Hotel developers are still facing supply chain issues more than two years after the COVID-19 pandemic upended construction projects around the world. Reverberations of the global pandemic can still be felt in the form of delayed shipments and unavailable materials, making it difficult for developers to plan ahead for future builds.
“Before, you could predict what was going to happen or what something was going to cost with a fair amount of ease,” said Patrick Trainor, VP of projects and facilities at Hotel Equities. “Then the pandemic hit, and everything changed.”
The Project
Trainor and his team oversaw the planning and construction of the dual-branded SpringHill Suites by Marriott and Element by Westin in downtown Colorado Springs, Colo., which opened on May 26. The property has a combined 261 guestrooms and features views of Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods Park and the Rocky Mountains.
“I think it’s an interesting project that was built during the pandemic and then was fortunate enough to open up right as people became more comfortable with traveling,” Trainor said. “It’s going to be an interesting one to watch to see how much it ramps up and how quickly.”
The Colorado Springs project was under construction for more than three years and faced numerous pandemic-related delays. The hotel is eight stories high and features a restaurant, a bar and meeting spaces on the roof. It’s the first-ever SpringHill and Element combination.
Trainor said construction projects that had broken ground before the pandemic had a better chance of moving forward than projects that hadn’t begun construction. The dual-branded property was able to avoid major supply chain setbacks by already having its materials. However, labor issues still threatened project deadlines.
“The projects that were already moving, they continued, but we had to adapt to the labor issue by making sure that we were socially distant on the job site,” Trainor said. “I vividly remember our first positive case on [Hotel Equities’] Reverb by Hard Rock in Atlanta project. This is when everybody was still trying to figure out what to do.
“Right now if you asked me how much something costs, I can give you a price but it might only be good for two weeks,” Trainor said. “There’s so many variables involved in the supply chain. It’s a lot of coordination and if a general contractor gives me an inaccurate calendar it throws everything off. I’m looking forward to consistency.”