lincolnjkc

Perhaps its because this is my first stay since mid-May (which happened to be around the time the CDC shook up its guidance for fully vaxed people...Or maybe because this stay isn't attached to air travel...but it's striking me as odd that Hilton still has signs everywhere that "in accordance with CDC guidelines" masks are required for all guests when that no longer reflects guidance and none of the other places on this trip (gas stations, restaurants, client, etc) are holding a 100% masking policy -- either "mask if you aren't vaxed" or "mask or not we don't really care" seem to be the prevailing attitudes in the upper midwest.

Dude at the front desk (while we were both pulling masks that had migrated during conversation back up) volunteered that "they'd" love to be rid of them but corporate is still requiring it.

I'm perfectly happy to comply -- just because I know I'm vaccinated doesn't mean other people do and if it makes them more comfortable I'm perfectly happy to wear one (even in situations where masks aren't required I've taken to having one on me just in case someone requests it), but on the same token it seems a bit stupid to be walking down an empty corridor, riding an elevator alone, and even walking through a lobby that is completely empty (not even an employee at the front desk) just because the policy doesn't seem to have been reevaluated.

The Road Goes On Forever

What the guy at the desk told you is not true. Hilton currently 100% does not have an across the board mandatory mask policy for US hotels. It's all basically on the honor system where if you're vaccinated, no mask, and if you're not your supposed to continue wearing a mask and no the front desk obviously cannot ask to see your card or question in it in any form.

At the Hampton where I work, our management company has decreed that staff must wear a mask for the foreseeable future (likely at least through the end of the year) or risk termination (unenforceable since we already have no staff as it is) but for guests it's what I mentioned prior. All of our mandatory Hilton blue signage went down after our management company gave us guidance as to what they wanted done.

With that said, I stayed at a Embassy Suites in MD last month and their desk staff was full non-mask the same as any housekeepers I saw. Guy who checked me in said their GM thinks the pandemic is BS and after the CDC's guidance he told the staff to basically do what you want and aside of a request to wear them in the elevators masks were fully optional everywhere on property.

hotturnip

I just stayed in 3 Hamptons and a Tru in cities across Texas. Every place was different. Signs are still up about masks being required, but no enforcement. Some desk people were masked, some weren't. Most guests weren't. Nobody was doing daily housekeeping--except at the Tru, of all things. The Tru also had the regular breakfast (I think--I never went because it ended at 9:00, but they called it a buffet). This Tru just opened recently, and I think they just decided to turn over a new leaf.

cubbynole

I stayed at a Hampton in Houston over Memorial Day weekend, they had all the signs about mandated masks, social distancing in the elevators (LOL) but none of the guests wore them (except inside the breakfast are where masks and weirdly, gloves, were mandated) - this was a dual branded Hampton/Homewood Suites and the only hotel I've stayed at in the past 15 months that offered the usual hot breakfast buffet. Stayed last weekend at a HGI in the Phoenix area and the signage reflected to following local guidelines and it looked like 2019 in there (except for no breakfast or daily housekeeping), no employees or guests wore masks. As a vaccinated guest, I didn't wear a mask in either place (I did at checkin in Houston, but didn't later once I realized they weren't enforcing, but would have is asked), so I prefer the policy at the HGI.

lincolnjkc

Hands down prefer accurate signage over unenforced signage... even if its not enforced I feel weird not complying with the request conveyed by the property.

In the case I posted about the employees were masked and guests I saw outside the property (smoking, waiting for a ride, etc.) were either masked or had a mask dangling from an ear --- but I saw 0 other guests inside the property to have any sense of enforcement.

I did find it more than a little amusing that the signage in the elevators requested, to allow for social distancing, no more than 4 persons/families in the elevator at a time... I'm not sure how you could fit 4 families in the elevator car (assuming that a 'family' is at least two adults and possibly one or more little people), period, let alone allowing any kind of distancing...meanwhile my last several hotels (pre-revised guidelines) had signage requesting 1 person/family per elevator...

rustykettel

This replaced the mandatory masks sign which was on the entrances when I was last here in early spring.

DCAproducer

I saw a similar sign at the H Hotel at LAX last week and Hilton Santa Monica.

BobOscar

Same sign at Indy airport Embassy Suites last week.

Previous night at West Chester OH Homewood Suites the guests not required to wear a mask. I believe the employees behind the front desk were wearing masks but if you encountered a hotel employee elsewhere on the property they did not have masks on.

No mask signs on the front door of either property.

smithrh

Stay started Tuesday, signs were up, guests and staff wearing masks.

Thursday morning, was advised policy just changed, guests didn't have to wear them any more, but staff would continue to.

Noticed signs weren't there as I left this morning; checkout staff remained masked.

Super Mario

Lol, mask mandates. I can't remember the last time I was told to wear a mask, including 2 Hilton stays in the past 3 weeks. Few care about that anymore. However, it just goes to show how scared corporations are to make any big decisions. They'd rather not accept any liability by saying the words "no masks needed".

boonkoh

How good are the vaccines in preventing catching and transmitting the Delta variant?

That for me would be the key question. With so many interactions a day with guests that are changing daily/weekly, if the vaccines are not as effective against Delta then a no-mask policy would just cause more transmission and cases to rise again.

And who wants to catch covid on holiday or a business trip and ruin their plans...

sdsearch

Catching and transmitting is a separate question from getting symptoms.

Fully vaccinated (2+ weeks after last dose required, perhaps 4 weeks after single-dose J&J to be extra sure), quite good against symptoms.

Half-vaccinated (only one dose for vaccinated which require two, or too soon after the last dose), not so good against symptoms.

I don't think there enough data yet to know how capable someone with one or another vaccine might be to catch, never get symptoms, but transmit, the Delta virus.

So especially if you have (or will be around) kids who don't qualify for a vaccine yet, it can be tricky to know what's "safe", even if you (and all adults around them) are fully vaccinated.

johnndor

Further complicating things is where state and local government issue mandates that over-ride (and sometime conflict with ) CDC guidance.

I saw in the news that everyone was either so happy, or very upset, about a concert in Madison Square Garden - vaccinations or masks required. - while i just went to a Styx concert in MS... no masks, no vaccination checks, and no one cared enough to write an article about it.

born sleepy

Just off two weeks at the Hilton Bloomington (MN) where the desk and F&B staff all wore masks, but guests were on the honor system with about 50% wearing masks. I'm fully vaxxed and have no problem confirming that if asked -- I don't understand why some people choose to make this a big deal.

I used to get all fired up about anti-vax science deniers, but now I'm of the opinion that if you refuse to get vaccinated against this insidious disease, then you fully accept death as a possible outcome of that decision, and it sucks to be you in that case. Tired of this willful ignorance.