Hilton Chicago closing doors amid coronavirus pandemic

The Hilton Chicago is the latest downtown hotel to temporarily suspend its operations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The hotel updated its website Tuesday stating it was no longer accepting guests in the “near term” and would be suspending its operations.

The Hilton, at 720 S. Michigan Ave., is one of many hotels that have had to shut their doors as coronavirus-related cancellations have caused occupancy rates to plummet.

Last week, the Park Hyatt Chicago and the Peninsula in the Loop were the first two hotels to stop taking customers, citing public health concerns relating to the pandemic.

Layoffs at Chicago-area hotels started earlier that week, Michael Jacobson, CEO of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, said at the time.

“When you are in the teens on your occupancy rate, as many hotels now are, it’s hard to justify keeping the lights on,” he said.

Event cancellations attributed to COVID-19 in the last two weeks have cost Chicago hotels an estimated 255,000 room nights worth of bookings.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced on Monday that she had forged a deal with five closing hotels to provide a couple thousand beds for quarantined COVID-19 patients. In all, five hotels are set to provide 2,000 beds by the end of the week.

Contributing: David Roeder and Fran Spielman