Tru by Hilton’s first Orlando hotel is an investment in a post-COVID future

In a two queen-bed guest room, Lori Rupp points out the bright primary colors, the wall hangers and the under-bed storage. “It’s kind of New York-style in that it’s not a big guest room,” she said.

Rupp is director of sales for Tru by Hilton Orlando Convention Center Area, which opened on Sept. 3 as the newest and largest hotel in the brand. With hotel occupancy rates in Orlando slumping at about 30%, this might seem a less than ideal time to open a new mid-range lodging.

But Tru is counting on the efficiency that went into their room design and its attention to keeping costs low to help weather the storm of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The concept of Tru is to have less expenses to operate than the luxury hotels but at the same time have a fresh approach,” said Noel Epelboim, CEO of Epelboim Development Group, which created the brand.

Tru hotels are based around the idea of cutting unnecessary space in the rooms in order to fit more units. This location on Westwood Boulevard near the Orange County Convention Center has 259 rooms and about 2,000 square feet of conference space.

“The brand concept is purposefully minimal,” general manager Dan Jordan said, noting the idea is to get people out of their rooms and hanging out in the communal spaces.

Orlando hotels had an average occupancy of 30.1% for the week ending Sept. 5, according to market analytics group STR. That represents a more than 40% drop from last year at the same time. Room rates are $85.97 on average, 12% off from last year.

The Tru by Hilton location has rooms starting at $64 when booked online.

The lobby is where the heart of the hotel can be found, with a pool table and other games, a self-serve market for snacks and drinks including beer and wine, and separate zones for working and dining. This location also is one of only two hotels in the chain with a bar. There is also a pool and 24-hour gym.

More communal space might be an innovative approach that would work for young, energetic travelers or conference attendees in typical times, but it’s not a particularly effective strategy during a pandemic.

Rupp says the current focus is on sanitation.

“We’ve got our Clean Stay program,” Rupp said, pointing out the taped seals on unoccupied rooms that guests have to tear to enter. “That way they know it’s clean when they go in.”

For Epelboim, this attention to cleanliness is part of a three-pronged strategy to get through the coronavirus outbreak.

“We’re trying to be as aggressive as possible,” he said. “At the end of the day, the slice of the pie of the market is much smaller, and we are all trying to eat from the same pie.”

A developer from Venezuela who began building hotels in 2015, Epelboim says that part of the solution lies in keeping overhead low.

“We opened the hotel in a unique way, where the payroll and the hiring of people was done very carefully,” he said. “So we have a low budget to start running the hotel.”

Epelboim, 60, said he believes the changes in the ways hotels are run are going to be permanent. “The human resource prototype prior to COVID has changed and that will change forever,” he said.

In his estimation, hotels will need to rely more on digital services for things like check-in and on-demand room cleaning. “The level of service will change. Those are all things that will continue to lower the cost of an occupied room.”

While Epelboim recognizes that occupancy rates are lower than what was anticipated when they broke ground on the $43 million hotel in 2018, a sophisticated loan structure and high cash starting point are key to the property’s survival.

“We are in a better situation than a normal developer that doesn’t have the capital start to mitigate the risk,” he said.

Epelboim says this all stems from lessons learned during the Great Recession of 2008.

“You have to limit your exposure,” he said. “When you have circumstances like the pandemic that you cannot control, you cannot guarantee the financial obligations.”

Beyond these measures for cost-cutting and saving, Epelboim is investing in advertising with the online travel agencies, which he said, “always see a return for every dollar you invest.”

The opening hasn’t been all bad. “We booked almost 200 rooms over Labor Day weekend,” Rupp said, adding that the hotel has secured partnerships with 21 citywide conferences next year.

A general manager with Hilton hotel brands for 16 years, Jordan, 39, believes things will pick up as people get to know Tru, which launched in 2016.

“Every day that goes by, the more people hear about Tru, hopefully, we’re providing good experiences and we build that loyalty,” he said.

For Epelboim, it comes down to a simple strategy. “Try to keep your rating as best as possible on TripAdvisor, try to be as pleasant as possible on social media, and try to provide the best possible service. That’s all you can do.”

Want to reach out? Email me at tfraser@orlandosentinel.com.