Reprinted from HotelBusiness
As experts on Hotel Carpet Cleaning, we love to share articles on the hotel industry when we come across them. We came across this article we thought you’d like about renovations.
NATIONAL REPORT—More than ever, the guest experience lives beyond the hotel room. Both business and leisure travelers increasingly want shared experiences as they travel, and they’re seeking out hotels with inviting lobby lounges, alluring bars and restaurants, and attractive shared amenities like fitness centers, spas and entertainment venues. As hotels make big investments in renovating and upgrading public spaces and shared amenities, maintaining a solid foundation of cleanliness and a pest-free environment is critical to protecting the investment.
Here are five ways to proactively make renovations while avoiding challenges:
- If the use pattern changes—change your cleaning protocol. The purpose of renovating a lobby lounge is to bring more traffic to this valuable space. But if the usage pattern changes, so should the cleaning protocol. You should be aware of evolving traffic and usage patterns for all your spaces and facilities—and regularly re-evaluating your cleaning protocols to match. Make sure to partner with a chemical provider that can offer ongoing training for your staff, to help ensure your spaces stay clean.
- New spaces may require adding new cleaning products. A fitness center and a spa have very different cleaning requirements than your hotel rooms and your lobby. Make sure to partner with a chemical provider that can meet your unique cleaning needs and provide solutions that will help you avoid a potential public health risk.
- If you bring the outside in, don’t forget about pest management: As hotels incorporate natural design elements to “bring the outside in,” they’re inherently creating new pest management challenges. Consult with your pest management partner as you add natural light, plant life or create open-air spaces, to avoid a costly or pervasive pest infestation.
- Have a dedicated hand hygiene program. As the guest experience increasingly moves into shared spaces, there’s more interaction among guests, as well as between guests and staff. This significantly increases the risk of public health issues—from spreading the common cold to an outbreak of the flu. The best way to mitigate this public health risk is also the simplest: a basic hand hygiene program—with clear protocol for staff, and highly visible hand sanitizer stations for guests.
- Consider bed bug risk beyond the hotel room. With the increase in public spaces, bed bugs can now be found outside of the hotel room. Make sure your bed bug mitigation strategy covers your lobby, fitness center, restaurant—anywhere a guest might sit down or leave their luggage. Make sure to partner with a pest management provider that offers training for your entire staff—not just housekeepers.
Getting more ROI from your renovations
As properties put more money into creating attractive shared amenities and inviting public spaces, getting the most out of these investments means laying a solid operational foundation to support these amenities. One of the biggest elements of that foundation is re-evaluating your cleaning program and your pest program to account for new spaces, evolving use patterns and emerging risks. For simple tips on how facility managers and executive housekeepers can mitigate these risks, protect their business’ investments and help drive growth, check out this quick eBook:
