Summary: <br> {caption}DUAL ROLES: General Manager Antonio Jones and others in administration have become very hands-on at the dual-branded Staybridge Suites Atlanta-Midtown and Crowne Plaza Atlanta-Midtown during the coronavirus crisis. They’re filling roles once held by rank-and-file employees pre-pandemic. A study shows general managers are spending a record amount of time on the job as they cannot afford to bring back laid-off employees in a time of uncertainty.{/caption}<br> General managers break time barriers as they work to keep hotel businesses afloat<br> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonio-jones-35b00688/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ntonio Jones</a> has been a general manager in hotels in several cities over the past 20 years. And he’s worked to save hotel businesses in the wake of disasters such as the terrorist attacks of 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans in 2005.<br> These days, Jones is general manager of a dual-brand complex in Atlanta – the <a href="https://www.ihg.com/staybridge/hotels/us/en/atlanta/atlpe/hoteldetail" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Staybridge Suites Atlanta Midtown</a> and the <a href="https://www.cpatlantamidtown.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Crowne Plaza Atlanta Midtown</a>, which is managed by <a href="https://www.spirehotels.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Spire Hospitality</a>.<br> The management company is an affiliate of the property’s owner, <a href="https://www.awhpartners.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">AWH Partners LLC</a> in New York City, which acquired the 500-room property in 2014 when it was branded as a Melia. Over the next two years, AWH Partners spent $20 million on renovating and repositioning the asset. <a href="https://www.ihgplc.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">InterContinental Hotels Group</a> owns the brands. Staybridge Suites is an upscale extended-stay hotel and Crowne Plaza is an upper-upscale full-service property.<br> The complex’s seasoned GM is applying what he learned in previous challenging circumstances to keep the hotels operating.<br> Jones believes the U.S. hospitality industry will recover from the unprecedented downturn in business caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but it will take more than a year for performance to reach pre-pandemic levels. Until then, Jones is committed to the long haul.<br> “When you look at pre-COVID, we were always at a mindset how do we become innovative, how do we stay on the cutting edge and invest for the future. Right now, all those things are on hold,” Jones said. Keeping the hotels’ business solvent for the next six to 12 months is the most important thing right now, he said. “Every expense is critical.”<br> And that includes labor costs.<br> The staffing level at the property declined from 130 employees to 25. Tate and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresa-sims-03775014b/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Teresa Sims</a>, director of operations, are performing tasks they’ve had not had to do for years, including preparing meals, cleaning rooms and staffing the front desk.<br> They both stay take turns staying overnight at the hotel so they can be on hand for any issues that arise.<br> Occupancy was down in April and May, but business began to pick up in the summer. Tate said the increase in occupancy corresponded with the federal government’s stimulus-check distribution and its Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which gave people who lost jobs because of the coronavirus crisis $600 a week on top of their regular state unemployment benefits.<br> The increased business was welcomed but Tate said it was not enough to call all the hotel’s employees back. That meant Tate and Sims were turning rooms over when demand would surge, staying up until 2 a.m. to get the laundry done.<br> <br> {caption}INCREASED WORKLOAD: Hotel Effectiveness,
