Hilton and Marriott offering free rooms to healthcare providers

Despite record low hotel occupancy rates, we are seeing some hotel brands come together to offer support to first responders and healthcare workers who are fighting against the coronavirus.

Two brands that are leading this effort are Hilton and Marriott.

Hilton has partnered up with American Express to donate up to 1 million hotel rooms to doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics and other frontline medical staff.  These rooms should be available starting tomorrow and will be offered through the month of May.

In order to facilitate the bookings, Hilton is working with 10 different medical associations which represent more than 1 million healthcare workers.

“During this crisis, we have seen so many examples of medical professionals working in the most challenging circumstances, sacrificing their own needs for the greater good. They truly are heroes,” said Hilton President and CEO, Christopher J. Nassetta. “We are honored to extend our Hilton hospitality to them during this difficult time.”

Marriott is also going to be offering a lot of rooms. They have partnered with American Express and JP Morgan Chase to provide $10 million worth of hotel stays for healthcare professionals “leading the fight against COVID-19 in the United States.”

They are partnering with both the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Emergency Nurses Association to match free accommodations for front line doctors and nurses in some of the areas most heavily affected places like New York City, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C. and Newark, NJ.

These rooms could be vital for helping many of those working on the front lines stay fresh and capable of doing their best jobs.

First, it will give some of them a break from having to maintain a house or apartment during one of the most hectic times that they have ever faced on the job. It could also help a lot of them to stay closer to the job and avoid long commutes and perhaps be on call quicker.

And perhaps more importantly, if they have families or other people that they live with, they can avoid coming into contact with them while they are being exposed to the virus on a daily basis.

I think these rooms are going to relieve a lot of stress for healthcare workers and their families so I am very happy that this is getting started tomorrow. If you would like to donate Marriott points to help support relief efforts, you can also look into doing that here.