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General => The Stay Safe Board => Topic started by: Flemming on Wednesday 22 July 20 22:07 BST (UK)
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Is it me or are the strict covid cleaning measures being implemented by some hotels and catering places more about basic hygiene?
Some examples:
Kettles, remotes, light switches, door handles will be wiped between guests.
Tea cups and glassware in the rooms will be washed between guests [I presume this means pre-covid they were simply rinsed in the bathroom sink].
Complimentary toiletries will be replaced for new guests.
Room keys will be sanitised frequently.
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I live in Mid Wales and I have a friend who has a self-contained annex she rents out as holiday accommodation. She was telling me that everything in a property has to be deep-cleaned between guests and three days should be left between one set of guests leaving and a new set arriving. Maybe the rules in Wales are more strict, I don't know. But certainly the rules here seem really strict. Even in gift shops, for example, the rule is that if you touch something, then you have to buy it. Would probably be a good idea to extend this to supermarkets: a friend when to one the other day and a man stood prodding every single packet of meat, taking them off the shelves, handling them, and then shoving them back. Very worrying.
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It's stories like that that convince me I'm right to carry on wiping my groceries.
As for the hotels, unfortunately there's no way to be sure that they're actually carrying out the necessary procedures. Just a question of whether you trust them I suppose.
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I agree, it is slightly worrying that people don't get the idea to look with your eyes to select and pick up just the once!
I watched a chap in Lidls handle at least half a dozen melons including puttin some in his trolley then taking them out to replace them with two more... they all looked the same to me! He was totally oblivious that I was standing waiting distanced from him... I wanted a melon too but decided after he'd handled most of them I'd give it a miss...
You're right about how do we know hotels etc have actually cleaned.... and what did they do before! I know when we stayed out in Kenya (when visiting friends ) in the Aberdare Country Club our friend said don't drink the water that's in the thermos on the table because the staff open it look inside and if it's full they just put the lid back on... granted we're talking Africa here and over 20 years ago....
Caroline
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Kettles, remotes, light switches, door handles will be wiped between guests.
A germ expert who tested hotel-rooms found most bacteria on kettles, switches on items on bedside cabinet and inside drawers. He's also tested planes - worst areas were toilets and overhead locker-doors. This was an interview I heard weeks ago.
When shopping now I decide if I want an item before picking it up. Only reason for rejection is if a food item was almost at "use-by" date and would be wasted.
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Aye, I remember watching something in a hospital waiting room that said the dirtiest place in a house is the kitchen sink because of all the things that get washed in it, particularly vegetables.
Another expert I know says TV remotes, particularly in hotels, are worse than toilets which, at least, usually get bleached and flushed regularly, although plane loos can be disgusting, especially at the end of a long haul trip. And I won't share a train loo story here for fear of the post being removed.
It all makes me wonder if the uplift in hygiene standards across the board might mitigate other nasties as well as covid. I don't suppose everyone will comply but perhaps it only takes a certain proportion of people to make the difference.
Still doesn't make me feel any more comfortable about booking a hotel room. They can deep clean the room until it sparkles but, if the cleaner doesn't wear a mask and then coughs or sneezes, it all might be for nought. :-\
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Kettles, remotes, light switches, door handles will be wiped between guests.
Tea cups and glassware in the rooms will be washed between guests [I presume this means pre-covid they were simply rinsed in the bathroom sink].
Complimentary toiletries will be replaced for new guests.
I agree, I would have expected this to have been standard before Covid
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But certainly the rules here seem really strict. Even in gift shops, for example, the rule is that if you touch something, then you have to buy it.
I'm interested to understand how that is enforced?
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I live in Mid Wales and I have a friend who has a self-contained annex she rents out as holiday accommodation. She was telling me that everything in a property has to be deep-cleaned between guests and three days should be left between one set of guests leaving and a new set arriving. Maybe the rules in Wales are more strict, I don't know. But certainly the rules here seem really strict. Even in gift shops, for example, the rule is that if you touch something, then you have to buy it. Would probably be a good idea to extend this to supermarkets: a friend when to one the other day and a man stood prodding every single packet of meat, taking them off the shelves, handling them, and then shoving them back. Very worrying.
Am due to stay in a Welsh hotel for a weekend in September. Are these the guidelines that all Welsh hotels are having to follow currently, couldn't find anything on any website, as presumably this will mean that some guests will have to be cancelled.
Pheno
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When I go away now [nothing planned yet] I will be taking my own pillow if possible just in case - so much will have to be taken on trust, even leaving rooms empty for a few days. I wonder how B & Bs can still make a profit?
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We've taken pillows in the past, and our own towels and bedding. We got to one place and I thought we'd been a bit OTT as the place looked ok, until I found blood on the white sheet. It was probably only the cleaner catching a finger or something but it was the fact that no-one had checked the place before we arrived.
I've read that big chains are leaving every other room empty which, as Josey says, makes you wonder how this is going to affect profits. I recently checked a chain hotel we've used before and the rates have doubled. Not sure if this is a temporary thing to capitalise on a surge in demand, or whether it's here to stay.
Some hotels are saying cleaners won't come in the room while you're there, which is something we ask for anyway. Not sure what they can do if you're only there for a few days other than make the bed (can't you do this yourself?), empty the bin and change the towels (don't they last a few days anyway?). Perhaps the savings in not having a daily clean can be put into a deep clean between guests.
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I live in Mid Wales and I have a friend who has a self-contained annex she rents out as holiday accommodation. She was telling me that everything in a property has to be deep-cleaned between guests and three days should be left between one set of guests leaving and a new set arriving. Maybe the rules in Wales are more strict, I don't know. But certainly the rules here seem really strict. Even in gift shops, for example, the rule is that if you touch something, then you have to buy it. Would probably be a good idea to extend this to supermarkets: a friend when to one the other day and a man stood prodding every single packet of meat, taking them off the shelves, handling them, and then shoving them back. Very worrying.
I witnessed that when I popped in for milk he handled every single packet of cooked meat (his nose was also hanging out his mask) and he was didn't buy any meat at all. Things like this really stress me out about shopping I still wash or quarantine mine (got back to school stuff today so can't really wash paper).
Although I have to say the 3 days rule doesn't sound condusive to making money. I don't think it is the rule everywhere as i have seen places in England advertising that they ahve made checkout earlier and checkin later to increase time available for cleaning.
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This was many years ago, but I've never forgotten.
I was on a tour of China (highly recommended) which included a boat trip down the Yangtse. We were in shared cabins in bunk beds, and the only bedding provided was a small hand towel and a rush mat.
It was very warm, so most of us simply wore a t shirt, lay on the mat, and covered ourselves with the towel.
Great trip, although it was recommended not to hang over the rail, as the Chinese passengers on the upper deck were prone to clear their throats and then spit over the railing into the river. Local customs do differ, and I described my trip afterwards as the sound of throat clearing plus volume expectoration and bicycle bells.
Anyway, to the point, the river boat reached our destination and we gathered up our luggage to disembark, and could see the staff behind us simply relay the mats and replace the same towels on the bunks for the next travellers.