Originally Posted by
Adelphos
1) Hotel demand and rates are still well below normal, especially for business travel oriented hotels. Hotels will bring back things like hot breakfast only when demand returns. Local restrictions are less of a driver. While Texas has been open for a while, business travel is still down
2) Hotels will be looking to formalize many of the cost saving initiatives that they implemented during Covid on a permanent basis. Some things will come back, others won't. With labor and food inflation high, and demand uncertain, hotels will need to focus on the bottom line
I would counter that demand in a lot of places is far from below normal and if anything is back to something resembling pre-pandemic. Except in very limited circumstances, local restrictions have never been an issue for any property. A lot of myths and urban legends have been posted on this site regarding rooms staying unoccupied between stays as policy or a standard which is far from accurate. The overwhelming bulk of US hotels have always had/have the ability to do as they please.
On the question of when amenities will return, that's complicated. No parent company that I know of has given any guidance and as an example, the management company that runs the Hampton where I work has laid it down to all properties it runs (a few hundred across multiple brands and states) that full hot breakfast will not come back until the parent company issues guidance requiring it.
Long term my opinion is that things that were free (i.e. daily housekeeping) will only be done for a daily fee or for an increased daily rate almost like a Spirit Airlines model. Services at full service properties will be likely be very different than what will be offered or included at limited service properties.