Hotels
Your work builds the community around you. And every day presents both opportunities and rewards. So, when life changes, you dig in and face what comes your way – envisioning possibility.
Your business depends on a well-coordinated team to keep things running smoothly. So, facing decisions about adapting to crisis is a lot to consider. You have more than just employees to think about – a pandemic impacts everyone.
So, while planning your response strategy:
- Assume everyone is infected.
- Assume everything is contaminated.
- Over-communicate to staff.
- Be considerate and protective of guests.
- Protect your operation from harm.
Alternative Uses
With the impact of COVID-19, you might experience pressure to ensure safety and well-being for your employees, guests and business. It’s during these unprecedented times that Westfield is here to help.Alternative use is a non-traditional application of facility and services. For example,
- A form of homeless shelter
- Overnight accommodations for first responders
- Recovery centers
- Temporary hospitals
When options for alternate uses arise:
- Consult experts:
- Your agent to help understand risk factors and considerations when evaluating or making changes to regular operations
- Legal counsel to create and review any contracts needed to manage and transfer risk
- Industry or risk experts to assess exposures and modifications based on non-traditional use
- Establish and update risk management plan and controls.
- Understand the scope of alternative uses, including:
- Intended duration
- Potential exclusions
- Immunity granted by States
- Disinfecting protocols when discontinuing non-traditional uses
- Impacts to your facility during closure or limited service
- Establish an online or phone order system –including payment
- Use a contact-free food delivery system
- Wear gloves while delivering and dispose of gloves before returning to the kitchen
- Reduce cross-contamination by not sharing equipment or space
- Disinfect commonly used equipment and surfaces hourly, for example:
- Knife handles
- Freezer handles
- Counter surfaces
- Cooking equipment controls
- Offer an online check-in kiosk separate from the front desk
- Install a splash guard between the front desk staff and guests at the counter
- Allow the front desk staff to wear a mask
- Wash hands between all guest interactions
- Disinfect:
- Pens
- Room cards
- Counter tops
- Hotel phones
- Credit card machines
- Front desk
- Office supplies
- Reduce movement and stock the carts!
- Provide face masks and gloves to use when turning over each room –change gloves and masks between rooms and wash hands immediate when removing gloves.
- Clean interior and exterior guest room doors and handles first, then enter a room.
- Clean equipment at the end of each shift, for example:
- Vacuum handles
- Carts/cart handles
- Bottles
- Provide guests with laundry bags
- Pick-up and deliver laundry outside the guest’s room door
- Define what you will launder for guests
- Require staff to wear masks and gloves when performing laundry tasks.
- Disinfect surfaces hourly, for example:
- All equipment
- Door handles
- Carts
- Assign tools to individual maintenance staff and include dedicated storage areas for these tools to prevent cross contamination.
- Wear masks and disposable gloves when conducting any work inside guest rooms and dispose of gloves after leaving each room.
- Disinfect throughout the day and after each shift:
- All equipment
- Tools
- Workstations