By Cindy Thomas, general manager
Stoneridge Resort in Blanchard, ID, shut down on March 25th for 21 days after Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed an Extreme Emergency Proclamation and issued a statewide stay-home order closing all but essential businesses. Gov. Little and public-health officials will evaluate later whether to extend the order past 21 days.
Before the proclamation was issued, we didn’t believe we should close our doors to occupants, although we had drastically limited the number of occupants in each common area. March 25th was just three days before Spring Break, Week 13, was about to begin, and about half of our expected occupants were traveling from other states with mandated stay-in-place populations.
Prior to the governor’s proclamation, our attorney advised that closure of the recreational facilities would be a good, cautious measure. After the proclamation at 12:30 PM PST on March 25th, our Board of Managers held its second conference call of that day. The governor’s press conference promised guidance as to what “essential services” meant as far as businesses were concerned.
Later that day we learned that hotels “for the purpose of quarantining or housing those providing essential services” was one of the allowed essential services. Although Stoneridge rents condos by the night, it isn’t strictly a hotel, but has hotel-like features. The Governor also spelled out that non-essential services included recreational facilities.
The full formal name of Stoneridge is Stoneridge Recreational Club Condominium Association and the purpose of the property, pursuant to our declaration, is to provide recreational housing. Based upon all of those factors, and our attorney’s advice, the board voted to close its doors for new occupants immediately, and to close the Recreation Center.
What about the occupants already in residence on March 25th? An Idaho State Senator advised us to take a common-sense approach. Those in-house could check out on their scheduled check-out day. Meanwhile, they were advised to limit their contact with other occupants according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. We allowed two longer-term occupants to stay. One had nowhere to go. The other was a renter working on construction of a local commercial building.
The staff embarked upon a plan to contact each in-house owner or guest personally by phone, and additionally left a written notification for occupants who received only voice-mail messages. We then contacted by phone, email, and U.S. postage each owner or guest due to arrive during the three upcoming weeks. We contacted exchange companies, vacation clubs, and third-party booking agents. All of this happened from late on Wednesday, March 25th, through Friday, March 27th.
The exchange companies’ responses were quick, compassionate, and customer-centric. I had immediate access to them and they were steady partners in communication. In addition, every owner and guest contact was favorable and encouraging. In some cases, our staff compassionately held hands (over the phone) with people who felt more than a little worried about how this pandemic would affect their own families.
The one comment a staff member heard was that he was mad—not at us, but at the breaking of his record. He had never missed a Week 13 since he purchased in 1979.
Anyone with a pending reservation through April 16th will not be able to check into the resort.
We asked anyone with a reservation confirmation from Stoneridge Resort via an exchange company or third-party booking company to contact that source directly. We will cancel reservations made directly through Stoneridge and refund any monies prepaid.
Stoneridge Resort plans to reopen on Friday, April 24th, pending any further mandated closures. We have a planned Maintenance Week 16, scheduled for deep cleaning, etc., from April 17th through April 23rd.
During this closure, Stoneridge Resort will have minimal staff to secure its facilities, so replying to phone messages may be delayed.
We are now using our computer and internet resources to help employees complete their application to file for unemployment benefits. They appreciate this, and it keeps us connected to them.
At this point, making sure our staff, owners, and guests understand how committed we are to them is a priority. These were, by far, some of the most critical steps and decisions our board has had to make in a long time, and they were with us every step of the way.
We applied for a claim on our business-interruption insurance, and already received word from our carrier that it won’t apply since the building wasn’t damaged. However, we are tracking the financial impact.
We have advised our owners that they are still responsible for their maintenance assessment, and we will work with them to find another week for their use if they have lost usage of their week. We anticipate the possibility of federal assistance, but at this time we aren’t sure.
The governor has stated that our unemployment insurance rate will not increase due to the forced temporary layoff and no waiting week for benefits will be required. We have not confirmed yet whether employees will receive a full-salary unemployment benefit. Our board is awaiting a formal answer on that.
Stoneridge Resort’s Board of Managers and staff stand by to bring the resort back to opening and look forward to returning to normal. We wish our owners, loyal patrons, and new patrons the very best during this difficult time for everyone.
Meanwhile, we are studying the recently passed federal stimulus legislation to determine how it affects labor and pay issues for Stoneridge staff members who are not working during the closure.
We also need to determine what to do with any money we may receive from a business-interruption insurance claim. I invite other resorts and management companies to share with us how they have handled the apportioning of such payments in the past.
In addition, we received a notice from the company that processes our credit-card transactions. We had to complete a questionnaire about our prepaid hotel transactions. Based on our answers, they will determine if they will hold back 10 percent of the funds due to us, due to current conditions. Have other resorts and hospitality businesses experienced such a situation?