The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
A blueprint for the hotels of the future
As they embrace ‘the new normal’, hotels are finding ways of making our stays as restorative as they always were
As the UK and other countries begin to sketch a road map to recovery from the devastation of Covid-19, the hotel sector has been watching and planning carefully for a return to some kind of normality. This week’s announcement by the UK government that some hospitality businesses, including accommodation, could reopen during step three of the recovery plan (no earlier than July 4) if they meet “COVID-19 Secure guidelines” offers a glimmer of hope to an industry plunged into crisis.
But what are other countries doing, and how will hotels look in a postlockdown world? Telegraph Travel spoke to hoteliers around the world – from Sicily to Bangkok – about the measures they are putting in place to ensure their properties can open safely. Their answers give a sense of what a stay in the future might entail, from those all-important cleaning protocols to how people can sunbathe, dine and swim with minimum risk.
CHECK-IN
Many newer hotels were pioneering digital “contactless” check-in when a global pandemic was still the preserve of dystopian fiction, and such properties may well have a head start when it comes to reopening. Larger groups such as Marriott and Hilton also offer this option through loyalty programme apps (Bonvoy and Honors respectively), which feature “digital key” services enabling guests to unlock their room via smartphone.
Other hotels have been thinking about making changes even earlier in the process. The luxury Anantara chain is exploring ways of minimising contact at the airport transfer stage, while suitcases (and shoes) arriving at properties in the Spanish Room Mate Hotels group will pass over diluted bleach mats.
The most extreme and thorough measures will be temperature checks, as seen in China but soon to become commonplace. The SHA Wellness Clinic hotel on Spain’s Costa Blanca is installing thermographic cameras in public areas, and guests will need to be tested for Covid-19 prior to arrival.
The design of hotel lobbies will be focused on moving people through as quickly as possible, or even avoiding it entirely, with groups such as Accor working on defining alternative routes for guests to move through its hotels.
HYGIENE AND CLEANLINESS
New hygiene protocols will become de rigueur, with many hotels citing a cleaning cycle of anywhere between one and three hours, with a focus on “touchpoints” such as handles, buttons and switches. Novel measures employed by Marriott and Metropolitan Touring include electrostatic sprayers with hospitalgrade disinfectant, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organisation (WHO). Marriott is also testing ultraviolet light technology for sanitising key cards and shared devices used by staff, while Metropolitan Touring is installing “footwear disinfection areas”.
Anantara has invested in a state-ofthe-art heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system with advanced air filtration to help prevent the spread of viruses and microbes. The technology will be fitted at the Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort in Thailand before being rolled out across the group’s 38 other hotels, which are mostly in Asia. Hotels in Sri Lanka’s Resplendent Ceylon group will ask their housekeeping staff to wear full PPE, while the Magnolia Hotel in the Algarve will wash all guests’ clothing on arrival.
Official designations could also be employed. The Portuguese Tourism Board has launched a “clean and safe” stamp to distinguish establishments compliant with hygiene requirements laid out by the Directorate-General of Health of Portugal. A similar plan is in place in Singapore.
ROOMS
Hotel rooms are perhaps the “safest” of areas, as you can control the number of people entering – and some governments are insisting on reduced occupancy. Spanish hotels can only open at 30 per cent capacity in the first stage of the country’s de-escalation plan, for example, which has already begun in some parts of the country.
Paola Pretsch Gutkowski, owner of Hotel Gutkowski on the island of Ortigia, Sicily, is determined to turn low occupancy into an advantage. The plan is to devote entire floors to individual families or small groups, at a price that would be unimaginable in normal times. The Algarve’s Magnolia resort will leave a space of at least two vacant rooms between each one that is occupied. Ultra-luxurious Amangiri in Utah, which reopens on May 21, will also reduce counts by “skipping a key”.
Proper, which runs hotels in major US cities, has planned for rooms to remain unoccupied for a full day after checkout to allow for thorough cleaning. Stand-alone suites with their own kitchens and pools could become popular. Amenity packs in rooms could also look very different: complimentary hand sanitiser and masks will now be included in all Kempinski Hotels’ bedrooms.
SERVICE
Retraining staff will be imperative. Plans for everything from “awareness training” to guidebooks and dedicated “health committees” have been reported at hotels across the world. Service with a smile could, quite literally, become a thing of the past as many establishments, such as Proper Hotels, implement a rule stating that all staff must wear masks. Staff at Kempinski Hotels will also wear gloves and masks, made by
Italian hotel uniform designer
Maurel in a Kempinski flower print. Castello di Ugento in Puglia has ordered special staff uniforms that can be sanitised at 90C (194F).
Staff will also need to be briefed on ever-changing local measures, such as rules affecting tourist sights and transportation. Proper Hospitality’s corporate team will be on standby 24/7 to “support the hotels and coordinate with local and regional authorities”.
Peninsula has launched a new “PenChat” service across all its hotels using technology that allows guests direct, 24-hour digital access to the concierge. As Paul Robinson, COO of Bawah Reserve in Indonesia, told Telegraph Travel: “People are looking for care and assurance in their hospitality experience.”
