Part of my job is staying on top of everything travel related and right now a big part of that is knowing how things in the travel world are changing to deal with Covid19.
Most of the big Hotel chains have been advertising what steps they are taking to keep guests safe during their stay. While it all sounds great I wondered how it would be in person and how they are making sure each individual hotel is doing the same things. In the past 90 days I have stayed in 3 hotels in 3 states that were all all part of the same big chain. I can say even though I felt safe staying in them, all 3 were doing things a little differently. The interesting part is that the breakfast area was the one that had least uniformity among the 3 hotels I stayed in.
The first hotel I stayed in was in Colorado and this was back in May so things probably have changed a bit since then. Back in mid May Colorado was not yet allowing any indoor dining so the hotel had closed the seating area but they were still offering some of the breakfast options. Everything was pre-packaged and ready to just take back to your room. If you wanted coffee you did have to wait for an employee to serve that for you. My guess is that once indoor dining was allowed to resume in the state the hotel probably returned to allowing guests to sit and eat in the dining area but have spaced the tables out.
Our second hotel stay was in North Carolina in June. Funny thing here was that North Carolina was not yet allowing indoor dining but the hotel did have the seating area open for you eat your breakfast or any other food and drink you might have brought in during your stay. The breakfast offerings here were also very surprising to me as it looked almost as if nothing had really changed here. They still had out the hot dishes for self serve like the eggs, bacon, and oatmeal. The cereal was also still the large canisters where you turn the handle to dispense the amount you want. I have to admit this was the one time of all the hotel stays where I felt like it was more up to the guest to use their judgement as to what they felt was safe or not.
Third stay was in upstate New York and this one was probably most like what the hotel chain is aiming for. Tables in the dining area were very well spaced apart and it was obvious that they had removed some tables. Breakfast was limited to just pre-packaged options where even the cereal was the type that was already sealed in a bowl. Coffee was self serve which I think makes more sense than having to talk to someone to explain how you want your coffee. While we were having breakfast we did see someone come out and clean everything multiple times.
I am very happy to see how the hotels are adapting to the changes and doing everything they can to keep guests feeling safe while still being able to provide something similar to what we are used to getting.
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