GLOBAL REPORT—The hotel industry is uniting to standardize its cleaning procedures to combat COVID-19 as individual companies and hotels go the extra mile.
This week’s good news highlights include hotel giveaways to essential workers, cleanliness guidelines, and a hotel in Portland, Oregon, offering a creative use of its event space.
Karisma Hotels & Resorts is giving away 150 four-night, five-day stays to essential workers and their families through the Karisma Foundation’s “Holidays for Your Heroes” program.
Nominations for workers in the “health care, delivery and other frontline” industries are open until 30 June, and winners will receive a stay for up to two adults and three children at a Latin American or Caribbean resort “once travel restrictions are lifted.”
—Sean McCracken
@HNN_Sean
Hotel firms are making their employees’ and guests’ health and safety a priority by enhancing their cleaning protocols. With so many people checking in and out of hotels under normal circumstances, it’s easy to understand apprehension staff and travelers might have without extra efforts to disinfect rooms and public areas.
Marriott International formed the Marriott Global Cleanliness Council to handle concerns of the pandemic and create new standards of cleanliness for its properties. Hilton is launching Hilton CleanStay in June, partnering with major cleaning product brands and the Mayo Clinic to keep its hotels safe. Choice Hotels International’s program includes following guidance from major health agencies as well as designating a “Commitment to Clean Captain” at each Choice property who will go through extra training and be responsible for implementing the new protocols.
—Bryan Wroten
@HNN_Bryan
As states begin to unveil their reopening plans, a hotel in Portland is stepping in to give businesses in the personal services industry more room to operate safely.
The Portland Mercury reports The Jupiter NEXT hotel in Portland, Oregon, will open its Atrium Ballroom to barbers, stylists, tattoo artists and more by partitioning the 3,000-square-foot space to ensure social distancing between pairs of personal service workers and their clients. What’s more, the hotel is opening up the space for free.
Each business will operate by appointment only, clients will be screened for signs of sickness, and the ballroom space will be regularly cleaned and sanitized.
Jupiter NEXT GM Nick Pearson told The Portland Mercury he realized those businesses haven’t been open for months and likely don’t have enough space to properly observe social distancing with pent-up demand for haircuts and nail treatments.
“Once they reopen, you’re going to have this storm of shops needing to make money after being closed for two months, and barbers needing to make money after being unemployed for two months,” Pearson said. “So we just figured, we have this giant space that’s not being utilized right now. It would be a great way to generate a little energy in the building and support small businesses who will be starting up under irregular times and rules."
—Dan Kubacki
@HNN_Dan
My favorite hotel Instagram account has got to be The Lanesborough London because they feature many photos of the hotel’s resident cat, Lilibet.
The Lanesborough is temporarily closed now, but when it was open, its Instagram account featured photos of Lilibet stalking from the stairs, sitting by beautiful flowers and hanging out with employees.
I’ve been so pleased to see that the hotel is keeping the world updated on how Lilibet is doing. As you can see in the post below, she is safe and enjoying a countryside “retreat” while the hotel is closed.
View this post on Instagram Lilibet standing to attention in the countryside 😻 we are pleased to let you know that Lilibet is doing very well on her retreat. Our only worry is that she won't want to come back to city cat life when we re-open our doors 🙀 #LoveLanesborough #ResidentCat _ #Lilibet #LilibetsLanesborough #HotelsWithCats #TheLanesborough #SiberianCatsOfInstagram #Catstagram #HotelCat #SiberianCat #CatLife #EndearingPlaces #OetkerCollection A post shared by The Lanesborough (@the_lanesborough) on Apr 26, 2020 at 2:26am PDT
—Danielle Hess
@HNN_Danielle
In early May, when China celebrated its Labour Day holiday, the country’s hotel industry saw a big bounce in occupancy, contributing to its recovery. According to Jesper Palmqvist, STR’s area director for the Asia/Pacific region, the holiday “was quite the super charger” for occupancy. The holiday resulted in occupancy levels “not seen in a long time,” he said. (STR is the parent company of Hotel News Now.)
It is promising to see countries that not too long ago were shuttered now seeing signs of resilience. Though I hope those who are traveling are doing so safely. What gives me confidence in that is knowing that hotel companies across the globe are doing all they can to ensure guests are staying in clean and safe spaces, including partnering with trusted third parties to roll out sanitation protocols.
—Dana Miller
@HNN_Dana