Wealthy people shelter from coronavirus in remote hotels and homes

CNN — While many hotels around the world are shuttering, a growing number are transitioning into medical facilities or making themselves available as temporary housing for nurses and doctors on the front lines of the coronavirus. “The best way to get close to total privacy and to control your environment is to have the whole place to yourself.” Siobhan Byrne Learat, the owner of the Dublin-based travel company Adams & Butler, says she has had numerous requests for hotels buyouts in Ireland from her Irish clientele since coronavirus intensified in the country during the second week of March. When guests come knocking Blantyre Country Resort, a Relais & Chateaux property in the Berkshires set on 110 acres and with 24 accommodations, has also made itself available for buyouts since coronavirus hit. Manager of Williamson Estates, Carleen Frost, describes the estate as “a hidden gem on Lake Ontario.” Although 40 minutes from the Rochester airport, she believes many guests fly via private jet from New York City. Courtesy of Kiawah Island Real Estate/Patrick O'Brien In South Carolina’s Kiawah Island, where homes start at half a million dollars and go all the way up to $20 million, second home owners from the New York metropolitan area, Atlanta and Charlotte are capitalizing on their good fortune.