Here’s How To Stay Clean and Safe During Your Hotel Stay
We have been stuck in our houses for the last four months. I don’t know about you, but I’m about to go stir crazy.
I want to take a vacation. ANY vacation will do. A nice road trip somewhere other than my house would be WONDERFUL.
I’m so paranoid, though. How do you make sure the hotel you are staying at is clean and sanitized? How do you make sure the hotel is protecting you the best they can?
How To Make Sure Your Hotel Is Safe
Ask the hotel before you go, what procedures they have in place for disinfecting the rooms. If you don’t feel comfortable with their answer, choose another hotel. It isn’t worth your safety and health to stay in a hotel that isn’t staying on top of protecting you and your family.
Pack sanitizer or sanitizing wipes in your suitcase when you go on vacation. I know that is weird. But, this year is weird, so it evens out.
The hotel has probably done a great job at sanitizing and disinfecting your room, but you can never be too careful.
Use those sanitizer wipes to wipe down surface that may get coughed on or touched frequently. Bedside tables, remotes, TVs, doorknobs, toilet handles, the telephone, and headboards are a good place to start.
You can always tell if a hotel has been properly cleaned and disinfected by checking the bathrooms and seeing if the room is free of dust. You can also check the heating vents to make sure they are clean and free of dust and dirt. Those are the key areas to check first, which will be a major indicator of whether the hotel is clean and safe.
John Marroni Courtesy of Business Insider
Strip the comforter and blanket off the bed (and then wash your hands). The sheets will be freshly washed, but that blanket and comforter don’t get washed nearly as often. I know I sound a little “Extra” right now, but I take my own blanket. Better safe than sorry.
I’m going to say it here, too — Take your own pillow. The odds of you getting the coronavirus off a pillow that has fresh pillowcases covering it is probably pretty low. But, I’m just not willing to take that chance.
The air in your room is probably safe. Research shows that the coronavirus only stays in the air for about three hours. If nobody has been in the room right before you, the air is most likely clean.
Stay away from people as much as possible. That means staying out of the halls, using elevators as little as possible, and using touchless check in and check out procedures when possible.
If you are staying in a hotel with a restaurant, it is safer to just get that food delivered up to your room. You want to avoid crowds and people as much as possible.
Swimming in a pool seems to be okay, but again, you want to stay away from people. If the pool is crowded, or if you are not able to safely maintain a distance of 6 feet from people, skip the pool.
If you decide the pool is okay, you still want to wear a face mask when you are not in the water. Inconvenient? Yes. Will it cut your chances of catching the virus? Also yes.
Basically, just use your head and trust your gut instinct. If the hotel has a vibe of not being coronavirus safe, it probably isn’t. Don’t stay anywhere you aren’t totally comfortable.
