Hotel Stays May Look a Little Different in 2021.
COVID fatigue is real. And as we round the corner on a year of dealing with the pandemic and with optimism on the horizon, many are beginning to look ahead to a time when they can reactivate their travel plans. Just thinking about it or, better yet planning it, brings relief.
As we all know, 2020 brought with it many changes in the way we do things. This is particularly true for the hotel industry, which suffered one of the hardest setbacks and is likely to see a slower rebound. Even with pent up demand, hotels are cognizant of the changes they will need to make in some of their services in order to hasten recovery.
Here is a list of the five most prevalent changes you are likely to find in your hotel stays going forward:
- Many hotels are going touch-less in every way possible. From digital check-in and checkout to guest room door access using mobile keys. This is definitely a 2020 trend that was being developed pre-COVID and is likely to remain permanent.
- On-demand housekeeping as hotels provide guests the option to opt out of daily cleaning services.
- ‘Round the clock in-room dining will become a rarity. Roughly, less than 2% of the revenue room service generated was served between the hours of midnight and 5:00 am.
- Many hotels will not only be scaling back room service, some will be abandoning it all together and moving to “ghost kitchens” for hotel dining. Making use of unoccupied event space, this efficiency model has the capability of servicing several properties at once while providing menus designed to meet the specific needs of the individual hotels.
- At times such as these, hotels are coming to the realization of the need for booking flexibility with more relaxed cancellation and change policies.
All of this is good news both for the guest as well as for the hotels. The time has finally arrived to picture yourself in your favorite places, even if a short-distance staycation, and to begin creating a plan to make it happen.
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