Just wondering what people who have been to hotels lately have seen. Are they cleaning the rooms properly, are they following the CDC guidelines, did you feel safe, were employees masked, were guests masked?
One of the things currently holding me back from visiting my daughter is that she can’t house me and I need to stay in a hotel. Just wondering how comfortable people have felt in a hotel - were you worried about who was in the room before you?
We stayed in a hotel in Minneapolis Friday night. The suite felt very clean. The lobby was undergoing renovation so there wasn’t a front desk, just a long table. The young woman who checked us in had a mask on, under her nose. 
We weren’t planning on staying in a hotel, but my husband’s brother and wife decided they weren’t ready to host us since they had just moved into a rental house. We didn’t have much choice.
Call ahead and ask the hotel what protocols it is following.
I drove halfway across the country in early June and stayed in a Marriott. Their policy was to leave the room untouched for 2 (or 3, heard different accounts) days and then clean the room thoroughly and leave it again, I think for another day. In that 300 room hotel, only 30 rooms were occupied.
I only ever saw the front desk clerk, who wore a mask, as did I. Did not see any guests. I felt very safe.
The clerk told me it was a good idea to book a bit in advance, because although not many rooms were occupied, many were “offline” because they had to sit empty for those days before being available again.
It probably depends on a particular hotel. The last one I stayed had their staff constantly wiping down. Allowed 2 people max in the elevator. The room looked clean. No idea who stayed or if anyone stayed in the room before me. I wiped down everything I would touch and put out Do not disturb sign. It was in a low case state and in a region even lower numbers. All staff were wearing a mask correctly. They didn’t require guests do the same and few were wearing a mask. I felt safe but I an an outlier here.
I have to say, don’t (nearly) all hotel rooms “look” clean? I don’t know for sure what on the surface you would see different pre-covid vs. now?
I can understand things like taking out unnecessary paper/magazines, and protocol that they say (you have to trust) like spacing out which rooms they use but isn’t a rare occasion that a hotel room DOESN"T look clean???
Point being, lots of it is just hoping for the best.
That’s so. In terms of what looks different other than taking stuff out of the room, they kinda seal TV remotes for example. They could have just sealed it without cleaning. No way knowing. The reason I felt reasonably comfortable was that their staff was constantly wiping down in the lobby. All day long. It is a leap of faith that it extends to room cleaning. Anyway, I wipe down my room regardless how it looks.
I’m curious to what folks on CC do when they see something like this? Do you kindly mention proper mask usage? Do you follow up with management later? On the one hand, we shouldn’t police everyone but it does “take a village”. I wouldn’t tell a private citizen what to do (although I’ll think it) but I do expect management to run a tight ship when it comes to pandemic precautions for their guests/customers.
TBH, if it had been a young white woman, I would have said something. But it wasn’t. And we were in Minneapolis.
I was supposed to do a trip earlier this month, but I didn’t go because of the flight, not the hotel room. The three who did make the trip (they could drive) said the hotel was great. Now, I should add that it was a Four Seasons so …
Things they told me that were interesting … they had to have their temps taken before going inside. No outside deliveries to the room; nothing/no one got past the front desk. They said it was pretty empty. They saw two people at the indoor pool.
We recently drove cross country from a work position to home. We stayed in hotels en route (Wyndham brands & Best Western). Requested lower floors when possible to avoid elevators. None would guarantee rooms that were unoccupied for 2-3 days. One said they were completely full before our stay, so they had no choice. Another said that was their standard policy when available. Rooms didn’t seem any cleaner than normal, so I tried to sanitize all touch surfaces. I was fine with rooms that had through-the-wall HVAC units. One had central air/heat which we turned off & opened a window. Taller buildings might not offer operable windows.
Masks were hit or miss. We didn’t see any staff except the front desk. They were typically behind shields, and a few also wore masks. Clientele were another story. Very few masks. I’m guessing this will depend on where you are traveling.
I want to add that a family member is in the hotel business and is hurting so bad. Staying in a hotel would be a kindness, much appreciated.
As noted about, you’d be well-advised to check in advance with the hotels. We recently took a brief trip which required us to stay in three different hotels, all in the same state. Each of the three handled the restrictions(or didn’t handle them) differently. All were chain hotels, and what they did bore no relationship to what was on the corporate website.
