CHLA California Lodging News November/December 2021

2 CALIFORNIA LODGING NEWS 414 29th Street Sacramento, CA 95816 916-444-5780 www.calodging.com EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR Bijal Patel, CHA Coast Redwood Hospitality VICE CHAIR Tom Patton, CHA Ramada Santa Barbara IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR Michael Pace InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel SECRETARY/TREASURER Hee-Won Lim Pacific Palms Hotel GOVERNMENT & LEGAL RELATIONS CHAIR Javier Cano JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE AUDIT & INVESTMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR Laurenne Douglas Pacific Plaza Hotels, Inc. 2021 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Bhupen Amin Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Javier Cano JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE Vipul Dayal Days Inn San Francisco Airport West Laurenne Douglas Pacific Plaza Hotels, Inc. Jeff Durham Redwood Fortuna Riverwalk Hotel Paul Gibbs, CHA Sonesta Redondo Beach and Marina Ross Gimpel Encore Ken Greene AAHOA Terri Haack Terranea Resort Jon Handlery, CHA Handlery Union Square Hotel Niles Harris InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Wendy Heineke Pebblebrook Hotel Trusts Todd Hersperger Sunstone Hotel Investors Nic Hockman Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel Daniel Kuperschmid Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego Elvin Lai Ocean Park Inn Mark LeBlanc Aimbridge Hospitality Hee-Won Lim Pacific Palms Resort RJ Mayer The Mayer Corporation Michelle Millar University of San Francisco Michael Pace InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel Bijal Patel, CHA Coast Redwood Hospitality Bimal Patel, CHA Hotel Zico Dhruv Patel Ridgemont Hospitality Pragna Patel-Mueller Samata Management Tom Patton, CHA Ramada Santa Barbara Joe Piantedosi Park Hotels & Resorts Chip Rogers American Hotel and Lodging Assn. Pam Ryan The Inn at the Mission John Spear Hotel Drisco Jeffrey Thurrell Fisher Phillips Wes Tyler, CHA Chancellor Hotel on Union Square Bobby Walia Hyatt Hotels Corporation ADVERTISING & DESIGN LLM Publications 503.445.2220 | 800.647.1511 www.llmpubs.com Design & Layout Sales Representative Stephanie Pendell Grandt Mansfield grandt@llmpubs.com Copyright © 2021. All Rights Reserved www.calodging.com CALIFORNIA HOTELS ARE, ONCE AGAIN, undergoing a significant transitory period. The state’s COVID-19 response is changing from isolation to moderated operation and local governments are largely following suit. While some key regions, such as the City of Los Angeles and the City/County of San Francisco, are implementing policies which go beyond the state requirements, other local governments, such as San Diego, are focusing on policies which will allow businesses to operate as closely to normal as possible. In the coming months, we can expect to see a continued divergence between state and local policy, but both are expected to continue trending towards a re-opening posture. Most of the state’s progress is predicated on the continued success of its vaccination program, which is largely credited with low COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates. According to recent studies, vaccinations can significantly reduce the likelihood of severe illness, but for employers, vaccination mandates bring additional concerns. Vaccine mandates are opposed by various communities for a range of reasons, so some officials hope to work with businesses to institute variations of a vaccination policy. Under a federal standard being promulgated by the U.S. Dept. of Labor, businesses with more than 100 employees are required to ensure workers are either vaccinated or tested weekly. Under state orders, government employees and students are required to do the same. Finally, in some cities, like Los Angeles, patrons of private businesses are required to provide proof of vaccination in order to use certain indoor spaces. All of these requirements and the surrounding tensions mean that employers need to be aware of their hotel’s rights, stay up to date with the applicable rules, and remain alert for ways to dissolve tension in the workplace and keep the doors open. Whether you are hiring new employees or inviting guests to your hotel, being transparent about applicable government requirements and your hotel policies can go a long way towards heading off tension before it builds. Our industry still faces a massive worker shortage (recent forecasts put the shortage at 400,000 workers nationwide and 67,000 workers in California by the end of 2021) and vaccine mandates may further affect hiring efforts. However, CHLA is working with companies such as ZipRecruiter and Seasonal Connect to increase hoteliers’ access to potential employees. If you are still looking for additional employees and haven’t utilized these resources, I highly recommend you do so. The best thing about transition periods is that they eventually end, presumably, with a period of stability. At CHLA, we are working to shape the future of the hospitality industry and bring back stability to our industry as soon as possible. While we strive to shape the future, we’re also building out a path for our industry that helps hoteliers in the present. I encourage you, as our members to take advantage of our partnerships with hiring firms to identify new employees, leverage our partnerships with healthcare providers to incentivize employees with great benefits, cut your supply costs through our vendors, defend your business against predatory ADA litigation through our ADA Protection Program. Our programs are here for you so take advantage of them now to put your business in the best position possible for the future.  MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Lynn Mohrfeld CHLA President & CEO