7 Steps You Can Take to Make Hotel Guests Feel Safer
You and your staff are working hard to make your hotel reopening safe and successful. A great first impression is critical. Guests will look for visual cues that your hotel is clean and safe the minute they arrive. Signs of safety (literally) must be present from the moment they enter the lobby to the time they check-out.
Here are seven visual indicators of cleanliness and safety you can implement to instill immediate confidence in your guests.
1. Door Seals
Guests need visual confirmation that their room is cleaned and disinfected. Using door seals, also referred to as clean seals and security seals, can help. Housekeeping places the seal between the door and door frame immediately after sanitizing the room. This lets guests know that the room is clean, but also ensures that nobody has entered the room post-sanitation. If a hotel guest finds the seal broken, they can request a re-cleaning or another room.
2. Social Distancing Signs
Although social distancing is the new normal, your guests will value visual cues to remind them of this policy. Place social distancing signs in the lobby, near the front desk, kiosks, and throughout public spaces. Having your staff wear “six feet apart buttons” is also a friendly way to remind everyone in the hotel about maintaining safe distances.
3. Hand Sanitizer Dispensers
Hand hygiene is a critical part of COVID-19 safety. Place hand sanitizing stations and signage throughout your hotel. Besides protecting against the spread of the virus, your guests will feel safer seeing the dispensers and appreciate that you’ve made hand hygiene accessible and easy. You should also supply staff with portable hand sanitizer for situations where a hand washing station is not available.
4. Safety Partitions
Although many hotels are offering remote check-in and check-out procedures, many guests will still require service from the front desk and concierge. Install partitions at highly frequented desk locations to add another visible layer of safety to in-person transactions.
5. PPE
All hotel staff should wear PPE. Masks and gloves should be standard, but certain housekeeping or janitorial positions may call for head coverings, face shields or other equipment. It is important that you maintain strict guidelines on proper PPE usage and that guests see staff wearing them consistently. You should also consider personal hand sanitizer and 6 feet apart buttons as part of your hotel’s required PPE.
6. Remove Unnecessary High-Touch Items
Sometimes what guests don’t see makes them feel safer. Part of your guest room revamp should be the removal of non-essential items, especially ones difficult to sanitize. Remove magazines, notepads, literature, and pens from guest rooms and public spaces.
7. Properly Trained Staff
Now, more than ever, your ability to provide an exceptional guest experience depends on the quality of your staff. Just like other visual cues of cleanliness and safety, your workers and their actions are visible to guests. Make sure you have a training plan in place for safety protocols. Training should cover COVID-19 awareness and prevention and safety procedures for specific job roles. A staffing partner, like Heart of the House, can help you implement your training and provide you with coverage during training sessions.
Click here to learn how Heart of the House’s COVID-19 Safety Initiative, People First | Safety First can help keep your hotel safe and your guests happy.