Desperate for revenue, LA hotels pitch “zen offices” to work-from-homers

If you’re tired of working from home and looking for a way to burn through some of that coronavirus stimulus check, a Southern California hotel operator has a deal for you.

A pair of Pacific Hospitality Group-operated resorts in La Jolla and Huntington Beach are offering non-overnight weekday stays in its rooms — marketed as “zen offices” — starting at $69, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The deal gets you a room from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., access to WiFi, coffee, tea, and a bottle of wine for taking the edge off after the workday. An extra fee gets food delivered and for a bit more you can get a room with Mirror workout systems.

The package is available at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa and the Pasea Hotel and Spa in Huntington Beach. Both have stayed open throughout the coronavirus pandemic, but have taken a major hit to business — occupancy levels have dropped to between 5 percent and 10 percent at the Estancia property.

After a guest leaves a room at either the La Jolla and Huntington Beach hotels, the rooms are left empty for 72 hours. Windows are then opened to air out the room. Then they’re cleaned and disinfected. Overnight stays are also still available at both properties, starting at between $225 and $285 per night.

The pandemic has all but brought the hospitality business in the state to a standstill. As of early April, hotel operators had laid off at least 3,600 workers. Many hotels will not be able to sustain the drop in occupancy rates, which are often below 10 percent, without a federal bailout. The National Hotel Owners Association sent a letter to the Fed and Treasury Thursday night requesting a $10 billion carve out from the Main Street Lending Program for hotel CMBS borrowers.

The state has bought up rooms in hotels across California to house homeless Californians, which could help some hotels weather the storm. [LAT] — Dennis Lynch