Staying in hotels - is it safe?

[harllee]

If I were to travel now I would get an AirBNB house or condo. That way I would have a kitchen so I would not have to go to restaurants (in my area restaurants are where some of the virus spreading has taken place according to the contract tracers). Some AirBnbs are advertising they are skipping a day or 2 between reservations so I would try to get one of those. I think that would be the safest and I would feel comfortable doing that.

 

[audreyh1]

We always pack our own pillows everywhere we go (extra suitcase if flying--lol)

You can carry on pillows in addition to normal carryon. Use an extra pillow case if you are worried about soiling it. DH uses his as a backrest in his seat, and sewed himself a carrier with handles from a pillow case.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I haven't stayed in a hotel recently but we've tossed around the idea of a weekend getaway or maybe and a week long getaway in December and would stay in a hotel.

I'd probably want to pick a chain that would be more likely have a cleaning and safety policy in place. Tho, a lot of chain hotels are managed by local/regional operator so you have to trust how well they follow corporate standards and directives.

Even though I'm of the opinion that infection via surface contact and subsequently touching your face is very low, I'd still bring wipes and do a bit of a quick wipe of key surfaces which we kind of occasionally do anyways since hotel rooms in general are kind of dirty. I'd probably decline maid service and just try to grab new towels manually.

I'm not concerned with aircon units as a means of infection between rooms. That's just my personal view based on the limited info from what I've read (in part from an analysis of what happened on the Princess ship in Japan). However, I'd be more concerned about spread within a small closed room with a lot of people and being in it for an extended period of time.

In BC, restrictions have eased and local travel has opened up. Cases have started going up which was expected. But there doesn't seem to be new infections caused by hotel stays. Most of the new clusters that pop up seem to be within hospitals (as expected), care homes (an ongoing issue), processing plants where workers are side by side, private home parties, and people not keeping distance at bars/restaurants after drinking a few rounds (new rules force people to stay seated and to order from a server vs walking up to the bar)

 

[kcowan]

We are now venturing out in our "bubble". We have had four lunches/dinners out with "clean" friends. I am in the high risk group with COPD.

We go to malls for purpose-based shopping. I bought a new iPhone SE at a vendor's mall outlet. All masked and spraying/washing.

We are taking calulated risks after our airline/hotel flight home from Mexico after the mandatory 14-days. We have not eaten indoors in a commercial space. Always patio dining with breezes and spacing. We have been indoors twice in friend's houses.

 

[RobbieB]

One more week and we drive to LA (covid capitol) and drop off the daughter then head to Pismo for 2 nights on the beach.

And eat lotsa fish -

 

[ArmchairMillionaire]

I don't think there's been a recent thread focused on the relative risks/safety of staying in hotels, so I wanted to start a discussion about this.

Here are a few questions off the top of my head to get us started.

• Would you (or have you) stayed in a hotel recently?
  
• What criteria did you (or would you) use for picking a hotel?
  
• How risky is staying overnight at a hotel compared to, say, eating (indoors) at a restaurant or going grocery shopping, etc.?
  
• If you were staying overnight in a hotel room, what extra/special precautions would you take to ensure additional safety?
  
• Would you be concerned about hotel air conditioning systems being a viable means for blowing around infected respiratory droplets or aerosols between rooms?
  
• Would you assume every item/surface in a hotel room is "contaminated" and take steps to disinfect those surfaces after checking in?
  
• Would you bring your own bed sheets, pillows, comforters, etc.?

I've taken 4 separate week-long trips since the end of February. I've been to Texas, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa. The people I work with stay exclusively at IHG properties and I've found them to be very clean. They have a COVID cleanliness policy on their website if anyone's interested. There are differences between hotels, though. Some of them have stopped doing the daily room cleaning but will give you fresh towels or bedding as requested. Others clean the room and wipe down surfaces daily.
Some have eliminated the breakfast room altogether and only offer a bagged breakfast to go. Others have breakfast available but have it served by an employee. (no serve yourself food, drinks, cinnamon rolls, etc) And others have the full breakfast available but limit seating for social distancing.
Some hotels have the pool & fitness center open while others have them closed. All of them have signs on the doors requiring mask usage in public spaces and while the employees mostly follow the rules, usage by the guests seems about 50/50.
Almost all of the IHG (Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express) properties have individual HVAC units that only vent outside and do not recirculate air from other rooms.
I usually take the stairs instead of the elevator when I can but lately I've been especially avoiding getting into an elevator if others were waiting or already inside.
That's about all I can think to add.

 

[audreyh1]

We stayed pretty much at Hilton properties, and they were following very similar procedures.

For once we really appreciated the window AC unit.

Some implied they would not clean occupied rooms.

