We're in the midst of a week-long road trip around Southern Utah's parks. Along the way, we've stayed at a variety of Hilton properties. I thought I would share my experiences with folks who may be wondering what the current state of the world is.
For reference, Hilton's COVID cleaning standards can be found here:
https://newsroom.hilton.com/corporat...of-cleanliness
First stop:
Hilton Garden Inn Twin Falls, ID
This hotel was a pit stop along our drive from Seattle to Southern Utah. The pool and fitness center were closed at the time we visited (on Friday, June 5). There was no Lysol seal on the door (not that I care; I think this feature is kind of silly, but they advertise it as part of their program so I'm pointing it out). Our room seemed to be thoroughly cleaned - the bathroom, light switches, door handles, and even the refrigerator door grip were spotless.
Front desk and restaurant staff all wore masks, and there was a plexiglass barrier at the front desk. We had the free diamond breakfast - they gave us a paper slip to fill out with our choices, which were filled by the kitchen with disposable flatware and plates. I don't know why the server couldn't just do this - handing guests pens to fill out a slip of paper seemed unnecessary. The pens were handled anyway by the server when she took them from us. No breakfast coupon was necessary, they just checked my status and deducted it from the bill.
Housekeeping was advertised as not being provided, although with a 1 night stay, we didn't care. There were no wipes available at entrances, just some hand sanitizer stations. Paper and pens were removed from the room, as advertised. The elevator instructed that there was a limit of one party per elevator ride. Overall, this hotel arguably adhered to the standards the closest.
Second Stop:
Hampton Inn & Suites, Springdale, UT
We spent three nights at the Hampton in Springdale, just outside Zion National Park. Our room did not have the Lysol seal (again, I don't really care). The pool and fitness center were open, although most guests seemed to be avoiding it. Breakfast consisted of a to-go bag with a pastry, granola bar, yogurt, and fruit. The front desk did have plexiglass separating staff from guests. Staff all wore masks. There were not any wipes available, just hand sanitizer near the pool and the entrance to the hotel.
The cleaning job on this room wasn't as good as the room in Idaho, but still not too bad. The refrigerator was the problem area - the hand grip to open the door clearly wasn't cleaned and the inside had some residue of old food/bev from another guest. Other high touch items were fine.
I was a little surprised that no one was cleaning the patio furniture outside the pool as guests were coming and going. I guess the virus gets pulverized by UV exposure but they didn't do any proactive cleaning here, and they didn't make any cleaning supplies available to guests to do things like wipe down chairs, etc. No pens/paper in the rooms, and no housekeeping provided. Dirty towels and linens lingered in bags outside of rooms in the hallway during the day... this didn't make me feel so great. There was a sign that limited the number of parties in the elevator at one time. Overall, I thought they did an OK job, but they were not as good as the HGI in Twin Falls.
Third Stop:
Hoodoo Moab, Curio Collection
This is a fairly new hotel, and we're in the midst of a stay here right now. No Lysol seal on the door. Staff all wears masks and gloves. The front desk did not have plexiglass. The pool and fitness center are both open -- and the pool in particular is occupied at concerning capacity levels. Lots of kids and groups poolside, and staff doesn't seem to be enforcing the notices on the door out to the pool about distancing. Staff hasn't been cleaning the chairs poolside. There was no notice at the elevators limiting the number of parties per trip, though most people seem to be doing this on their own.
The cleaning job on the room was... poor. There was considerable dust on the light switches and door handles, which tells me that no one bothered to wipe them down. The fridge's hand grip again had crud on it that I had to clean off. It's entirely possible that our room has been vacant for some time, but I have no idea if that's the case or not.
Breakfast is in the restaurant, which is open. You have to stop by the front desk to pick up coupons, which seems to eliminate the benefit of online checkin. There was no paper or pen in the rooms, and no housekeeping services are provided during your stay. Overall, this room rated last in terms of cleanliness, which is interesting because it was the most expensive of the three.
General Observations:
We disinfect the room ourselves as an extra layer of insurance. We take wipes to the door handles and light switches, we disinfect the headboard, fridge, etc. We travel with our own pillows, since it seems rather risky to be laying your head on a surface that someone else has been breathing into for 6-8 hours a night.
The standards advertise frequent cleaning of public areas... we never saw anyone cleaning anything in any of the public areas, aside from bussing tables at the HGI in Twin Falls. In fact, the bagged linens in Springdale made it seem dirtier/more cluttered than usual. Properties didn't seem to get the memo on this. They also didn't get the memo on wipes - we didn't see them at any of the properties.
Guests are almost universally
not wearing masks or observing distance recommendations. This region has a low rate of infection, but is experiencing a surge of visitors from areas that have seen higher infection rates.
My takeaway from our experience - I don't think most hotels are doing anything different, aside from having staff wear masks, having the housekeeper wipe down some high touch surfaces, and the elimination of daily housekeeping. Nothing else really seems that much different. If I were to make recommendations, I would say - sanitize the pillows by running them through the dryer on high, wipe down the headboards, and get rid of the breakfast coupons and automate the gold/diamond breakfast.