Activists and labor representatives are ratcheting up pressure on D.C.-area hotel operators to shut their doors around Inauguration Day, warning of potential health and safety risks posed by right-wing extremists who may travel to the city to protest — or disrupt — the inaugural ceremony.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is also feeling the heat as activists and residents press her administration to use emergency powers to close hotels or enforce strict health measures.

Calls to close hotels grew louder after the home-sharing platform Airbnb announced Wednesday that it was canceling all reservations in the D.C. region during inauguration week.

After local Advisory Neighborhood Commissions raised concerns about hotels in a letter to city officials, organizers with Black Lives Matter D.C. and ShutDownDC released a statement Wednesday urging hotel operators to close between Jan. 15 and Jan. 21.

“Closing hotels completely for these six nights is the only way to guarantee the safety of hotel workers, neighbors, vulnerable and unhoused residents, incoming administration officials, members of Congress, and our democracy,” the groups say in a statement.

Unite Here Local 25, a labor union that represents more than 7,000 hotel workers in the D.C. region, has taken a similar position, asking hotels in the Washington area to close “unless they are hosting security personnel” such as National Guardsmen.

“No worker, Union or non-Union, should have to risk their life to go into work. Unfortunately, that is the situation we are now faced with,” says John Boardman, Executive-Secretary Treasurer of the Unite Here chapter.

Alex Dodd, an organizer with ShutDownDC, says hotel workers reported unpleasant and even dangerous encounters with rowdy, unmasked hotel guests around the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“We have heard from several workers at hotels that it’s just a terrifying situation to have these guests stay in the hotels,” Dodd says. “We saw from their actions at the Capitol that they’re capable of violence. And on top of that, we’re in the middle of a pandemic.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has the authority to close businesses for health and safety reasons during the 15-day public emergency that expires Jan. 21, but the mayor has indicated she’s not ready to order mass hotel closures.

Bowser said in a press conference Wednesday that her administration remains in talks with hotels about their operational status around the inauguration. The fact that some hotels are hosting security personnel has been a sticking point, she said.

“We are trying to understand and balance the need for housing with our encouragement that people not travel here,” Bowser said. “There may not be a one-size-fits-all approach.”

Some have suggested the mayor step up enforcement of the city’s quarantine rules, which require visitors from out of town to get tested for coronavirus within 72 hours before traveling. Previous guidance from the city’s health department specifies that hotels “may ask visitors about their recent travel and may require a record of a negative COVID-19 test before allowing admittance.”

Stricter enforcement of health and safety regulations may be a more palatable option to hotel operators faced with the prospect of canceling reservations after months of low bookings. Unlike Airbnb lodgings, major hotels shoulder enormous costs and employ thousands of people, says David Sherwyn, director of Cornell University’s Center for Innovative Hospitality Labor and Employment Relations.

“The cost to Airbnb is some lost revenue and risk reduction. The cost to hotels are their place in the economy, their employees compensation (tipped employees, housekeepers, etc.), and their duty to their guests who need to be in town,” Sherwyn wrote in a statement distributed to media.

ShutDownDC has called for residents and activists to contact seven D.C.-area hotels to demand they close for a week.

Some local hotels closed voluntarily ahead of last week’s events. Boutique Adams Morgan hotel The Line canceled reservations for one day following an altercation involving guests and members of extremist group The Proud Boys. But in a statement, the hotel stressed that it does not have a legal right to “police the beliefs or politics of our guests other than to strongly enforce a zero-tolerance policy for violent, hateful or disrespectful behavior.”

A spokesperson for Hilton — which operates three local hotels targeted by activists — says the company has no plans to cancel reservations around the inauguration.

“Our hotel teams, especially those in Washington DC, are very experienced and have a long history of successfully managing through major public events. They continue to review hotel safety and security procedures, and their preparation is well informed and mindful of current events,” the spokesperson says.

A Hyatt spokesperson says the company plans to enforce health and safety policies — including mask requirements — at all their D.C.-area hotels around the inauguration. The Grand Hyatt Washington attracted criticism last week after a reporter tweeted images of guests gathering inside its lobby without masks.

A spokesperson for Marriott says the company is “keeping our commitment to existing reservations” and has security plans in place.

ShutDownDC organizer Alex Dodd says it’s not enough for hotels to implement their own security measures.

“If you’re harboring people who are here to commit violence off the hotel’s property, that’s still a huge problem,” Dodd says. “Your security team, the hotel security team, is not going to protect the rest of the city from the violence that these folks are going to bring.”