Hotel Chains Make Changes To Ensure Cleanliness, Earn Travelers' Trust
BOSTON (CBS) -- The next time you check into a hotel, the view may be the same but the feel will be different, according to travel expert Peter Greenberg.
"The entire hotel experience will change," he said. "We are talking lobbies, we're talking about hotel restaurants, even the concept of room service and what your room will look like."
At the Hilton DoubleTree in Cambridge, manager Stephen Pole says it starts will a contact-free check-in. Guests can sign up for a rewards app that allows them to check-in and even select their room before they even walk through the door and a digital key will be sent to the guests' phone. "That digital key will allow them to bypass the whole front desk experience and head straight to their room," Pole explained.
On the way to your room, you'll see all kinds of signs reminding you to keep your distance. Efforts to keep things clean will also be highly visible.
The Hilton chain has teamed up with Lysol and the Mayo Clinic to come up with their Clean-Stay program.
For starters, each room is sealed with a bright blue sticker, signaling that it's been cleaned and inspected "so that all of our guests know that the last person there was a housekeeping supervisor," Pole said.
"The remote controls will have a seal, sanitization seal or sticker on them, so people know they've been cleaned for every new arrival," he continued.
"Pads, pens, room service menus, guest directories, those will also be removed from the suite," according to Pole. The information will be available digitally.
What about room service? "I think it will involve into a knock and drop-to-go room service as opposed to rolling in china, glass, and silver and setting up dinners for people," said Pole.
The key to restarting travel is all about earning travelers' trust. "To ensure that cleanliness and hygiene stay front and center for our guests."
Hilton conducted a survey during the pandemic and found the biggest concern for customers was cleanliness.
