Horror story for hotels
Kirk Penton - Apr 03, 2020 - Biz Releases

Photo: Contributed
Kelowna’s Hotel Zed is one of eight Accent Inns properties in B.C.

Mandy Farmer is an upbeat, outgoing, happy-go-lucky B.C. hotel chain owner. She creates fun promotions like ‘The Nooner’ at her Hotel Zed locations in Kelowna and in Victoria every Valentine’s Day.

There were no signs of that happiness on Friday. Instead, it was full of fear, dread and heartache. The COVID-19 pandemic is absolutely decimating her family-run business.

“We are basically down to minimal revenue coming in,” Farmer said from her Victoria home.

Farmer, along with her father, uncle and second cousin, owns the Accent Inns hotel chain, which also includes the aforementioned Hotel Zed locations. There is an Accent Inns and a Hotel Zed in Kelowna, and an Accent Inns in Kamloops, and right now they have between 0% and 10% occupancy rates. Normally at this time of year their hotels would be 70% to 80% full.

The company laid off approximately 65% of its 250 employees across its eight B.C. properties, all spending has been halted, and Farmer has taken a 50% salary reduction. The Hotel Association of Canada reported Friday that 4,100 hotels across the country have closed their doors and that more than 250,000 workers had been laid off.

“It’s really hard to keep a room attendant on your payroll when there are no rooms to clean,” Farmer said.

Accent Inns will take advantage of the federal wage subsidy and any other government aid, but Farmer is worried because it is supposed to last until only June. In addition, the temporary leave for her workers lasts only 14 weeks. After that she would owe severance packages to her former employees, some of whom have been with the company for 25 years.

“That scares me, because that alone could put me under,” Farmer said. “(Employee loyalty) actually now becomes a detriment, a risk to the sustainability of our business. It’s actually something that we’ve been lauded for. Now it’s almost a bit of a burden.”

The company’s principal mortgage payments have also been deferred for three months, but, once again, it’s only three months.

“In three months time I’m going to be saddled with so much more debt and all of these initiatives run out after time,” she said. “I am worried about what is going to happen after three months.”

Accent Inns recently teamed up with the United Way for a program that gives health-care workers a free place to stay during the COVID-19 battle, and the only other people staying in her hotels are people—and their families—whose surgeries have not been postponed.

Other than that, it’s tumbleweeds. Accent Inns will have to continue paying for heat, water, security and its remaining employees despite having hardly any revenue.

The good news for Accent Inns is signs of the real Mandy Farmer couldn’t stay contained for the entire interview. She is ready to get off the mat and do whatever it takes to enjoy the boom that is sure to happen once the pandemic passes.

“We’re fighters. We’re scrappy,” she said. “I think we’re gonna get through it.”


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