Myrtle Beach to open hotels, short-term rentals following coronavirus shutdown
Hotels, short-term rentals and accommodations services in Myrtle Beach can officially open for business on Friday following a roughly five-week shutdown caused by the coronavirus.
Myrtle Beach City Council met in an special meeting held via conference call Thursday morning to vote on reopening certain amenities within the city as Horry County sees a downward trend in COVID-19 cases. While few council members expressed some trepidation to allowing tourists back into the city, officials agreed it was the right thing to do for the economy.
“I’ve been very conflicted over this and I am personally opposed to hotels opening at this time, however I understand that legally we cannot keep them from opening,” Mayor Brenda Bethune said. “The reasons why I’m opposed to it are because we do not have enough tests in this area for our residents, let alone our visitors, and we don’t know when we will have enough tests available.”
Starting Friday, accommodations services within city limits will be allowed to open, with restrictions per state orders placed on those living in areas prone to a high volume of coronavirus cases, such as New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Existing reservations will be honored, but no new reservations can be accepted until May 15, per the resolution.
Bethune also expressed concern with having tourists from coronavirus “hot spot” areas coming into the city, but noted there are no real resources in place to enforce S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster’s state order.
“It is virtually impossible to control where people are coming from,” Bethune said. “We cannot control occupancy rates, legally, and I do have some concerns about that.”
Businesses will also be required to implement reasonable steps to comply with sanitation and hygiene guidelines recommended by the Department of Health and Environmental Control and the Center for Disease and Control, and take steps to monitor employees with COVID-19 symptoms upon reporting to work. Any worker exhibiting symptoms must be sent home immediately, according to the city.
If an employee contracts COVID-19, supervisors are required to maintain confidentiality while informing other workers. All hotel employees and guests are advised to wear a face mask or other facial coverings while in the building, with each business subject to providing every worker with facial protection, the resolution states.
During periods of low to medium occupancy, hotels are mandated to assign guests to non-adjacent rooms, according to the resolution. Furthermore, bellman and valet services must be limited to those with handicapped placard’s or credentials, with bellman advised to drop off any luggage either before or after guests arrive to their room.
Both bellman and valet personnel should be wearing face masks while interacting with guests, and either wear gloves or sanitize their hands prior to and after performing the requested service. Cleaning personnel are also required to wear gloves and to disinfect high-touch surfaces, such as work stations, handrails, door knobs, elevators and common areas, hourly, the resolution states.
Additionally, hand sanitizing stations must be installed in all public areas with heavy foot-traffic and plexiglass partitions erected at each front desk or check-in station. Front desk areas should also remove all reading material from common areas and have clear floor markings indicating proper spacing distances from other guests, according to the city.
Elevator rides will be limited to one guest, unless that guest is riding with members of the same party or family. Furthermore, guests are urged to wear face masks or facial protection while occupying the elevator for their safety and the safety of others, City Manager John Pedersen said.
If a guest fails to adhere to any of the city’s mandates, the hotel will not be subject to a violation, Pedersen added. However any person, whether it be guest, employee or employer, who violates the city’s order shall be guilty of a civil infraction, that is punishable by a fine of no more than $100. A continuing violation will be considered a separate offense.
“Today we have to have something to protect our residents, our employees and our residents of this city,” Councilman John Krajc said. “If we don’t have something on the books then we truly are opening the doors wide open and that is not something we can do.”
Additionally, swimming pools, spas and dining areas within any hotels and resorts are mandated to remain closed in accordance with state orders.
Access to swimming pools, amusement attractions, bars and dine-in restaurants will resume when restrictions are lifted by McMaster. However, access to the beach along the coast is officially open to the public, along with public docks and boat landings and certain retailers, including clothing, furniture stores, jewelers and florists.
Many shops at Broadway at the Beach have opened, though while some business are slowly reopening, there are still retailers and service that will remain closed. City parks will also stay closed until further notice.
Along with Myrtle Beach’s decision, Horry County, North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach also plan to reopen short-term rentals and campgrounds on Friday as statewide shutdown orders are lifted. Georgetown County will do the same.
Pawleys Island Town Council voted Thursday in a special virtual meeting to move the end of the ban on reservations at hotels and short-term rentals up to May 8. The council had voted Monday to ban them through May 14.
“We’ve got to open up when it’s safe, and certainly I think May 1 might just be too soon,” Pawleys Island mayor Brian Henry said. “Because everybody else is, that doesn’t mean we should. One additional week … gives us time to assess where we are and whether it makes sense. I don’t think a week will hurt us to wait.
“If we decide to open short-term rentals tomorrow and something goes sideways first part of next week and cases spike, then the people are here and it’s too late.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Horry County has 211 confirmed coronavirus cases and 15 reported deaths. Statewide the case total has reached 5,881 and 232 deaths. Although, many of the statewide cases have recovered as South Carolina currently has a 76 percent recovery rate, according to S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The Sun News Reporter Alan Blondin contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 11:25 AM.
