The Coronavirus pandemic has stuck around for much longer than, I’m sure anyone, expected. Although, we are still currently in a lockdown situation, the need to be away from home from work, for many, has not diminished. Yet, you might not feel comfortable staying in hotels, B&B’s where you have to use communal areas frequently and are concerned about putting yourself at risk of infection.
During these unusual times, serviced apartments, which offer a more secure environment than hotels, have self-contained living spaces, kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms which reduce the chances of covid transmission and can help make you feel safe and secure while away from home and are a great alternative.
In this blog, I’m outlining the kind of cleanliness standards that you should expect, which will give you the security that you will be staying somewhere, where the host has have taken all the possible steps to keep you and themselves safe.
Prior to arrival
Your host should communicate with you by email or via their website on what standards they are adopting and what is expected of you, such as mask wearing in communal areas, what you need to do if you start showing symptoms during your stay, not to come if you are showing symptoms or have a positive test result.
They will also advise you of the check in process and how you will obtain the keys to the apartment.
Contactless check in
To minimise contact with people, where possible, check in should be contactless. Many hosts use key safes with a code that is frequently changed.
Within the property
There should be information clearly displayed about what is expected and what to do if you start to show symptoms or have a positive test result. This information may also have some key contact numbers that you will need if you do show symptoms.
Cleaning
Cleaning is a given and is not a new expectation – none of us would want to stay somewhere that wasn’t clean even before Covid. Cleaning now is a bit more than just cleaning, it is about enhanced sanitisation.
Upon vacation by the previous guests, the apartment is fully ventilated, cleaners wear masks and gloves and change these regularly. The host should have a checklist of all areas of the apartment where there will have been significant hand contact. This means that they know which areas to pay particular attention to. These high touch areas are cleaned and sprayed with a disinfectant and includes things like door handles and light switches.
Communal areas
Many serviced properties are apartments with a communal entrance and stairway. Moving through these areas, the government guidelines of mask wearing and keeping your distance from others is expected.
As a responsible serviced apartment provider, we want to make sure that you feel safe and secure in our apartments. We have adopted all of the above standards and hope that this reassures you and gives you confidence to use our service. Please do get in touch if you have any accommodation requirements and we can discuss your specific requirements.