Hospitality on hold – tips for hotel owners

On the evening of Monday 23rd March, in an unprecedented move for the British government, Boris Johnson put the country into lockdown.

For hotels across the country, this meant immediate closure (other than for key workers) with reopening not expected until at least Wednesday 1st July.

If you own and run a hotel, what should you currently be thinking about and what should you consider looking further ahead?

The questions you might be considering now are as follows:

• If you have a leasehold interest in the hotel (rather than a freehold interest), are you complying with the terms of your lease?  
• If you have taken out a loan are you complying with the terms of your facility agreement and any related security or other finance documents?
• Is there anything else that you can do which might help your cash flow?
• What is the position in relation to employees?
• What about insurance, cancellations and directors’ liability?
• Looking forward to the lifting of lockdown

If you would like to discuss this or other matters related to Hotels with us, then please contact a member of our Hotels team.