Breakfast packages, no minibars, and exercise bikes in every room

Hotel stays have already changed irrevocably, and many hotels are finding new ways to operate under stricter health guidelines and social distancing. In the longer term, there are already signs pointing to potential trends.

Breakfast in ready-to-eat portions

A little like ongoing design changes on cruise shipsthe buffet will cease to exist.

As reported in The mirror, with infection control a priority, people can’t climb on top of each other to pile plates with food and keep coming back for refills. Bottles of vinegar and ketchup won’t be shared from table to table and a lot of food will come in individually sealed packets, like breakfasts.

At the new Madrid Marriott Auditorium hotel, guests will line up in large circles on the floor to wait for their breakfast to be served. Diners will follow a set path back to their tables and chefs will wear masks, serving food in ready-made picnic portions.

news reported that Intercontinental, which has 6,000 locations worldwide, replaced the buffet with a la carte service and a prepackaged breakfast.

A minimum of staff

The Manser Practice, a British architecture studio and designer of Hilton hotels, described in dezeen.comhow hotels could be modified for a post-pandemic world.

Interaction between staff and customers would be kept to an absolute minimum, with the introduction of one-way corridors to ensure people are separated.

Receptionists would be replaced by computers, which would perform temperature checks on guests and provide forgotten paraphernalia, such as toothbrushes, in sealed bags. Keys and fobs would be replaced by smartphone apps to open doors.

Isolationist rooms, reducing contact with others

Rooms would become much more isolated – doors would be touchless, with hatches added in the walls to provide room service, the latter would likely increase significantly as people avoid going down to dinner with other guests.

In the longer term, rooms would get bigger and gyms and conference rooms would stop being built in new hotels. Each room could have an exercise bike inside an oriel (a form of bay window) to allow guests to work out, in style and with a view.

Paternoster elevators could make a comeback

The Venetian in Las Vegas currently urges visitors to ensure that no more than four people use the elevator at any time, but The Hamilton hotel in Washington, DC, suggests no more than two.

Paternoster elevators – where people ride in open compartments that move slowly in a loop (much like revolving doors) – could make a comeback, so no one needs to touch buttons or share space with strangers.

Minibars, hot tubs, and extra linens/pillows are gone

The Four Seasons Hotel New York housed frontline medical personnel during the height of the pandemic and implemented new and improved safety protocols and procedures. BNC News reported that minibars have been removed, as have sheds and excess linens. In each room, pillows were limited to four instead of six.

In more upscale hotels, CNN reported that for the foreseeable future there will be no spa excursions, bellhops or valets.

Cleaning done at the end of the stay

When medical staff guests arrived at the Four Seasons Hotel New York, they were given three bags: one for soiled towels, one for soiled bedding, and one for garbage. When guests needed cleaning, they put the bags near the entrance to the rooms and contacted housekeeping to come and collect the bags. No one entered the rooms to clean them, until the guests left.

The rooms remained empty for an entire day before new medical guests were allowed in.

The Manser practice predicts a move away from Airbnb as people prefer large chains with a reputation for cleanliness; robot cleaning could become the norm.

Hilton is also exploring the use of electrostatic sprayers — which spray disinfectant over large spaces — and UV light to disinfect surfaces.

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Added article July 7, 2020 – The article has been amended to clarify that the Four Seasons New York was only open to medical personnel from April to June 2020.

The last group of medical guests recently left the Four Seasons Hotel New York, and the hotel will implement new and enhanced safety protocols and procedures when it reopens to guests who are not healthcare workers.