FACILITIES
The Magnolia Hotel in the Algarve has shut its pool, gym and spa in line with government guidelines, until further notice. Common areas (except for outdoor terraces) at hotels in Spain are also, for the moment, closed. At Anantara hotels, however, personal training sessions, yoga and pilates will be available for individuals or couples, with safe social distancing measures in place. Metropolitan Touring, which operates in Ecuador, will open only 50 per cent of its hotels’ hot tubs, yoga rooms and pools, while Resplendent Ceylon’s properties will have the water in their pools treated on a daily basis.
Britain’s Luxury Family Hotels, meanwhile, are looking at the idea of bookable swimming times. Sun loungers at the private beach and main pool of Crete’s Elounda Peninsula’s All Suite Hotel will have about 10 square metres of space around them to ensure socially distanced sunbathing.
Restaurants and bars in the UK’s Pig Hotels, below, have increased table spacing; masks are in use at Kempinski Hotels, above
Rules regarding the opening of public beaches will be determined by individual governments – but private companies also have plans. In Italy, plastics manufacturer Nuova Neon Group has released sketches showing Plexiglas beach booths, measuring 4.5 metres by 4.5 metres, which can hold two sun loungers and an umbrella – an indicator of what hotels with beaches or seafront clubs may have to do.
FOOD AND DRINK
Bars and restaurants packed with locals as well as guests used to be a mark of a city hotel’s gourmet appeal – but no longer. Even prior to lockdown, many hotels were having to operate their restaurants with social distancing by means of increased table spacing, including the Pig and Lime Wood hotels in the UK. De-escalation plans (such as those announced by Spain) allow for an initial 30 per cent capacity limit, later increasing to 50, for such establishments. This will pose additional financial challenges for businesses – and maybe, as a result, for guests. Queues may have become a staple of lockdown life, but it seems unlikely that bars and restaurants – whether at hotels or anywhere else – will allow them in the future.
VP Plaza España Design hotel in Madrid will make reservations for its bar mandatory, in stark contrast to the queues that usually form at the height of summer. In Ireland, even when hotels reopen in phase four of its plan (on July 20), bars will remain closed. Proper Hotels, meanwhile, will opt for the simple strategy of removing every other bar stool.
Contactless room service will be crucial, particularly in the early stages of reopening, with hotels such as Room Mate planning to serve breakfast exclusively this way initially. Happily, this may mean saying goodbye to the hefty charges usually arising from such a luxury, with resorts including Silversands Grenada removing them completely, along with paper menus.
Breakfast is likely to see the biggest changes, with the beloved buffet looking unlikely to make a return, at least in larger hotels. Sizeable properties may be able to use unoccupied meeting and conference space as businesses around the world reconsider how their employees interact; Grantley Hall in Yorkshire is looking at opening two additional rooms for breakfast.
SPAS
While there has arguably never been more of a focus on health and wellbeing, spas are going to be particularly challenging to operate when hotels reopen. Most treatments involve close physical contact, with facilities shared between guests. Rigour and transparency surrounding hygiene will likely take centre stage both back and front of house.
At Swiss thermal spa Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, even the sauna area will become a private experience – and therapists will work with masks when giving massages, and with additional face shields when doing facial treatments. Hand-washing before and after a massage, and disinfecting all equipment between sessions, will continue with even more scrutiny – something at which medical spas like Bad Ragaz have always excelled.
Social distancing will be taken to the next level to create a spa within a spa. At Euphoria Retreat, Greece, where 45 rooms are scattered throughout three distinct buildings, you can rent the private Leoncini heritage mansion, which comes with its own treatment area, dining room and living room together with views of the valley across orange, lemon and olive groves.
Virtual appointments will also become more the norm. Thailand’s Chiva-Som has launched online wellness services where you can speak to its world-class practitioners both on and off site. Other measures being considered across the industry include bringing more treatments and classes outside, converting unused bedrooms into private spa areas, an increase in fully clothed treatments such as Thai massage, and low-touch therapies such as reiki. The UK Luxury Family Hotels group is even considering contactless treatments such as facials using machines and wands by Elemis.
Service with a smile could, quite literally, become a thing of the past as staff wear masks
FAMILY AMENITIES
Soneva Fushi in the Maldives has changed the layout of all its public areas to reflect new social distancing requirements – including at its kids’ club, The Den, where no more than 10 people will occupy the space, which is about the size of six tennis courts.
Forte Village in Sardinia, known for its family-friendly hotels and water/ theme parks, is looking into grouping together smaller numbers of children (in similar age groups), plus staggered activities spread across different resort locations. We may also see a decline in indoor play as clubs take activities outside, one example being 7Pines Kempinski Ibiza, which is stating that sessions will be held outdoors and all toys and equipment replaced as new.
Anantara Peace Haven Tangalle Resort in Sri Lanka will be holding “back to nature” educational activities in the garden, based on sustainability and adventure. There will also be changes to how families will be booking rooms. Four Seasons Hotels has seen an increased interest in its private retreats and anticipates families will lean towards booking private villas at its properties.
Contributions by Jade Conroy, Rachel Cranshaw, Suzanne Duckett and Charlotte Johnstone