COVID-19 Guidance to the Hotel Sector.
What to Expect
The following is an excerpt from guidelines set out by the British Columbia, Canada Ministry of Health for hotel stays as they directly impact hotel guests. The full guidelines include practices for cleaning rooms, handling waste, laundry etc. Other governing bodies may have different guidelines so check with those applicable to your travel destination for your comfort.
Do NOT provide housekeeping service within guest rooms during their stay.
The take-away for guests is that some services will be different in a world with COVID-19. Importantly, if you are staying multi-days, house keeping will not enter your room during your stay. And clean towels and supplies will be left outside the door. The other take-away is that the house-keeping staff are having to work extra hard in a stressful time to keep you safe and we hope you will show your patience and appreciation.
The other take-away is that the house-keeping staff are having to work extra hard in a stressful time to keep you safe and we hope you will show your appreciation.
Housekeeping During a Guest’s Stay
- Housekeeping staff must practice diligent hand hygiene at all times during their shift.
- Do NOT provide housekeeping service within guest rooms during their stay.
- Ensure that an adequate supply of clean towels, toilet paper, plain hand soap and shampoo is available prior to guests entering their room.
- Leave fresh linens, toiletries and cleaning supplies outside the door of guest rooms. Provide these items at a frequency that maintains good hygiene.
- Provide a linen or plastic bag for the guest to place their dirty linens in, and a plastic bag for their other waste.
- Advise guests to tie laundry and waste bags shut and leave them outside their door for collection.
- To minimize the amount of time dirty linen and waste is sitting in hallways, advise guests on a time at which items should be put out for collection.
Housekeeping After a Guest’s Stay
- All guest rooms must be fully cleaned and disinfected after every use.
- Ensure staff do NOT enter guest rooms until authorized.
- To allow for adequate air exchange within rooms, staff should wait three (3) hours after a guest has left the room before entering for housekeeping.
- Cleaners must practice diligent hand hygiene before entering and after leaving each guest room.
- If gloves are used, ensure a new pair is used for each guest room.
- Proper hand hygiene must be performed after removing gloves.
- Staff should use the standard Personal Protective Equipment (e.g., eye protection, mask) required for the regular hazards encountered through their normal course of work (e.g., handling chemicals).
- Review all work procedures to minimize all opportunities for staff contact with splashes and spraying.
- Use clean cloths, paper towels or wipes to clean and disinfect surfaces.
- Put cleaning and disinfectant solutions into clean buckets for use.
- To avoid contaminating your cleaning solution, do NOT re-dip dirty cloths back into the cleaning solution. Use clean cloths each time. This may require using a larger number of cloths than normal.
- Immediately discard paper towels and disposable wipes after use.
- Avoid the use of spray bottles or pressurized sprayers that might aerosolize contaminants.
- Use a disinfectant that has a Drug Identification Number (DIN). Follow the instructions on the product label for dilution, contact time and safe use.
- If commercial or household cleaning products are not readily available, you can prepare a bleach and water solution with 20 ml of unscented household bleach per 980 ml of water. When using the bleach and water solution, allow surface to air dry naturally. Make a fresh bleach solution each day.
- Complete a thorough cleaning and disinfection of all hard surfaces. Special attention should be given to frequently touched items such as toilets, sinks, faucets, doorknobs, light switches, telephones, remote controls, bar fridges and garbage cans.
- Remove all cloth items (e.g., sheets and towels). Take all dirty linens and towels directly to the laundry.
- Steam clean fabric items that cannot be laundered (e.g., plush chairs and drapes).
- Empty all garbage containers.
- Discard all items left in the room by guests.
- Discard all single-use items and remnants, even if they seem unused or untouched. This includes, but is not limited to, toilet paper, soap, shampoo, toothpaste and sugar packets.
- Remove ALL reusable glassware and dishes from the room, including all dishes that appear untouched or unused. Take all items directly to the kitchen area for dishwashing.