Marcus temporarily closing two downtown Milwaukee hotels due to COVID-19

Marcus Hotels & Resorts announced Tuesday that it will temporarily close a number of its hotels, including two in downtown Milwaukee, the 219-room Saint Kate Arts Hotel and the 729-room Hilton Milwaukee City Center, in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The company will also temporarily close the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva, The Skirvin Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City and The Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln, Nebraska. Saint Kate is scheduled to shut its doors Wednesday and the remainder of the hotels will close later this week. Marcus confirmed its third downtown Milwaukee hotel, The Pfister Hotel, remains open. The company said most employees at the affected hotels will be temporarily laid off and receive temporary compensation based on length of service. Health insurance coverage will continue to be provided during the lay-off period.

“During these difficult times, our leadership team is meeting daily to monitor the situation, and we will continue to explore every option to help our associates, our guests and our properties," said Michael Evans, president of Marcus Hotels & Resorts. "Our sincere hope is that these closures will not be for an extended period of time and that our dedicated teams will all be back together again very soon and welcoming guests to our hotels." Marcus Hotels & Resorts, which is a division of Milwaukee-based Marcus Corp., operates 20 hotels, resorts and properties across the U.S. Saint Kate is one of its newest concepts, opening less than one year ago in the former InterContinental hotel building. Other Milwaukee-area hotels that have temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak include: Brewhouse Inn & Suites in downtown Milwaukee, Courtyard by Marriott Milwaukee Downtown, Potowatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee and The Ingleside Hotel in Waukesha. Hyatt Regency on Monday afternoon filed a WARN notice with the state Department of Workforce Development that 112 workers at its downtown Milwaukee hotel, at 333 W. Kilbourn Ave., will lose their jobs. The hotel's general manager was not immediately available for comment, but the hotel remains open as of Tuesday afternoon, according to a guest services representative. Hotel and motels are exempt from Gov. Tony Evers' "safer-at-home" order, but are required to close their swimming pools, hot tubs, and exercise facilities, and must "prohibit guests from congregating in lobbies or other common areas, including providing adequate space to adhere to social distancing requirements while queuing for front desk services," the order states.