Travelers to several major cities in the U.S., including Honolulu, Boston and San Francisco, should be prepared for possible disruptions to hotel stays as thousands of hotel workers prepare for potential strikes.
Around the country, unions representing hotel workers have been negotiating for higher wages, better working conditions and more employee protections. With many hotel labor contracts set to expire on Aug. 31, local chapters of Unite Here, a major hospitality-industry-focused union, have voted to authorize strikes and approve walkouts until a new agreement is reached.
What hotels are considering striking?
There are currently dozens of hotels around the country where employee labor groups have authorized walkouts, though the details of how, if and when those walkouts happen are usually case-by-case for each specific property or group (and anything could change if an agreement is reached).
That said, the Fair Hotel website has a handy tool where you can put in your destination and see a list of hotels that are “at risk” of striking, as shown in the image of Honolulu below.
In Hawaii, seven hotels in Waikiki in Honolulu and one in Kauai could be affected by the strikes, including:
- Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort
- Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa
- Moana Surfrider
- The Royal Hawaiian
- Sheraton Princess Kaiulani
- Sheraton Waikiki
- Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
- Sheraton Kauai Resort
In Boston, Unite Here Local 26 voted to authorize a citywide strike, which could see dozens of hotels at which the union represents employees face walkouts until new contracts are agreed upon.
In Connecticut, workers at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale and Hyatt Regency Greenwich have authorized strikes alongside the Omni Providence Hotel in Rhode Island.
And in California, hotel workers have authorized strikes at 15 properties from the Bay Area to San Diego, according to Unite Here Local 2.
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Other strike votes have passed or are still pending member votes in Seattle and Baltimore.
This is an evolving list, and it’s highly recommended that you check the Fair Hotel website if you have upcoming stays in any of these areas. If you’re worried your hotel might be affected by the strikes, consider reaching out to the hotel directly to confirm what’s happening and determine your options about canceling, rebooking or contingency plans for guests who do have to stay at the property.
Just note that even though strikes may be imminent, hotels are not necessarily required to inform guests of the disruptions, even if they seriously alter the overall hotel experience (e.g., no housekeeping or closed restaurants).
What if my hotel is on strike?
Hotel workers going on strike during your trip or vacation can throw a wrench into your plans, and you should know a few things about the situation.
First, while a hotel experiencing a strike might technically be open, it will likely run with an extremely scaled-back staff and bare-bones operations that will significantly impact your stay — especially at full-service resorts with multiple restaurants, beach services and the like. At the hotel, striking workers will likely be outside picketing rather than inside doing their usual day-to-day work.
Back in 2018, during a major strike at Marriott hotels around the U.S., TPG readers who stayed at striking Hawaii hotels told TPG that they experienced “terrible service,” received no compensation and that it “ruined” their Hawaiian vacation. Others reported changing hotels after experiencing firsthand how derelict the service was.
Michael D’Angelo, head of labor relations at Hyatt, Americas, told TPG via email that “Hyatt hotels have contingency plans in place to minimize impact on hotel operations related to potential strike activity.”
A Hilton spokesperson also confirmed to TPG that its “hotels have contingency plans in place to ensure operations continue to run as smoothly as possible.”
Marriott did not respond to a request for comment before time of publication.
Though it’s not absolutely necessary, if your hotel is striking, it’s highly advisable to consider rebooking at a hotel that’s not in the middle of a labor dispute. This can help preserve your trip or vacation by ensuring access to all the amenities and services you’d expect from a hotel, as well as prevent you from being accused by striking workers of crossing picket lines.
For travelers who might be affected, Unite Here has created a guide for preparing for hotel strikes:
“A strike means that the workers who would normally be cleaning your room, scrubbing your toilet, changing your sheets, cooking your food, and helping with your bags are instead picketing outside the hotel. Hotels could suspend services while trying to operate with skeleton staffing, and picket lines will run outside the hotel for up to 24 hours a day. Do not eat, meet, or sleep at a hotel that’s on strike.”
If you booked a hotel directly, call your hotel as soon as possible and see if you can cancel your stay. Even if you booked a nonrefundable reservation, let the hotel know you’ve heard about the situation and would like a refund out of good faith without a cancellation fee or any penalty.
Before rebooking, be sure to research what other hotels in the area might also be on strike to avoid a similar situation.
If all else fails and it feels like your trip is falling apart, it might be time to turn to your travel insurance policy, whether booked independently, through a hotel or as part of your credit card, to determine if a hotel strike is covered through your specific policy.
How long will hotel strikes last?
It’s impossible to say how long hotel strikes will potentially last, but Unite Here’s local unions will hold out as long as necessary for a contract that makes sense for the employees who are “calling for higher wages, fair staffing and workloads, and the reversal of COVID-era cuts.”
This means that once the contracts expire on Aug. 31, strikes could easily last into the busy fall travel seasons. But there’s still time to avoid strikes altogether.
“Our colleagues are the heart of our business, and Hyatt has a long history of cooperation with the unions that represent our employees, including Unite Here,” D’Angelo said. “We remain optimistic that mutually beneficial agreements can be reached without strikes, and we look forward to continuing to negotiate fair contracts and recognize the contributions of Hyatt employees.”
