Unlock 1.0 | Here’s how hoteliers are getting ready to welcome guests once again

From June 8, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services will be allowed to reopen but will have to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) prescribed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW) under the government's plan of easing restrictions under Unlock 1.0.

Only those establishments that are outside containment zones will be allowed to reopen, as per a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) order dated May 30. As per estimates, about 60,000 branded hotel rooms have been operating during the lockdown out of a total supply of 160,000 rooms across India.

These were housing medical staff like doctors, nurses and ward boys and some employees from corporate and government companies who were reporting to duty and quarantined guests. Besides the SOPs laid out by the MHFW, hoteliers have come out with their own set of SOPs.

Zubin Saxena, Managing Director and Vice President (Operations), South Asia at Radisson Hotel Group said, “We have developed new 20-step protocol for hotels and a 10-step protocol for meetings and events in partnership with SGS - the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company.”

“In addition to this, an exhaustive set of experience mapping guidelines are being implemented which detail out procedures to be observed across a guest’s journey from arrival to check-out and a team member’s journey across various touchpoints such as arrival, housekeeping, kitchen, moving around, offices, etc,” Saxena added.

Thermal screening, mandatory face masks, regulated air conditioning, controlled use of elevators are some of the 31-point guidelines listed by the health ministry to the hotel industry in addition to 10 other ‘generic preventive measures’ that include discouraging entertaining guests above 65 years, pregnant women and children below age 10 that also need to be followed. Facilities like swimming pools, spas and gymnasiums will remain closed until further notification from the ministry.

Parag Sawhney, General Manager, Westin Hyderabad Mindspace, said, “Our 12 feet long front desk has installed a toughened glass screen all across as a shield where at no point in time are we allowing more than two guests. We have installed LED screens displaying ‘social distancing’ messages. We hand out face masks in case the guest is not wearing one as it is now mandatory.”

Westin Hyderabad along with other hotels was relying on food and beverage orders (outdoor catering) from the neighbourhoods as a source of income during the lockdown period even as Swiggy and Zomato were unavailable for delivery.

“We made use of hotel cars to deliver the food and beverage to our customers during that period. With regard to in-house dining we had to remove furniture to create more space in the restaurants as six feet distance is to be maintained between two individuals who are dining,” Sawhney added.

Only asymptomatic guests and staff are to be allowed inside the hotel building. Hotels must adopt contactless processes like QR code, online forms, and digital payments like e-wallet for both check-in and check-out. Luggage needs to be disinfected before sending the luggage to rooms, are some of the guidelines listed by the MHFW.

Shwetank Singh, Vice President — Development and Asset Management at InterGlobe Hotels, said, “Our hotels have used this time to ensure all maintenance works are completed and the cleanliness and hygiene of the whole property is carried out regularly. We along with our operator Accor have set very strict SOP’s covering all aspects of the ‘new normal’. Our staff has been well trained to handle the new work environment."