CHLA Lodging News May/June 2020

22 CALIFORNIA LODGING NEWS  www.calodging.com   continued Bellmen/Valet Let’s start with the first person a guest might encounter at a hotel—the bellman or valet. Do you even still offer valet parking? If you do, do you have your parking attendant wear gloves and change them between getting into each car? What about self-parking and self-paying machines on the way out of the parking lot? Plan to wipe down and clean those buttons, and schedule someone to do it often. Does your bellmen open your doors with gloves? How often are the door handles being cleaned, and who is doing that if you don’t have someone opening the doors for guests? Perhaps it is time to consider more automatic doors. If you loan out your bell carts, make sure someone is responsible for keeping them clean. Perhaps having disinfecting wipes handy for people to use for themselves, like they do for the carts in the grocery store, is the way to go. Front Desk I believe that social distancing will still be in effect when hotels reopen. Do you have room for your front agents to spread out? If your check-in line becomes long, do you have room for guests to stay a minimum of 6 feet apart or whatever government mandated rules are? Should you mark the lines on the floor or have signage about social distancing? Consider gloves and masks for front desk agents. I have heard about hotels ordering embroidered fabric ones for their staff. Are front desk agents taking guest credit cards and swiping them or do you have POS machines for guests to use themselves? Have your front desk agent clean it after each use. Be sure to use an approved disinfectant and make sure it will not harm or damage your machine.