So call in advance to see if what they are doing fits your needs.
^Yes, if I had it to do over again, I would call the individual hotel. It was kind of a weird situation, and I was rushed to make the reservation.
Curious if anyone has stayed in a hotel recently that typically serves breakfast. We have a reservation next month at one and neither the reservation or the website seem to indicate anything different from normal. I can’t image they would have their typical breakfast buffet and let people eat in their little breakfast area. I’m wondering if there will be nothing or if it will be grab prepackaged items and take it back to your room or what.
Yes, all three we stayed at advertised breakfast on their website; I called before arriving and two had cancelled breakfast completely and one offered a “grab and go”. The grab and go consisted of a juice box, a granola bar, and a very very sad apple. If you wanted coffee…well, that’s what the in-room coffee maker was for.
So if you’re counting on breakfast, call in advance.
We stayed in 3 hotels which normally would serve a free breakfast. First had a few items (cereal, juices, milk, fruit, wrapped pastries). We made our own to-go bag. Second and third had no breakfasts, and no to-go bags. They all warned us before our stay that they may have limited services due to Covid.
It depends. Where I stayed, they had a server serving. The same choices as they used to have. After the state allowed indoor restaurant seating, the hotel allowed to eat at their eating area. They weren’t too many people when I ate. Not hard to SD.
Hotel breakfast buffets was listed on one of my podcasts as a casualty of the pandemic. RIP.
We just stayed 3 nights at a Holiday Inn Express in a hot-spot state. Staff all wore masks (correctly), they were actively wiping down surfaces (including luggage carts & elevator), and they didn’t clean rooms until day 4 (so ours was not cleaned during our stay). The room was spotless when we arrived, but I brought cleaning supplies & cleaned it, anyway. We brought pillows and blankets.
They had breakfast to-go bags, and they provided hot biscuit breakfast sandwiches on request. No coffee service, but there was a Kuerig in the room, and they gave us extra k-cups every time we asked.
There was a sign at entry stating that guests were to wear masks in public areas. Few did. We avoided all other guests, which wasn’t hard. If we were going down on the elevator & someone got on, we got off and took the stairs. If anyone was waiting for the elevator, we took the stairs.
The pool was open, but it was indoors. We didn’t go near it.
I felt pretty okay about the experience. To be honest, I was far more worried about being near my SIL and her H. We were visiting my in laws, who are in their 90’s. We visited outside, but H & I wore masks. SIL/BIL has them, but (wore) them on their chins or kept them on the table. BIL stated that the virus is a hoax. I told him that “this conversation is over.” Sounds like the chiropractor SIL works for doesn’t require masks. It was hard to maintain 6 feet distance, and we hope the masks were enough. Two weeks away from everyone but each other it is for H & me!
We are on a 2500 mile road trip college tour, currently at stop #2. We will stay at 6 different hotels over 11 days. All are either Marriott or Hilton brand hotels and I checked on their sanitation procedures at all locations before booking. There’s a lot of detail on their websites about what they are doing. Also as an extra peace of mind precaution, I brought along a plug in HEPA air purifier that I run at all times during our stay. I don’t know if it will help, but it can’t hurt.
Our first stop was Tulsa, OK. The Courtyard Marriott downtown was pretty vacant, as was the entire downtown area while we were there. I don’t think we heard any other occupants on our floor and never saw any. Masks were required, and worn, inside the hotel. The room was very clean, I was able to request a room that had been vacant for several days before our arrival. Nothing extra was in the room (the usual hotel booklets, etc had been removed). Hand sanitizer was available everywhere. Housekeeping was suspended so no one else entered our room during our stay. The hotel restaurant was closed.
Currently we are in St. Louis at another Courtyard Marriott. Also seems very clean, masks required while in the public hotel spaces. Hand sanitizer stations at check in and in other areas. All rooms are left vacant for at least 1 day between occupants (I was told 3 days on the phone). I didn’t expect housekeeping to come so was surprised when our beds were made and towels changed yesterday. Today we put out the sign for no housekeeping. This hotel also seems fairly quiet although not as quiet as in Tulsa. As an aside, we visited the Gateway Arch yesterday and I think there were more park service employees than visitors when we arrived in the visitor center. Timed entry tickets were required. It was the only indoor activity we had planned and it felt very safe.