 

[rocketjockey]

One more week and we drive to LA (covid capitol) and drop off the daughter then head to Pismo for 2 nights on the beach.

And eat lotsa fish -

Pismo is a smoke covered ashtray right now. Hopefully the wind shifts by the time you get here. Air quality at danger levels the last few days. Rotten to be outside.

 

[Sanbenito1]

I take my own pillow and I also wipe off toilet handles, doorknobs, TV remote with a bleach wipe. Even in the best of times many people are pigs, and cleaning staff may not be doing the job the hotel says they are (I cleaned rooms in my 20’s). I open the windows (if I can) and air things out. Takes 5 minutes and I’m done.

 

[Winemaker]

I've stayed at 11 different places since March 1st. OH, PA, KY, CA, and FL in VRBOs, hotels, and a small inn. DW and I ain't dead yet.

 

[RobbieB]

It's rotten to be here in the central valley right now. Can't see 5 miles. Very smoky.

One can only hope and proceed with scheduled events as if nothing else matters.

 

[Montecfo]

I have spent about 15 days in hotel rooms 5 states in the last 3 weeks. Yes, it is safe if you are careful.

Our tips:

Stay in lower.floors or apartment style motels to avoid elevator rides.

Disinfect high touch surfaces.

Assume everyone has covid. Maintain distance at all times.

No one comes into room after we check in. No housekeeping. We do our own.

Every place we stayed had posted mask requirement in common spaces. But some jokers still did not wear masks and I never heard any hotel employee ask them to put them on. We maintain distance like they are.lepers.

I'm not usually a big fan of Hilton hotel.products, but they seem to be doing a.much better job of marketing the cleanliness of their rooms. And it is fairly convincing.

 

[budmanatlanta]

I don't think there's been a recent thread focused on the relative risks/safety of staying in hotels, so I wanted to start a discussion about this.

Here are a few questions off the top of my head to get us started.

• Would you (or have you) stayed in a hotel recently?
  
• What criteria did you (or would you) use for picking a hotel?
  
• How risky is staying overnight at a hotel compared to, say, eating (indoors) at a restaurant or going grocery shopping, etc.?
  
• If you were staying overnight in a hotel room, what extra/special precautions would you take to ensure additional safety?
  
• Would you be concerned about hotel air conditioning systems being a viable means for blowing around infected respiratory droplets or aerosols between rooms?
  
• Would you assume every item/surface in a hotel room is "contaminated" and take steps to disinfect those surfaces after checking in?
  
• Would you bring your own bed sheets, pillows, comforters, etc.?

We just stayed in a small beach house for a week. To reduce the risk, we brought cleaning wipes with us and cleaned everything with a particular focus on high touch areas such as the remote controls, door knobs, sink and shower knobs and thermostat. This is a great idea to do even pre-Covid, and it provided additional peace of mind in staying at the house!

 

[DrRoy]

We are just back from 3 nights at a state park lodge in Indiana, and one Holiday Inn getting home. The hotels were handling things fairly well, people were pretty well masked and distances maintained.

 

[JoeWras]

What's going on with the breakfast bars in these places?

 

[braumeister]

What's going on with the breakfast bars in these places?

Where we've stayed, they will just give you a little bag with "eat on the go" food.

 

[audreyh1]

What's going on with the breakfast bars in these places?

We avoided them and brought our own. One hotel I saw handing out breakfast baggies had people waiting in line without enough space. Others had restaurants open and had space and few customers.

 

[mckittri2000]

We were supposed to be in the Great Sooky Mountains today for three days. But we cancelled the trip on Friday. We are not comfortable with hotel stays and restaurant eatings at this time.

We just returned from Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge and I can tell you that it was very busy. Almost all stores were requiring masks and there was hand sanitizer everywhere you looked. We did mostly outdoor activities but we did stay in a hotel and eat out at a couple of good restaurants while we were there.

 

[Venturer]

Early this year we were in Pigeon Forge & decided to get season passes to Dollywood for us and our Granddaughter. We had bought some about 10 yrs ago and thought since she is now 8 we knew she would love it. We have a camper and she thinks if we are going camping she needs to go too. Then here comes Covid. We have the tickets but DWood is closed. Finally mid June they open with restrictions --must have reservation to go ,only 1/3 capacity and masks required. We still waited to see how all that worked out. One of our best friends finally decided to go there July 17. He said it was no problem, all shows were outside,it wasn't crowded at all and masks were on except in the mask free resting zones. So we decided to go on 7/29-08/01 w-sat. it was as he said We went to the park thut. and back Fri. for about 4 to 5 hrs each day,which for our old bones is plenty. Dwood extended the season tickets until June 15 th of 2021 so we will probably get to go next spring with DGD a few times before they expire. The campground we stay in is a smaller family owned one so we feel safe there. We will just have to wait and see if this mess is better by then, I hope it is but it will still be one day at a time.

