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 Those essential workers are putting themselves out
there, ultimately in harm’s way, as every day they have to do their
job, not knowing if the people they are interacting with could be
carriers of the coronavirus.
And, because they do what they have to do, they also sometimes still
have to travel from one part of the state to another. In order to do
so, they need motel accommodations. Thus, motels are also considered
essential right now and are permitted to remain open to accommodate
those necessary travelers.
Among the motels in Lincoln is the Quality Inn, owned by Paresh
Patel and managed by Kenna Schafer. The motel offers 51 rooms for
guests, a work out room, hot tub and pool, and offers breakfast for
guests each morning. Patel purchased the motel a couple of years ago
and did a nice remodel that included upgrading many areas, and
taking out all the carpeting, replacing it with laminate flooring,
so as to more easily accommodate pets.
Now with the Covid-19 issues, those floors are playing a big part in
the motels ability to assure the health and wellbeing of staff and
travelers.
Schafer said that with the rooms being carpet free, staff are able
to sanitize the rooms “from top to bottom” when guests check out.
Floors are steam cleaned and it is standard practice to use
sanitizing solutions in every room when guests leave.
To help assure the safety of staff, Schafer said everyone is offered
personal protective gear such as gloves and masks. A new plexiglass
shield has been added at the service counter to protect staff from
germs and droplets passing from guests checking in. In the rooms,
guests are also being asked to be sure to put all their trash in the
trash containers in their rooms so that staff can remove it in the
trash bag without touching it.
She added that guests are asked kindly to report if they are feeling
ill during their stay.
Breakfast foods include pre-packaged danish and oatmeal. Coffee, tea
and hot chocolate are offered 24-hours a day. Guests are encouraged
to collect their breakfast items and return to their rooms, but at
the very least to observe social distancing out of respect for their
fellow travelers.
Schafer says that in a normal year, these early spring months would
include guests who are traveling for business, those who are coming
to town for school events such as graduations, and some tourism
travel.
She said that on the whole, business is down by about 60 percent
right now. They still have the majority of the repeat travelers,
those who have to travel for work for example. With no school, no
graduations, graduation parties, or proms, that portion of the
business is gone for this year. Tourism travel is also down, but,
not completely. In spite of the stay at
home, Schafer said there are still some who are traveling for
pleasure, but not very many.
Among the guests, she said that it appears that those who are forced
to travel are much more appreciative of the efforts Quality Inn is
making to assure their health and well-being during their stay.
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Those who are traveling for pleasure are not quite as
understanding. First, remember, these are the people who are
ignoring the rules anyway. There have been a few that have expressed
to staff that they believe this pandemic is silly and over
exaggerated. “Staff always responds apologetically, but firmly state
that this is for the safety of our staff, as well as for them (the
guest). I personally have spent an extended amount of time
explaining to guests why this is worse than the flu and why we are
taking the precautions we are. Simply explaining the difference in
incubation time to them between Covid-19 and the flu and why that in
itself is so dangerous seems to help a lot.”
The motel has closed its hot tub area, but has kept the swimming
pool open. The work-out room is also open. The motel is providing
strong sanitizer and requesting that the guests spray down the
equipment when finished. Hand sanitizers are also placed in communal
areas in the motel.
In spite of their reduction in business, Schafer said that the motel
has been able to maintain its staff. “We are keeping all of our
staff. We are very happy with the employees we have currently and
are doing everything we can to make sure that they stay on with us.”
Schafer said that indeed the motel is looking forward to the day
when the stay at home orders can be safely lifted. But, for the
motel industry, like the restaurant industry what is lost now is
lost for good.
“A hotel room has a 24 hour expiration date,” said Schafer.
“Oversimplifying it, selling hotel rooms are like selling fast food.
A room is like a hamburger. We have 51 hamburgers to sell per day.
If we don't sell them then they go as waste and the opportunity to
sell those are gone. The next day we have to start with 51 new
hamburgers and try to sell those before they expire. Recovering from
this isn't like a store being closed. Our product won’t sit on the
shelf until there are guests again to purchase those items. Our lost
revenue truly is lost.”
When Covid-19 comes to an end, some have talked about what they are
going to do. One person we talked to recently said that when she can
travel again, she’s going to take her family to Disney World. She
said she hears people talking about travel and vacations that are
truly fun instead of the mandated “stay-cations” we are experiencing
now.
Hopefully that will translate for our local motels as well. Logan
County will still have the rich abundant history it has always had.
We will eventually get our events and festivals back, and life will
return to normal. Perhaps that will include guests in our local
motels. And while they indeed cannot get back what they have lost,
perhaps it will be enough to keep them strong and thriving in our
community.
[Nila Smith] |
