Hyatt Regency in Orlando to close until May 3 amid coronavirus outbreak
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Hyatt Regency in Orlando is closing down for more than a month because of the coronavirus.
The hotel has more than 1,600 rooms inside and when FOX 35 News went to speak with a manager there, it was like a ghost town.
Jim Haaker, a man visiting Orlando from Illinois, said that he may be one of the last guests staying at the hotel before it temporarily closes.
"There are two people in the pool right now," he said.
From the outside, it was obvious that the hotel was at a standstill. There was no traffic in the front.
The General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Orlando said that "In light of the quickly evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, and in an effort to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of guests and colleagues, Hyatt Regency Orlando will temporarily suspend normal hotel operations at this time, and we expect to resume normal operations on May 3rd, 2020.”
Other parts of International Drive, where the hotel is located, are suffering as well.
"It's pretty dead as well. Not many people there. Everything is closed," Travon Ridley-Evans, who is visiting Orlando from Michigan, said. "It's scary. It seems like a movie if you ask. I've never seen it so empty before."
The Mayor of Orange County is warning that other Orlando hotels will likely close as well.
"When I had a conversation earlier today with our hotel operators, they told me that for the first time for some of them, in the history of operating hotels, they are closing hotels in this community," Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said. "That is something that is sad to see but necessary because of the decline in occupancy rates at our hotels."
FOX 35 News asked the Hyatt Regency Orlando if employees will be paid during this closure. We have yet to receive an answer
Hyatt Regency also said that future reservations have been canceled without any penalties.
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