A slew of Coachella-area hotels will take a beating when it comes to their bottom-line after its two famed festivals were postponed ... and the coronavirus, of course, is to blame.
We spoke to employees at various hotels in the region and they tell us losses in April will push well over $1 million ... a huge amount for a sleepy town that heavily relies on revenue from Coachella and Stagecoach's back-to-back-to-back weekends.
The festivals -- postponed due to an outbreak of the coronavirus -- will now take place on consecutive weekends beginning with Coachella October 9. For now, the hotel industry in the desert braces for a tough April.
The Homewood Suites by Hilton La Quinta expects revenue to be down a whopping 60% ... amounting to about $500k in total revenue.
The Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Palm Desert was expecting to bring in around $450k. The hotel, which has 110 rooms, saw an immediate 10% drop in room cancelations just hours after promoters announced the festival's postponement. Same with Courtyard by Marriott Palm Desert, which had 25 rooms canceled.
The Comfort Suites Palm Desert, with 72 rooms, expects to lose about $200k. Indian Wells Resort Hotel expects to lose about $400k for the 3 weekends, but its bottom-line is also being affected by the famous Indian Wells tennis tournament also getting canceled.
We've been told there's optimism the hotels will make up the revenue -- not to mention TIPS for service workers -- when the festivals return in October, but a lot can happen between now and then too.
As we reported ... Airbnb's also been dealing with this and began issuing refunds.