The coronavirus was spreading rapidly across New York. Room cancellations were flooding this upstate hotel’s reservation system after the state ban on mass gatherings, and there was no sign of things turning around soon.

So on March 13, Silas Patel, who owns a Clarion Pointe branded hotel in Rochester, N.Y., with his wife, knew what he had to do. He offered the 43-room midscale property to local authorities for use as a quarantine facility.

...