Travel
The post-corona hotel experience
May 27, 2020
Last week we described what a standard flight will look like in the near future and we outlined the measures airports are taking to guarantee everyone’s safety. It looks like we’ll have the green light for the upcoming tourist season, albeit in an adapted version. The hotel industry is also busily preparing to welcome guests again.
A matter of trust
More than ever booking a hotel will become a matter of trust. The odds are great that large renowned chains will benefit from the situation. These chains have the financial resources, the know-how and the manpower to respond quickly to changing circumstances. Travel formulas like Airbnb may offer more guarantees in terms of rest and safe distance but they will find it harder to meet the high standards with regard to hygiene regulations. Service apartments may well become popular in the coming period. They offer the best of both worlds: lots of private space in a controlled environment.
Check-in
To guarantee minimal contact with reception, checking in online in advance is likely to become the norm. Hotel receptions will be fitted with screens. Elevator use will be kept to a minimum or will only be operated by hotel staff or through voice commands. Sanitising gels will be available everywhere.
Technology
Technology will play a key role in the hotel experience. For instance, you may need your smartphone to open the door to your room and turn the screens in your room on and off, or hotels may install high-tech air conditioning systems that cleanse the air of all bacteria.
Cleaning
For the time being, the most important job in the hotel industry is no longer that of hotel manager or maître d’hôtel but that of cleaner. Rooms will be entirely disinfected before every use with special attention for faucets, door handles and touchscreens. Some hotels will offer their guests a personal hygiene set containing sanitising gel, face masks, tissues, ... From many rooms the mini-bar, tea and coffee facilities and decorative elements will be temporarily removed.
Breakfast buffet
A traditional breakfast buffet is not in the cards for the time being. Hotels guests will be served at table or breakfast will be brought to your room. Social distancing rules will apply in the hotel bar, the restaurant, the pool and other common areas.
Hotel staff
Hotel staff will have their body temperature taken on a daily basis and uniforms can no longer be worn on the way home or to work. Many hotels and resorts will appoint a health and safety manager.
Is this still fun?
Rest assured that most hotels will go out of their way to make your hotel experience as enjoyable as possible. There’s a great deal of creativity and ambition involved and there are benefits as well. For instance, Grecotel will be offering its guests a private spot on the beach with one parasol per room. And meals are served on the beach or somewhere else in the open air. As for business stays, everything will be taken care of down to the smallest detail to guarantee a pleasant stay.