The pandemic has altered the hospitality landscape in so many ways, with an understandably strong focus on health and safety. 

One Antigua resort, the Hodges Bay Club, has announced a major new initiative to transform its operations to reflect the new realities of travel, particularly as Antigua begins to reopen for tourism next month. 

That includes the introduction of a viral mitigation guide for the property, which covers “the prevention of any viral strain that may threaten the well-being of its staff and guests.”

The plan highlights all standard operating procedures to be adopted by the property in the event of any viral outbreak, including the actions of staff in areas of guest management, cleaning and disinfecting, room management, laundry operations and food and beverage.

Some of the resort’s measures include a 48-hour hold on rooms recently vacated, daily sanitization of rooms, a 48-hour laundry lock and pre-wash sun disinfecting process.

“Hotel management is cognizant of the extenuating circumstances caused by the onset of COVID-19 worldwide and sought to adapt the best practices of leading global corporations such as Disney, who enlisted the experts of the John Hopkins University to compile their list of operating protocols,” said Jeff Wellemeyer, CEO and Chairman of Hodges Bay.

A nurse’s station has been secured on property with two nurses and two doctors on call for 24-hour periods, and temperature checks have become a mandatory part of the resort’s staff and guest check-in procedure.

All staff members are also being asked to complete an on-line health checklist prior to leaving for work and this checklist is instantly screened to prevent sick staff members from attending work while exhibiting symptoms of a viral infection.

Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez said he was impressed with the level of commitment exhibited by the management of the property.

“They’ve covered all of the bases to ensure the safety of not just their guests but their staff as well,” he said. 

“The good thing about this is that a template has been created to ensure consistency of operations to prevent or to contain not just COVID-19, but any similar viral outbreak that may threaten industry operations in the future, and I foresee that other properties will (and should) adopt similar procedures for guidance in these circumstances,” he said. 

Once inspected and certified by the ministries of tourism and health, the resort plans to officially re-open for operation in early June 2020.

For more, visit Hodges Bay Club. 

— CJ