Last weekend I stayed in a hotel for the first time since the lockdown and noticed several changes.  Like optional housekeeping.

The CDC released new travel guidelines last week, and that included safety recommendations for hotels.  I stayed at a hotel with family last Saturday, and the changes were obvious.

There were sanitizing stations everywhere along with stickers on the floor to remind us all to stay six feet apart.  (Don't you wish you were in the sign-making business right now?  Holy cow!  Sign and sticker people are in demand, to say the least.)

Forbes highlighted some other changes that are happening at hotels across the country.

Online Check-In - The hotel may ask you what time you'll arrive ahead of time, and that will make way for a quick visit (or scan) at a plexiglass window at the front desk when you get there.

Sanitation Stations -  These will be easy to spot, especially near high use touchpoints.

Contactless Ordering -  QR Codes make it easy to order off of a menu on your smartphone.  It eliminates the need for germ-carrying menus and limits contact with servers.

Optional Housekeeping - Fresh towels might be placed in a sealed bag and left outside of the room. And housekeepers will only come into the room if requested, and as long as it's empty.

Enhanced Cleaning Protocols - Hotels are using hospital-level cleaning agents, and disinfecting common spaces every hour.

Fitness Centers are Closed, or By Appointment Only -  The fitness center at the hotel where I stayed was closed.  At other hotels, a workout time can be reserved at the front desk.

Online Check-Out - There's no need to stop at the front desk on the way out.

Hotels are posting protocols on their websites and it's usually a long list of new procedures, but worth knowing about so you're not surprised when you get there.  Our stay was nice, just different.  But we're getting used to that.

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