‘Essential services’ takes on new meaning at lodge

FOR the sake of pleasure or profit, it seems some patrons and owners of hotels and lodges are in bed together over their skewed definition of “essential services”.

Alert level 3 of the lockdown rules came into effect on Monday and one of the spin-offs was that hotels and lodges were permitted to house guests, provided the accommodation was for those who were on business trips.

Some viewed the latest concession in the lockdown rules as an opportunity to shove aside social distancing protocols and renew or, in some instances, fire-up new acquaintances, mainly at venues offering accommodation at hourly rates.

One establishment, in Durban, known for accommodating short-term customers, alerted its “loyal patrons”, with posts on Facebook, about its reopening on Friday.

Customers were assured strict protocols would be observed for the benefit of patrons and staff, and the facility would undergo a “deep cleanse” beforehand.

On Friday, the Sunday Tribune received a complaint from a resident about people moving in and out of the establishment, and at regular intervals.

The resident claimed the movement was not in keeping with the new lockdown regulations, and was concerned about sanitisation issues and the spread of the coronavirus.

When the Sunday Tribune called the facility on Friday evening, the front-desk receptionist confirmed that accommodation was on offer at hourly rates.

For an additional R20, you could get a room with air conditioning, and the best room in the house was fitted with a jacuzzi.

When one of the owners was contacted, he insisted the guests were travelling for business.

When questioned about the hourly rates, as confirmed by the receptionist, he said the staff member might not be familiar with the new rules of operation.

“Our staff have just come back after being away for 70 days. Maybe the night shift receptionist has not been properly briefed by my manager.”

The owner said he would call his manager immediately about that. He claimed that he knew of other venues offering short-term accommodation.

“We are battling to make ends meet, the lockdown has really affected us greatly. We normally offer short-term accommodation but we are specifically opened for people on business travel.”

Yesterday, the owner confirmed that they shut their operation and will only accommodate guests who are on business and have documents as proof, even though it was not required by law.

He said there was some misunderstanding with some guests who checked in short term on Friday and said they needed to “freshen-up for a meeting”.

Blessing Manale, the department of tourism’s head of communications, reiterated that accommodation was only possible for business travellers.

“They don’t need permission from the minister, they need records of the traveller.”

However, Manale acknowledged there were opportunistic people who posed as travellers and business owners who were exploiting the system.

He said his department didn’t have an inspectorate in place, but if the police conducted random checks and found people flouting the system, they would be in trouble.

“Our minister said she was fighting the battle on behalf of businesses to have the sector opened, and asked owners to comply with the rules so that more concessions could be made.”

He conceded that without permits required to confirm individuals who were on business trips, it left a loophole for some to stretch the rules.

Manale said they were working on eradicating “grey areas” in the rules.

About short-term bookings, he asked: “What are they booking for, internet usage? We will name and shame those establishments doing this.”