Mandarin Oriental halts guestroom operationsBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterLuxury hotel Mandarin Oriental Taipei (文華東方酒店) yesterday announced that it would suspend guestroom operations and lay off related staffers from Monday, as regional border controls and travel restrictions are unlikely to be lifted anytime soon. “Mandarin Oriental Taipei will suspend all guestroom services from June 1 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the hotel said after four months of maintaining normal operations proved unsustainable. Luxury hotel Mandarin Oriental Taipei in Songshan District is pictured on March 14, 2018. Mandarin Oriental Taipei declined to comment on the number of affected workers or occupancy rates amid the pandemic, which has prompted countries in the region to close their borders and crippled tourist arrivals. Occupancy rates are believed to have dropped to an average of 10 percent for hotels in Taipei at the height of the pandemic in February and March.

Source: Taipei Times May 27, 2020 15:56 UTC