 

[JoeWras]

The main Gatlinburg tourist district is usually jammed with pedestrians. How was it now? I'm not sure I'd be too comfortable with the crowd, even if it is outside.

 

[street]

I know of a couple of retired couple's that have done long weekends in hotels. They take cleaning supplies/sanitizing products etc. and their own pillows etc.. They seem to feel safe and do all they can to protect themselves and stay away from crowds.

 

[Venturer]

The main Gatlinburg tourist district is usually jammed with pedestrians. How was it now? I'm not sure I'd be too comfortable with the crowd, even if it is outside.

Joe we are from N Ga, so we took the long way into Pigeon Forge, came up thru Cherokee NC then over 441 thru Gatlinburg. It was baaad in GBurg, We normally don't go there but my wife wanted to see the new bridge. We decided not to stop.If you like to take an hour to go the 3 or so miles thru downtown then more power to ya. I only go around the bypass most times we go. The same way for us in Pigeon Forge, we know when not to go there. which is any time they are hosting a big show,rally,ball tourney,etc. Then if you don't know the "back roads" you can spend 2 or 3 hrs in bumper to bumper traffic from Sevierville thru PF to Gburg. I have been there seen that and don't care to do it. We love the Smokies but not the traffic.

 

[JoeWras]

Joe we are from N Ga, so we took the long way into Pigeon Forge, came up thru Cherokee NC then over 441 thru Gatlinburg. It was baaad in GBurg, We normally don't go there but my wife wanted to see the new bridge. We decided not to stop.If you like to take an hour to go the 3 or so miles thru downtown then more power to ya.

OK. Sounds "normal" then. No thanks!

We use Gburg as a hiking base. Over the years, we became very familiar with the "secret" back roads. But that's not the point of Gburg. Part of it is people watching. Where else can you enjoy a dinner and have a wedding break out (complete with dress and tux) next to you? Where else can you have the same wedding party invite you to their motel to join the party? Actual stories! Our hiking party is in someone's wedding picture album.

Maybe some year in the future. Not this year.

 

[audreyh1]

Joe we are from N Ga, so we took the long way into Pigeon Forge, came up thru Cherokee NC then over 441 thru Gatlinburg. It was baaad in GBurg, We normally don't go there but my wife wanted to see the new bridge. We decided not to stop.If you like to take an hour to go the 3 or so miles thru downtown then more power to ya. I only go around the bypass most times we go. The same way for us in Pigeon Forge, we know when not to go there. which is any time they are hosting a big show,rally,ball tourney,etc. Then if you don't know the "back roads" you can spend 2 or 3 hrs in bumper to bumper traffic from Sevierville thru PF to Gburg. I have been there seen that and don't care to do it. We love the Smokies but not the traffic.

We spent some lovely time at a nice RV park near Townsend many years ago, it was great - totally away from the crowds. Easy access to the Smokies particularly Cades Cove which was of interest to us that trip. Just drive a bit farther to see other attractions and the east side of the park.

 

[athena53]

It may be a bit early to declare myself "safe" since my last checkout was 4 days ago, but I did a road trip from Kansas City to the Lexington, SC area a week ago. Dad is in LTC there and the facilities won't allow visitors into the place till the lawmakers absolve them of liability for any COVID cases. Dad is 89. I couldn't wait for that- Dad is failing and, frankly, all of us hope he doesn't last long in this state. Frustrating to be able to see Dad only through glass but I was glad to be there. Stayed with siblings in the area who share my level of caution but was in Hampton Inns overnight each way.

Both had "sanitized" seals on the door of the room when I checked in (for what that's worth) and enforced masking and social distancing in the lobby. The smaller one (Mt. Juliet, TN) had grab-and-go breakfasts and coffee but told me they'd be adding hot buffet items in the near future. The one in Paducah, KY already was, with a staff member serving to avoid contamination of serving utensils. I skipped everything but the coffee in both. Both places still had in-room coffee makers, too.

The only "miss" was the gym in Mt. Juliet. It's small and the rule posted on the door was only one occupant at a time, which made perfect sense. A guy was in it when I wanted to use it so I changed into my swimsuit and git into the pool. From there I could see the gym and a second guy went in and got on the treadmill. Two guys working out, apparently unrelated, no masks. I was glad to be in the pool. The next morning I discovered that Guy #2 had left a used sanitary wipe on the treadmill. It also meant the hotel staff hadn't cleaned the gym yet. Of course I scrupulously wipe down any equipment I use, anyway.

Also disappointed with the convenience stores and a Subway in the places I stopped- no one bothering with masks, even staff. I got in and out (masked) as fast as I could.