Oral history interview with Hans van Wees

Oral history interview with Hans van Wees

Hans van Wees discusses the challenges of running a hotel and restaurant during the COVID-19 pandemic. He describes operations at Hotel Vermont in Burlington, Vermont, both when it first closed down and then gradually reopened. He estimates they lost $7 million in revenue in 2020 before slowly crawling back to financial stability. He also speaks about the mental health difficulties that both staff and some guests experienced. He identifies increased employee wages as a silver lining of pandemic-​induced staffing shortages and said they were able to pay for them with increased rates for rooms.

Hans van Wees was the general manager at Hotel Vermont during the COVID-19 pandemic. He previously worked in the hospitality industry in variety of roles and locations, eventually coming to the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, in 1995. He started working with Hotel Vermont's owners in 2011 and the 125-room hotel opened in 2013. Hotel Vermont and its sister hotel, Courtyard by Marriot, are locally owned.

Sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-251676-OMS-22.

2024-08-08

Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project

AudioFileCOVID-078

MP3

WAV

Audio file

Permission to publish material from the Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project may be obtained from the Vermont Historical Society.

Johnson, Mark

Wees, Hans van

1 hr., 43 sec.

Vermont Historical Society Library, 60 Washington Street, Barre, VT 05641-4215