Today, you can find information on hotel search sites that looks like this:
It's a start. But it doesn't get to the heart of what most travelers are seeking. Yes, you can get your lunch individually-wrapped, but do folks wear masks? Isn't that more important? And many hotels have hotel policies — often completely ignored. We're hoping to hear back from hotels that really want you to wear a mask and have assigned someone to see that it happens, hopefully with examples and by creating a mask-wearing culture. And you deserve to know if masks are enforced when the signs fail.
And more than that, we think that "policy" is the wrong approach for Covid safety. Restaurants don't have food safety "policy" — they have people trained in food safety, they have plans. If a food inspector walks in a restaurant kitchen and wants to know who is in charge, they certainly are expected to have an answer. When we call front desks, they might be able to read the policy off a screen, but who is in charge? Who runs the safety trainings? Who do staff go to if they see a problem? If there is no project manager assigned to Covid safety, policy won't become reality.
Last, we are very big fans of two particular policies that we think make more difference than many of the usual suspects:
- Do staff get paid time off if they have symptoms? Otherwise, staff who need the money are coming in sick, no matter the policy.
- If you get sick, what happens? It is terrible for you if you have to leave on your departure date while sick, and terrible for the cab driver. Hotels have a responsibility to be ready to help with quarantine — ask about that before you are sick.