Cleanliness A Top Priority For Travelers And Hotels Are Willing To Show It To You
How clean is your hotel? Well, you’ll be able to see for yourself in the post COVID-19 lockdown.
As people return to traveling – albeit cautiously – they have one new priority that tops pricing, location and amenities: cleanliness.
Anticipating this, hotels are not just taking extra steps to make the public spaces and rooms clean but they are showing it to their guests. They are doing this by having staff wipe down public areas, elevators and other spaces in full view of customers.
Hotel owners and managers – as well as those at restaurants, bars, tourist attractions, airports and other places tourists visit – know that it’s one thing to be clean but it’s another to show you are clean. Customers are going to be more comfortable if they see a place is constantly being cleaned.
As a result, you’re likely to see staff and even maids cleaning areas throughout the property. Previously, about the only time you saw your maid was when she barged into your room because you forgot to put the “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door knob.
It’s today equivalent of the old “sanitized for your protection” strip of paper that used to be placed over toilet seats in budget motels.
In fact, Hilton Hotels are putting a similar type of seal on the outside of their hotel room doors.
There is even a new organization to oversee how hotel cleanliness, the Global Biorish Advisory Council, which is a part of the industry trade association ISSA. It has created something called the GBACSTAR certification program.
Some hotels, from chains to locals ones, have also instituted a “three day” policy in which they have a three-day cushion between guests for rooms. Airbnb, by the way, has requested hosts not book guests on consecutive days; there must be one day between new guests.
“There is some visible cleaning going on in the public areas,” said John Thomas, General Manager of the Texican Court Hotel in Irvine, TX. “We are also doing more deeper cleaning in the rooms, so people have that confidence in what we are doing here. It goes everywhere from our food and beverage to our front office and into housekeeping.
“This is not to say we weren’t clean before – we were – but it does add a little bit to the guest’s confidence to see that we are taking those precautions. We want to show people so they can feel comfortable when they stay here.”
This is the new travel normal, so get used to seeing more of your maid when staying in a hotel.
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