Globally, Hotels are Adopting New Ways to be Clean & Safe during COVID-19
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, hotels around the world are developing brand new cleaning protocols and adjusting their services to reassure guests. Yet, there is still a desire to offer a setting that is comfortable and inviting. The balance between sanitized and comfortability is tricky because hoteliers and guest service managers don’t want to loose that welcoming feel that their guests loved pre-COVID-19. This is unchartered territory for the hospitality industry, but the “quiet time” many hotels have had in the last few months has been useful! Many are busy developing, testing, and learning how they can adapt to the need for added cleanliness and safety. The hospitality industry is made up of creative-thinkers, and it is because of that creativity, that the industry will prove its resiliency. Enhanced clean & safe practices amid COVID-19 will absolutely help tourism and keep the public safe.
What’s Important to Travelers right now?
Travelers are certainly going to be concerned with three things once they are ready to travel again.
First being, their safety. They will want to put their minds at ease by visiting brands and businesses that they trust. Towns, cities, and states will need to prove their dedication to providing a safe place, and visitors will be close attention to the measures taken to secure public safety. Businesses can do their part by posting, announcing, and showing how they are conducting their business in accordance with the CDC recommendations. It’s show-and-tell-time, if you will…
Secondly, travelers will be seeking comfort. People are missing their favorites spots during social-distancing and stay-at-home orders. They are craving all of the things they can’t get. So, hotels, bars, restaurants, and stores are gaining more of an understanding for what exactly their customers and visitors love about their brand. They are spending this “hibernation-time” to perfect their offerings. Get at the heart of what they do best, and in some cases, even reinvent what they did to make it safer and more accessible post-coronavirus crisis. For example, The Horton Hotel and many other hotels are developing enhanced cleaning programs for their staff and operations to create a new norm for cleanliness. These new programs are showing staff the enhanced procedures to follow, as well as, placing an emphasis on the importance of cleaning amid COVID-19.
And lastly, many travelers might be making health a priority more than ever, even in travel. People have had a few months at home with nothing better to do than focus on their wellness. Making better food choices and getting more active is a trend on the rise in the midst of COVID-19. Businesses of all sorts will be brainstorming ways they can offer healthier options and activities for their customers, as this trend is hopefully here to stay. For instance, The Horton Hotel is testing new mocktail recipes right now. With people placing more importance on their health these days, the hotel’s lounge thought it would be a good time to roll out some healthier concoctions laced with energy and immunity boosters. It’s all about make lemonade out of lemons…(recipes for two healthy mocktails below)
Just what are Hotels doing to Ensure Clean & Safe Protocols?
The downtime that stay-at-home orders has provided many hotels with turns out to be a silver lining. It has granted them with more time to perfect and create their new standards. Many hotels will start by decluttering. Less surfaces to touch means less opportunities for germs to spread. Overall, less contact and increased surface cleaning is the main goal. A lot of properties are designing new training presentations so that their staff are aware and ready to go once the doors reopen. Simplifying new protocols with posters, reminders, and checklists will help staff make “being clean and safe” a priority. Helping staff to make cleanliness a personal priority will also have a direct impact on the workplace. Encouraging clean & safe practices not just in the workplace but also at home will pay off for the travel and hotel industry.
The Horton Hotel is rolling out their official commitment to upholding clean and safe standards: The Horton Clean+ Promise.
It’s a program and a guarantee that both the guests and staff can count on. Establishing a cleanliness guarantee helps to maintain clean & safe practices. Check out their guarantee below…
Ways you can Keep your Own Home Clean & Safe right now.
People can learn from the hotel industry to enhance their own cleaning practices. People are always wanting to know where they can get those comfy hotel sheets and pillows, so why not inquire about their cleaning products too. Travelers have been modeling their own sleeping quarters after five star resorts for sometime, and they can now take a cue from hotels on all things cleanliness too. From what products to use to innovative housekeeping equipment, people will be paying close attention.
- Using hospital-grade disinfectants throughout your house on high-touch areas will be key.
- Taking that one step further, to consistently disinfect any packages your home receives. Open the packages on your front porch, if feasible. Discard of all packing materials. Wipe down the contents of the package with disinfectant.
- Try using essential oils in the home to clean, dust, and purify your home. Hotels, like The Horton Hotel, use these to enhance their cleaning regimens. The scents are soothing and benefits are awesome.
- Have hand-soap and alcohol-based sanitizer (with 60% or more alcohol) available in your home.
- Make daily cleaning a thing in your home…make yourself a cleaning calendar to follow each day. Hotel housekeeping crews use these calendars to ensure nothing gets missed on a regular basis.
- Wear proper PPE whenever your heading out of the house. Wash those washable face masks when you get home.
- Incorporate more immune-boosting recipes into your diet at home. Opt for an orange juice mocktail to sip on…the added vitamin C will help you fight off colds!
Clean Up your Act with these Immune-Boosting Drink Recipes:
Orange Boost Mimosa
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice (chilled)
- 1/2 cup sparkling apple cider (chilled)
- Frozen whole raspberries
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Slightly tilt a Champagne flute and slowly pour chilled sparkling apple cider. Wait for few seconds for the bubbles to disappear on the top.
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Then slowly top off with chilled fresh orange juice, and leave a little room for the next step.
- Add three or four frozen raspberries and enjoy!
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Note, refrigerate oranges and squeeze them just before making a mimosa. It gives a very fresh taste.
Green Tea No-jioto
- Soda water
- 1 cup of brewed green tea (two minute steep) Chill the tea.
- Fresh mint
- Fresh lime cut into quarters
- 1/2 tsp. of agave
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Place one lime wedge and 4-5 mint leaves in a glass.
- Drizzle the agave over the lime and mint and muddle the mixture together.
- Add ice to the top of the glass.
- Pour 1/2 cup of chilled green tea over the muddled mixture.
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Then slowly top off with soda water.
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Garnish with more mint and another lime wedge. Enjoy!
Participate in The Horton Hotel’s #MAYWEBEWELL FREE NIGHT Giveaway!
The Horton Hotel is committed to the WELLNESS of their staff, community, and fans. They’re kicking off the month of MAY with #maywebewell (may we be well) in an effort to encourage good health, positivity, and all things wellness. They are inviting fans to join in a month-long focus on all things wellness, and to provide even more motivation, there is a FREE NIGHT STAY giveaway prize available! The Horton created a daily list of things to do for 31 days, the May We Be Well Calendar, to keep the spotlight on wellness. Follow along each day and enter to win a ONE NIGHT STAY at The Horton Hotel (at a later date). You can enter on Facebook or Instagram. Keeping a clean & safe home contributes to your wellness, so when you’re ready to travel again, make sure your hotel, inn, or resort also makes cleanliness a priority.
Drop a comment on our Facebook page, or send us an email if you have any questions or comments about cleaning, especially during COVID-19. We’d love to hear from you. In the meantime, sign up for our email list to stay up to date on all things Horton. Just go to our home page and scroll to the bottom to sign up.
Written by Andrea Morton, Director of Operations for The Horton Hotel.
