When WFH Means “Working From Hotel”

Original article posted at Architectural Digest by Laura Itzkowitz.

Properties desperate for revenue are offering their rooms as offices—and frazzled workers stuck at home are snatching them up for a much-needed respite. Even before cities like New York and Los Angeles instituted lockdowns a few months ago, many companies started telling their employees to work from home. And while many people relished in the sudden freedom of making their own schedule and not having to commute, others lost the ability to focus on productivity amid the countless distractions of home.

“Conducting telehealth video therapy for eight hours per day in my bedroom while my toddler is running around outside my door singing, yelling, and just generally being a normal intense two-year-old, has been so emotionally draining,” Danielle Lavanas, a Los Angeles-based drama therapist and life coach, who has been running her business out of her two-bedroom apartment since March, tells AD. “Honestly, the quarantine has been rough for everyone, but working parents are really feeling the fatigue.”

Desperate to find some work/life balance, Lavanas took advantage of the Hotel Figueroa’s Work Perks program, which offers locals a day rate of $129 to use a room as an office, with perks thrown in like access to the pool and fitness center, free coffee and water, and unlimited use of a black-and-white printer. For people like Lavanas, whose meetings have gone from in person to Zoom, having access to a workspace outside the home is proving to be crucial. “Hotel Figueroa’s concept with Work Perks is brilliant and something that I needed more than I’ve realized,” she said.