Fred Pozin, general manager of the Ramada by Wyndham Jacksonville Hotel & Conference Center in Mandarin, is taking a wait-and-see approach to the reopening that was approved beginning May 4.
He has four business units under one roof: The hotel, GiGi’s Restaurant, a banquet and catering operation, and The Comedy Zone nightclub.
The hotel has been accepting reservations only from essential travelers while the other units have been idled since March 20, when Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the state’s restaurants and certain other public retail and service facilities closed.
“All we’re opening at this point is rooms,” Pozin said May 4.
The restaurant might start taking reservations in about two weeks, he said, after the effects on the pandemic of the public returning to dining rooms is more clear.
But it will be different.
GiGi’s seated 260 guests before the shutdown. It’s known for weekday breakfast and lunch buffets and its seafood and prime rib buffet Friday and Saturday evenings.
“Help-yourself business is a thing of the past,” Pozin said.
When the restaurant reopens, the salad bar will be replaced by table service. Staff on the buffet line will serve the food on the guest’s plate. There won’t be salt and pepper shakers on the tables, which will be rearranged to accommodate about 60 socially distanced diners.
Pozin said he isn’t sure how long it may take for the public to be comfortable attending banquets and other catered functions, even if events are limited to 50 people.
The nightclub has its own set of break-even questions, such as whether acts accept a lower fee to perform or if patrons accept a higher ticket price, based on the required 75% reduction in seating capacity.
“I’m in the planning stages for what will be the near future,” Pozin said.