Houston Republic

The general manager of a Houston-area hotel provided stories about a few of the thousands of associates furloughed from their jobs at a nationwide hospitality chain because of COVID-19.

One of the furloughed associates suffers from cancer. Another just purchased a new home. A third just moved into a new apartment. Their lives have been disrupted by cancellations and subsequent furloughs of employees spurred by the COVID-19 crisis.

Steve Martinez, general manager at Remington Hotels' Houston Embassy Suites by Hilton near the Galleria, saw a portion of those furloughs first hand.

Remington Hotels President and CEO Sloan Dean III.

"This has been a difficult time for several of my associates who are now on furlough," Martinez said in a statement provided to the Houston Republic. "My food and beverage manager, who currently has cancer, is now also facing temporary layoff since the restaurant has been closed down and entire team in furlough due to the circumstances."

The suffering spawned by COVID-19 isn't only on the food and beverage side of the hospitality industry.

"Nick, our front office manager is also going through something similar as he had just purchased a home," Martinez said. "Same with our Sales representative who had just moved in to a new apartment. The housekeeping team too has suffered as hours have been cut drastically."

Remington Hotels President and CEO Sloan Dean III called the cornoavirus pandemic a "disaster" for the hotel industry.

"Remington Hotels is struggling in the face of the coronavirus," Dean said in a statement.

Remington, founded in 1968, is a hotel management company that also provides providing property management services. It's hospitality wing manages 86 hotels in 26 states across 17 brands.

The chain has been hit hard by COVID-19, which has sunk its business to "beyond depression levels" and Remington anticipates losses this year in the hundreds of millions, Dean said.

Remington Hotels expects hotels that it manages to run at 90 percent lower occupancy levels in April 2020, compared to the same month last year, Dean said.

"Most all of our 6800 associates are furloughed," he said.