A Wellington hotel is offering locals who have had their overseas trips cancelled due to coronavirus a chance to have a holiday in their own city. Photo / 123rf
A Wellington hotel is offering locals who have had their overseas trips cancelled due to coronavirus a chance to have a holiday in their own city. Photo / 123rf
A Wellington hotel is offering locals who have had their overseas trips cancelled due to coronavirus a chance to have a holiday in their own city.
Thousands of Kiwis have had their overseas holiday plans ripped apart with many countries closing their borders and travellers facing mandatory self-isolation when returningto New Zealand.
Now, Wellington Park Hotel has stepped up and offered locals who can prove their trip was cancelled with no refund a three-night getaway at their harbour-view premises.
The hotel has promised disrupted travellers that their three-night stay will cost only what they can afford.
"We know that as Wellingtonians, you work hard for your holidays, and recent announcements may have forced you to change your plans," the company said.
"If your international trip has been cancelled without refund, we want to help. Pay what you can afford and enjoy a three-night stay with us. We know it's not the same, but it's our little bit."
A Wellington hotel is offering locals who have had their overseas trips cancelled due to coronavirus a chance to have a holiday in their own city. Photo / 123rf
The minimum spend is just $1 per night and the deal applies to locals who have had their international holidays booked to depart after March 14 cancelled.
Those who are wanting to make the most of the deal need to book stays from Friday through to Monday and the stay period must be before August 31.
A spokesperson for Park Hotel said the phone lines have been running hot with hundreds of people wanting to make the most of the deal.
"Our Reservations team has been run off their feet. It's absolutely been absolutely bonkers. Monday was possibly the darkest day in decades for our whole industry, so to have the phone ringing off the hook was a small bright spark that boosted team morale.
"Kind comments from Wellingtonians and anecdotes about what this means to them - for example being able to take the kids away when they thought all hope of a holiday was lost - made a real difference to our team too.
"Every caller has been buzzing. And because it's valid until the end of August, people have been thrilled that it means their family can come for the April or July school holidays.
"We all know what it's like to have worked hard and saved up for a holiday and how heartbreaking it would be to have all of that go down the drain. It was nice to be able to give people something to look forward to at a time like this. "
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Kiwis have taken to social media to praise the hotel for their initiative, with many suggesting New Zealanders get behind companies supporting the community during times of struggle.
"Kiwis should take a mental note of companies doing things like this (Like Milk Crate cafe) at a time like this and make a point of putting their business at the top of their list when this eventually settles.
"A lot of Kiwi businesses are going to need a kick-start and ones that do things like this should be rewarded," one wrote.
Another said: "Generosity in times of need will not be forgotten."
And while Park Hotel has received a wealth of positive feedback, they admit the coronavirus outbreak has taken its toll.
"The pandemic has had a significant impact on the entire industry. At Park Hotel we started work several weeks ago on a Covid-19 specific plan to keep our hotel guests, staff and wider community safe.
"We didn't know what the worst case would look like, but given how things were worsening we knew it was important to start planning.
"It has also meant a lot of hard work for our staff who are implementing things like limited contact check-in and check-out, single use pens that people can take away and printing pocket-sized Ministry of Health information cards so guests can have all of the necessary phone numbers and processes at their fingertips at all times at the hotel.
"Additionally we have been adhering to all Ministry of Health sanitation and hygiene guidelines.
"All of this has added extra work on top of the regular running of a hotel, but it's not a choice, it's a necessity and we are lucky everyone from the top manager of the hotel down has just mucked in and gotten on with getting it all ready."
