Coronavirus: Leading hotel chains in talks to provide rooms to NHS
Some of the world’s largest hotel chains are in talks with the government about providing space for NHS workers as the UK battles the coronavirus outbreak.
One group, Best Western Great Britain, is offering 15,000 hotel bedrooms and over 1,000 meeting rooms to help the NHS and local authorities.
Intercontinental Hotel Group also said it was “working closely with governments and local authorities, which includes our hotels contributing to the recovery effort where the situation requires”.
Sky News first reported that Hilton, Whitbread’s Premier Inn chain, and Travelodge had all also been involved in conversations.
A number of proposals have been discussed, including using hotels to house patients who have had to be moved out of hospitals to make space for coronavirus sufferers and also to house people more vulnerable to the disease.
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It has also been suggested that the rooms be used for NHS staff who cannot return to their families due to having close contact with patients.
A third idea that has been suggested was the potential use of hotel cleaning staff to bolster the NHS’s ability to clean hospital facilities.
Andrew Denton, head of hotel services at Best Western Great Britain, said: “Since our offer to help at the weekend we have had an overwhelmingly positive response from our hotels.
“Local hospitals, councils and local authorities have also been in touch directly asking for help and today we are repurposing our technology and our call centre to manage the interest and the demand.
“We would love to plug our supply and support into the NHS system in a coordinated and organised manner. Every day counts now for people on the frontline of this crisis, so we want the NHS to know we are here to help”.
The hospitality sector is one of many that has been decimated by the coronavirus outbreak, with demand falling off a cliff due to restrictions on travel.