Top 15 Important Tips to Stay safe at Hotels

Travelling to a new place, be it for a leisure vacation or business purpose, requires a lot of planning and preparation, especially during this pandemic era. Adapting to this new normal is crucial to ensure your safety, especially when traveling. So, every step of your trip, right from the booking of hotels to checking out, requires you to pay extra attention to the safety protocols. 

Depending on the state you are traveling to, you can check the state-wise travel guidelines to ensure you have a smooth and safe trip. Whether you are staying in the best hotel in Amritsar, Once in the hotel, you're still equally vulnerable and hence, should not let your guard down. Therefore, to help you have a safe stay at hotels, here are our 15 most essential tips that you must keep in mind! 

1. Wear your masks and adhere to social distancing practices

We are all well-versed with the covid protocol that includes hand washing, wearing a mask, maintaining a 6 feet distance with others, and avoiding touching surfaces. Therefore, it is crucial to stick to all of the above rules, both for your well-being and for the people coming in your proximity.

2. Choose a safe destination

Traveling for business-related purposes cannot be helped, but if it is for recreation, then avoiding traveling to areas with a high infection count is the foremost step in ensuring your safety. It does not guarantee 100% safety as hotels usually get visitors from all around the country, so it's best to take all the necessary measures to protect yourself. 

3. Look for the Hotel’s safety and hygiene standards 

Before you settle in on a hotel preference, make sure to search and read about their policies regarding safety, sanitation, and cleanliness. Ensuring the hotel staff is vaccinated, follows all the safety protocols, provides sanitizers, performs proper disinfection of the public places, etc is a must before making a reservation. You can look up all this information online before booking or call the hotel directly in case of any queries. 

4. Check the facilities offered by the hotel for the health-related needs of the guests

It is critical to check beforehand all the facilities and services that the hotel you're planning to stay at offers in times of medical need, such as doctor-on-call, etc. That is a valuable point on which your choice of hotel should depend, as falling sick is something, that can happen to anyone, anytime, and having an emergency solution is vital.

5. Make contactless payments

Resorting to online payments is a very practical and protected way of ensuring safety, especially during the pandemic. You can either book the property online or opt for online payment at the property. This is the safest way of transacting both in terms of safe transactions as well as minimal physical contact. 

6. Pick a room that has been unoccupied for some days

No matter how adequately the sanitization has been performed, there's always room for some surfaces being left out. So, you should choose a room that hasn't been inhabited for at least three days as that is the maximum amount of time the virus stays viable on inanimate surfaces.  

7. Avoid using elevators

Avoiding compact places with inadequate ventilation is essential, and elevators fit into that criteria. So, it's best to avoid using lifts whenever you can. Instead, the stairs or escalators should be preferred and used over elevators.  

8. Sanitize and clean your room yourself

Most hotels sanitize their rooms adequately before allotting them to the guests, but a double layer of surety is always welcomed. Therefore, it's best to perform a quick round of cleaning that involves all the high-touch areas of the room such as the TV remote, the door handle, the switches, desks, tabletops, etc. You can also get your own toiletries and linens for reassurance.  

9. Sanitize your hands frequently 

Whenever you're outside and cannot wash your hands, sanitizing them is the key. Sanitize your hands before touching your face and after touching any surface with the potential of being infected. Hotels usually provide the guests with sanitizers, but just to be sure you should carry one of yours with you all the time especially when going outside. 

10. Avert from using common facilities provided by the Hotel

Hotels have an array of facilities open for all, ranging from spas, gyms to swimming pools and buffets. These sets of shared amenities are best to be avoided during this time as these are high-risk areas where you can easily contract the infection be it through physical interaction, sharing of infected equipment, or inhaling infected droplets. Therefore, avoiding any such shared amenities is the key to having a safe stay. 

11. Choose the in-room dining option

Eating requires you to remove your mask, and doing so in the hotel's restaurant can put you or the people surrounding you at high risk. So, to solve that problem, opt for a contact-less, in-room dining facility over dining out. On top of ensuring your safety, it is a more comfortable option especially for those who find eating in front of strangers uncomfortable. 

12. Avoid calling for Housekeeping service

Skipping ordering for housekeeping is another important tip you can take into consideration for a safe stay at the hotel. The staff usually takes all the necessary precautions but mistakes can happen anytime. To not leave any loophole from your side, it's best to avoid opting for a housekeeping service altogether. If there's anything you need, you can ask the staff to drop them outside your room. 

13. Keep your room well-ventilated

The importance of fresh air is no secret. However, its significance with regards to covid is a new acknowledgment. WHO has put forth some statements shedding light on the directly proportional relationship between the spread of covid and inadequate ventilation. So, the guests should keep their windows open and allow the fresh flow of air as the risk of transmission of the virus is more in closed spaces. 

14.Refrain from using valet services

Another minor yet significant tip to avoid the risk of getting infected is not opting for valet parking. That will simply cut down on the unnecessary contact that you or your vehicle will make with another person and consequently will also cut down on your risk. So, park your vehicle on your own!  

15. Follow healthy practices

The infection starts and ends with people. If we are taking all the measures to avoid contracting the infection, it is equally important to avoid spreading it! Therefore if you ever have the urge to cough or sneeze in a public place, make sure to cover your mouth with your elbow or tissue that should be disposed of in a closed bin.

Conclusion

During these difficult times, most Hotels are taking all the necessary precautions to ensure the guests have a safe and comfortable stay. Taking a few steps from your side to solidify that resolve is crucial and we hope this long list of dos and don'ts can help you achieve that. However, one should not treat these safety tips as a substitute for vaccination. Getting vaccinated is important, especially for frequent travelers. Also, carrying your Covid Vaccination Certificate with you is a must!