COVID-19 The impact of the coronavirus pandemic was felt around the globe in different and devasting ways. Moreover, for the hotel industry, it was a game changer. The historical promise of rigorously clean establishments was no longer sufficient to convince people that it was safe to travel. Safe to stay in hotels. Safe to leave their homes and expose themselves to the virus that was making people sick and taking lives. For hotels in North America and everywhere else, the coronavirus pandemic created an entirely new environment. Its perilous presence was an unmistakable message that previous standards for safety and sanitization unequivocally needed to be elevated. This was the beginning of what led to sweeping changes to the hotel industry’s already stringent health, safety and cleanliness protocols. It’s what led to the “new normal” hotel environment designed to provide travellers − including snowbirds − with safe and worry-free stays. The pandemic response from hotels overall was both immediate and uniformly aggressive. The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), in partnership with the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC), quickly released their Safe Stay initiative, a guide reaching more than 35,000 members including such well-known brands as Best Western, Hyatt, Omni, Red Roof Inn, Wyndham and others. Developed to meet the new health and safety challenges presented by the pandemic, it was created in accordance with public health authorities and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to ensure the well-being of guests and employees, both during and after the crisis. Safe Staypromotes the use of high-grade, bacteria-killing cleaning products for the sanitization of all hotel areas − guest rooms, front desk check-in, elevators and elevator buttons, door handles, public washrooms, roomkeys, ATMs, gyms, meeting rooms and more. It encourages contactless check-in/check-out, together with promoting non-contact room service and social distancing practices. WhileSafe Stay is a template circulated to all AHLA and HACmembers, certainmembers and non-members have elected to develop their own unique action plans. Choice Hotels, for example, launched its pandemic response under its Commitment to Clean program. Working with Ecolab − the global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention technologies − the program embodies a long list of changes in cleaning procedures and social distancing protocols which include hand sanitization stations positioned in high-traffic areas throughout the brand’s more than 6,000 hotels across the United States and Canada. Prepackaged breakfast items are now offered in lieu of buffets. Other procedures include: contactless check-in/check-out; furniture arrangements designed for social distancing; and personal protective equipment for hotel staff. “The safety and well-being of guests, franchisees and associates is our top priority,” said Choice president Patrick Pacious. Choice is the umbrella company that encompasses Econo Lodge, Quality, Clarion, Rodeway, Comfort, Sleep Inn and others. Quick to implement a plan of heightened sanitization protocols and procedures was the worldwide Accor family of more than 4,800 hotels worldwide, including many in the United States and Canada such as Fairmont, Sofitel, Raffles and Banyan Tree. Under the brand’sAll StayWell program, there are many new safety and hygiene protocols: pre-screening on arrival; front desk Plexiglas; numerous sanitization stations; high-grade disinfecting of high-touch areas; the provision of guest room “wellness kits” that include masks, gloves, hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes; a 48-hour resting period between guest stays, followed by cleaning and disinfecting. Coffee and water stations in the lobby are now replaced by bottled water. High-touch items such as pens, coffee makers and alarm clocks have been removed from guest rooms and all hotel staff have been trained in the newAll Stay Well program. Marriott joined the industry’s pandemic response with the creation of the Marriott Global Cleanliness Council, a group tasked with compiling a “best practices” plan in concert with guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the CDC. Within the plan’s comprehensive set of procedures are enhanced technologies that include electrostatic sprayers with hospital-grade disinfectant to sanitize all surfaces throughout the company’s hotels. As well, the furniture in public spaces is now laid out to provide social distancing, together with hand sanitizer stations on entry, at front desks, elevator banks and in fitness rooms. Like other industry members responding to COVID19, Marriott’s mantra is “deep and frequent HOW COVID-19 HAS CHANGED HOTEL STAYS An industry-wide response to the coronavirus pandemic has led to hotels that are cleaner and safer than ever before by Donna Carter 44 | www.snowbirds.org
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