Shuttered Downtown Hartford Hotel To Be Auctioned

HARTFORD, CT — The owners of the Hilton in downtown Hartford will put the 388-room hotel up for auction due to the impact of the coronavirus on the travel business, The Hartford Courant reported. The city is working with owners the Waterford Group to keep the 22-story hotel on Trumbull Street to find a buyer that will keep the hotel operational under the Hilton name or one of similar quality.

Hilton announced in July that it would lay off 182 employees. Hotel officials wrote at the time: "...as things have developed, we are only now beginning to see the true impact of COVID-19 on the Hotel's business operations presently and into the future, which is much more detrimental than originally anticipated."

The Waterford Group also operates the Marriott Hartford Downtown, which has experienced layoffs and may permanently close, The Courant reported.

A sharp drop in travel during the pandemic is anticipated to cost state and local governments in Connecticut more than $287 million in tax revenue the hotel business would have generated this year, according to the Hartford Business Journal.

The 116-room Homewood Suites in Hartford on Asylum Street also announced it will close permanently due to the decline in business.

See related: Coronavirus Hartford: Hotel Will Permanently Close: Report

Mass Layoffs Hit Hartford Hotel