at 74% of 2020’s numbers.

“Cautiously optimistic” that business travel will pick up soon, Fry says there are several factors that can accelerate the recovery of the local hospitality industry – people feeling safe outside their homes taking top priority.

“The fact that we have vaccines, we have a slackening in the virus load and we're not seeing the hospitalizations that we have seen to the same level (as before). CDC guidelines are starting to be reduced – all of that is encouraging,” Fry says. “Number two, the increase in air travel capability is going to be good for us. As mask mandates have gone away, that sends a signal that it's safer to travel.” Ham credits PPP forgiveness loans and steady takeout orders from Coppin’s restaurant at Hotel Covington among the reasons they were able to avoid layoffs. He also agrees with Fry.

“We have seen tourism, especially our leisure travelers, coming back over the last six months … That's just not for us, it's for the (entire) market. This plan for North by Hotel Covington has been in the works for a couple years now and that demand has always been built in for us,” he says. “People are still catching up on getting married. Occupancy is trending in the positive direction; that's a very good sign for us and the industry in Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati.

Taking care of their employees, however, is key to ensuring guests will continue to enjoy an excellent level of service throughout the local industry.

“Some of our biggest challenges revolve around staffing … To provide great service, we’ve got to have great people, but a lot of people in our industry are changing careers,” Ham says. “All of us as GMs and hoteliers just hope that we have great people in the service industry that are willing to stay and find value and passion in that.” Fry – whose Commonwealth Hotels were named as a “Best Places to Work in Kentucky” by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce for 2022 – says making sure employees don’t feel forgotten is key to retaining them.

“These hotel workers, the people that came in every day when there was uncertainty, when there was fear around the pandemic, came in to serve the guests,” he says. “These are real heroes, and these people are so special, brave and selfless about the way that they approach their jobs and they did them under just incredibly difficult circumstances. I cannot speak highly enough for the hotels here in Northern Kentucky.”

MAXIMIZING OCCUPANCY

Also adding to Northern Kentucky’s hotel scene will be the new venue being built at 614 Madison Avenue, North by Hotel Covington. Set to be connected to its namesake via a walking bridge, Ham says the project intends to deliver everything guests love about Hotel Covington itself, which came in at no. 13 in TripAdvisor’s 2021 Traveler’s Choice Award rankings.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Cincinnati Riverfront

The recently renovated Courtyard Cincinnati Airport

Hampton Inn Cincinnati Airport

Hotel Covington

In addition to preserving the building’s historical elements and converting the building’s former pool space into a 500-person ballroom, North By Hotel Covington will feature approximately 53 luxury suites. “We envision a very communal space,” says Ham. “We want people to come and enjoy, grab coffee in the morning, then utilize our space to do some work, mimicking what we're doing in Hotel Covington.” While Ham is looking forward to Hotel Covington’s expansion with its North project, Fry is excited about Commonwealth’s latest project: The opening of a Homewood Suites in Newport that will be part of the ongoing Ovation project by Corporex.

“It’s a huge project. You're talking about something that's really going to change the skyline on the Kentucky side of the river as it will be very, very special, modern and high-end with beautiful architecture,” says Fry. “The PromoWest at Ovation music venue is bringing world-class entertainment to the region. You don't have to go across the bridge to hear great bands and national touring acts, they're on our side of the river, which is wonderful … We're very proud to be a part of it.”

SERVICE TO MAKE YOU SMILE

With both projects scheduled to open within the next year, Ham and Fry are hopeful the entirety of the hospitality industry will rebound soon. While seeing people again enjoying the arts and dining at restaurants are good signs, Ham says delivering “a great tailored experience” will always be important for hotels to keep up occupancy rates. If they continue to find great people, Fry believes hotels throughout Northern Kentucky will accomplish that goal.

“Careers that people have within the hospitality business are incredible. It's one of the few careers where you don't require a tremendous amount of specialized education to get in the game; you just need people with a great work ethic, a big smile on their face and a spirit to serve,” he says. “Every person I know in a senior management position in the hospitality industry, they all started out as a desk clerk, the housekeeping department, making beds or doing laundry … I am so optimistic about the future in the days ahead, so proud to be a living in Northern Kentucky and be part of this community because it's a very special place.” NKY