Hotels are still considered an essential service in Toronto, but dozens have been sitting largely empty for weeks amid the COVID-19 pandemic — and have no expectations for business to increase anytime soon given stern social distancing directives and travel restrictions across the globe.

Given all of their unused accommodation, some establishments are looking to donate the use of their rooms to frontline healthcare professionals who are working tirelessly under extremely dangerous conditions right now.

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We would like to give thanks to the nurses and doctors working in downtown Toronto on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19. If you are looking to reduce your commute time or to get the well deserved rest you need? We have free accommodations for you. Email us at nursemdbooking@grandhoteltoronto.com to check availability! https://bit.ly/3aLT5nv

A post shared by The Grand Hotel & Suites (@grandhoteltoronto) on Apr 3, 2020 at 1:27pm PDT

The Grand Hotel & Suites at Dundas and Jarvis Streets has shared on social media that it is now offering complimentary stays to medical professionals working at nearby health facilities.

"We would like to give thanks to the nurses and doctors working in downtown Toronto on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19," an Instagram post reads. "If you are looking to reduce your commute time or to get the well deserved rest you need? We have free accommodations for you."

The luxury boutique hotel's general manager said in a press release that the move was a "civic duty," adding "we hope we can be of help since our hotel is conveniently located near the major downtown hospitals."

A similar initiative will be rolled out at a number of other hotels across the city in the coming days — Canadian accommodation startup Sonder is apparently working with two Toronto hotels, as well as the City itself, to provide rooms for hospital staff.

All hotels these days have, of course, heightened cleaning and sanitization measures.

Canadian startup @SonderStays in talks with City of Toronto to lease 2 hotels to frontline workers (healthcare professionals, public transit workers, etc.). Initiative funded by City of #Toronto.#CanadaCovid19 #COVID19 #actsofkindness #Ontario

— YoHumanz (@YoHumanz) April 7, 2020

Airbnb made the same move two weeks ago, supplying 100,000 homes worldwide for frontline healthcare workers free of charge or at a subsidized rate. (Prudent, now that renting out spaces short-term through apps like Airbnb is forbidden in Toronto and other cities amid the novel coronavirus crisis).

Hopefully, access to these spaces will mean that frontline medical staff will indeed have shorter commutes to get to and from work, and be able to get some shut eye in close proximity to their workplaces (rather than in them).