SAN ANTONIO – It’s been a wild ride for the hotel industry over the past two years, and it’s not over.
Supply chain and staffing issues have morphed, but they’re still prevalent. On top of that, companies have now added inflation to the list of woes.
In December, 2021 KSAT visited the Estancia del Norte hotel in San Antonio and got a blunt picture of how the supply chain and staffing shortages were wreaking havoc on business.
Ten months later, we checked back in to find a similar picture.
“The pandemic really changed hospitality as a whole and we had to figure out how to adapt,” said Alex Alston, Human Resources Director for Presidian Hotels, which owns Estancia del Norte.
At KSAT’s first visit to the hotel the supply chain crisis was the top problem, making it hard to find things as basic as toilet paper.
However, since Presidian has 10 hotels in Texas, they have figured out a way to share supplies. Even then, changes have had to be made.
“Several of our hotels have had to change brands in shampoo to the cheaper kind, still quality, but not the same. Some hotels got rid of the mouthwash options on the counter, and those nail kits on the counter,” Alston said.
It was originally a hard pill to swallow for guests who expected a specific hotel experience, but Alston said thankfully, most guests have become more understanding of the new industry norms.
The issue that hasn’t improved, is the staffing shortage.
“Oh, it’s worse, big time,” Alston said.
In October, the American Hotel & Lodging Association released data showing 87% of hotels surveyed reporting staffing shortages.
“A lot of times we’re on the phone early in the morning calling another hotel saying, ‘Hey can you give us a front desk clerk? Or two housekeepers?'” Alston said.
He said they’re lucky they can do that. Other hotels who cannot share staff are having to cross-train their employees to work entirely different positions.
At Estancia del Norte, there’s actually no official wait staff. They had to close the restaurant down. They still serve food, but it has to be ordered at the bar.
“People are scared to come back to hospitality. They saw what COVID did,” Alston said. “Hotels had to lay everyone off. So we’re having to find creative solutions to bring them back and show them we’re there for them and they can make a career out of this.”
That includes working in hybrid schedules.
“We’re having to adapt to remote work, which is crazy, because hospitality is all about engaging with people. And everyone’s wanting the remote work or hybrid-work option, so we’re having to look into options for that,” Alston said.
Presidian alongside other hotel groups are also considering better benefits and even continued education.
Companies are ready to take hits elsewhere in order to prioritize their people.