Downtown Hotels Rebounding From Pandemic, But Still Lagging Behind Rest Of The U.S.

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Here's the good news: Downtown hotels just posted their best numbers since the pandemic started. The bad news? It's still well behind 2019, and experts say our hotel comeback lags behind the rest of the country.

CBS 2 Morning Insider Tim McNicholas breaks it all down.

You can open a new door, but you can't melt away your problems--not even with heated igloos on a rooftop patio.

That's one thing The Godfrey Hotel's sales director, Sandi Robinson, knows for sure.

"2021 was very, very hard; and it was a year that we just never want to relive. We want to continue to move forward," she said.

Hotels across the city have struggled to return to pre-pandemic occupancy rates. New data from the Chicago Loop Alliance shows downtown hotels finished last year 30% below 2019 numbers.

On the bright side, that's the highest rate since the pandemic started.

"Just in the past week, we've seen a lot more inquiries. We've seen a lot more business travelers looking to come back," Robinson said.

Now another new analysis says hotel room revenue will be nearly back to normal by next year.

But that's a nationwide report from the American Hotel and Lodging Association--and their CEO says Chicago's comeback will be slower.

"We think it'll be an enormous year for leisure travel, but it's that business travel that has not returned yet that's going to hurt a city like Chicago," CEO Chip Rogers said.

So when will Chicago unlock pre-pandemic success?

"Most likely it's going to be the end of 2023, maybe even into early 2024. You've got to get McCormick Place back up and running again to some of the smaller venues that host people coming into large cities," Rogers said.

"There are companies that are offering free COVID testing prior to meetings, prior to conventions, prior to events, and I think that's very optimistic," Robinson said.

For Robinson, that's one solution to a revolving door of challenges.