Unintended Disruption: How COVID-19 Has Transformed Hotel Housekeeping
by Roger Keeton | Senior Advisor, TipBrightly
After more than a year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, hoteliers agree that enhanced CDC cleaning protocols are here to stay and fast becoming industry standard. As more and more people begin to resume travel, they will expect to see heightened cleaning practices as a reassuring factor in measuring their comfort and safety.
Many hotel brands have partnered with cleaning and disinfectant companies such as Ecolab (wholesale), Reckitt Benckiser Group (Lysol) and GOJO Industries, Inc. (Purell). Cleaning product logos now appear on signage throughout hotel properties and via hotel reservation websites. The traveling public feels safer when recognizable companies collaborate with hotels to show visible cleaning practices.
One of the biggest pandemic changes affecting housekeeping protocols and guest stays is a transition from daily room cleaning service (stayover rooms) to cleaning, disinfecting and sanitizing rooms upon checkout. Hotels typically define housekeeping services as "stayover”, meaning general cleaning during the guest's stay; or "checkout”, meaning a complete room cleaning after a guest has checked out of their room.
In most U.S. states, local health and government officials have strongly advised against permitting housekeepers to enter and clean occupied (stayover) rooms. San Francisco County, CA provides the following Health Directives for all hotels, “Each room must be thoroughly cleaned between Guest stays in accordance with CDC guidelines. The room should be cleaned as close to the next Guest’s arrival (i.e., as many days after check-out) as possible. Lodging facilities must provide additional time for personnel to thoroughly clean the guest room.”
San Francisco County, CA has also mandated that hotels provide guests a list of travel tips prior to their arrival. These travel tip specifically regarding Housekeeping service encourages guests to, “Review the Lodging Facility’s COVID-19 policies. Your facility may have modified the availability of housekeeping services and may have removed frequently touched items from your room. Asking for daily cleaning increases the risk of community transmission because housekeeping staff enter multiple environments inhabited by potentially COVID-19 positive individuals.”
However, there are pleasant and unexpected guest behaviors emerging as travelers return to hotels.
According to David McCartney, GM of Kimpton’s Hotel Arras, the TipBrightly contactless tipping platform has ushered in a renewed sense of pride and personal engagement of his Housekeeping Department. Guests at his hotel are frequently tipping based on the condition and appearance of the room upon check-in.
David said, “the housekeeper that cleans and prepares the room for arrival is now getting the tip, rather than the housekeeper cleaning the room after checkout. Housekeepers are always proud of the cleaning of their rooms. Now, they are even more motivated about cleaning rooms knowing their name is on it. Having the Housekeeper’s name on the [QR code] signage is also making a human connection for the guests.”
Rewarding the Housekeeping staff who diligently clean hotel rooms to CDC guidelines is a revolutionary concept. Tipping the specific Housekeeper who thoroughly prepared the room has great potential to disrupt the industry, in a good way that provides a Win – Win – Win!
Guests are looking for cleanliness now more than ever before. The QR code has played a vital role during the pandemic in accessing information.
Guests are more comfortable using their phones to access menus, directions and websites. Now, that same technology is allowing guests to show their appreciation - through a tip - in ways not possible just a few years ago.
City and County of San Francisco, Dept. of Public Health, Health Officer Directive No. 2020-29h 5.4
San Francisco Department of Public Health, Travel Tips, April 14, 2021