What are ways to prepare your hotel for social distancing?
- Make social distancing markers
- Offer hand sanitizer dispensers
- Disinfect exercise equipment
- Require wearing of face masks
COVID-19 has impacted many industries around the world. In particular, hotels and accommodation providers like beach resorts have had to deal with a slowdown in operations due to the lack of customers booking rooms and services. The lockdown has left people with no choice but to stay indoors as a way of doing their part to mitigate the health crisis. Keeping this in mind, you may want to understand the different ways of preparing your hotel for social distancing as a way of adapting to the “new normal” as people may call it.
Social distancing essentially limits physical contact among large groups of people to avoid the spread of the virus. Though implementing this measure in your hotel or beach resort may seem challenging in the beginning, you need only know where to start.
Make social distancing markers
Before the early stages of the pandemic, hotel check-in and crowding scenarios have pretty much remained the same. Especially during peak times, hotel lobbies may be crowded with large groups of people waiting in line before being accommodated.
When adapting to the “new normal”, hotels and beach resorts would have to implement social distancing markers to avoid these situations from occurring. Overcrowding in the many different areas of the hotel establishment is no longer a viable option. By placing social distancing markers, people would easily be able to know how far apart they should stand, with respect to the other person.
For example, in hotel lobbies, markers that signify that people should be spaced out are an easy way of promoting social distancing. These markers further help in the reduction of physical contact. Furthermore, the markers help hotels handle the needs of their customers in a much more organized manner. For best results, it’s always advised that hotels use easy-to-understand visual cues which can easily be spotted by anyone.
Offer hand sanitizer dispensers
Another way by which hotels can prepare for social distancing is by strategically placing hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the establishment. It may not always be the case that guests or those who want to book with the hotel may carry around with them bottles of ethyl alcohol and hand sanitizers.
The best location to place hand sanitizers would be areas of high traffic and high levels of activity. For example, your hotel’s maintenance staff would greatly benefit from this because they’re the ones exposing themselves to human interactions on a daily basis. Hand sanitizers can be placed in storage rooms, rooms containing electrical equipment, and the like.
For the benefit of the customers, hand sanitizers can also be conveniently placed on the reception desks of hotels, in hallways of hotel rooms, or on the walls of hotel restaurants and dining areas. This is a way of keeping themselves clean especially since they’re touching many surfaces of high-contact.
Disinfect exercise equipment
Hotel recreational rooms are also some of the areas which are subject to high levels of activity. It may also be the case that these rooms aren’t necessarily thoroughly cleaned due to the frequency in the number of visitors in these areas. As such, hotels should enforce thorough cleaning measures to make sure each equipment is safe before usage.
Treadmills, dumbbells, yoga mats, and other kinds of exercise machines should be disinfected using appropriate cleaning implements. Disinfecting these objects is a way of making the experience safer for the next person.
Apart from equipment, door handles and other high-touch areas should be cleaned using robust anti-germ and anti-bacterial agents.
Require wearing of face masks
Hotels should also be able to require everyone, not just the cleaning, reception, and maintenance staff, to wear face masks.
There are many ways of getting this message across the guests. For example, they may be advised to wear face masks before they pass through the hotel’s security screening. Appropriate signage could also be put up in the different areas of the hotel where guests can spot these signs. Hotels also have the freedom to provide their customers with complimentary face masks, especially since these items are not usually easy to come by.
Key Takeaway
Preparing your hotel for social distancing requires you to understand the needs of not only your hotel or beach resort’s guests but also the cleaning and maintenance staff. Through easily identifiable visual cues such as indicating the minimum distance people should stand from one another, these measures greatly help in reducing the chances of the virus spreading.
When it comes to implementing social distancing measures, the best piece of advice is to always think of the welfare and safety of guests, clients, and everyone involved in the operations of your hotel.
