‘We Care the most for our associate and guest safety’

Girish Krishnan Jul 28, 2020

This pandemic has required us to raise our cleaning standards to higher level in line with the new protocols for the current situation. Marriott has put in place a new upgraded programme designed to meet the health and safety challenges presented by COVID-19. Below is an overview of the key components of our Commitment to Clean and We Care programmes.

Global Cleanliness Council & Hotel Champion

Consisting of in-house and outside experts in food and water safety, hygiene and infection prevention, and hotel operations, the council will oversee cleanliness standards, norms and behaviors.

Hotel Cleaning Champion will have the overall responsibility of driving these two programmes and will be reporting to Hotel Manager directly.

We Care Programme

As part of We Care, the steps Four Points by Sheraton Mahabalipuram Resort & Convention Center has been taking on cleanliness and new hospitality norms are as much about the health and safety of associates as they are about our guests. If we’ve learned anything during this pandemic, it is that we are all in this together and following these new protocols is the only way forward – we will be collectively taking care of our guests, associates and the community around us. We are all encountering the toughest battle of our lives, none of us have ever experienced it, nowadays it’s just being ready and prepared all the time to fight this battle. There are countless moments of humanity and resilience; we see them in our associates who are responding to the crisis around them.

And this spirit of winning this battle in the eyes of my associates fills me with tremendous hope for the future of hospitality business. We don’t know when this pandemic will be over or when we are going to start living our normal lives. But we want our guests and our associates to know that when the time comes to travel once again, we will be more than ready to welcome them back to a safe and clean hotel environment.

Specific areas of focus include Surface Areas: In public spaces, the company has added to its already rigorous cleaning protocols, requiring that surfaces are treated with hospital-grade disinfectants and that this cleaning is done with increased frequency. In guest rooms, we have added detailed cleaning practices, requiring all surfaces to be thoroughly cleaned with hospital-grade disinfectants for every room. Hi-Five duster programme is tweaked, and every room cleaning will be done by using a separate set of five dusters. The hotel will also be placing disinfecting wipes in each room for guests’ personal use.

Wherever there is slightest possibility we are going with touch free guest service; Digital - payment, menus, guest directory, guest amenity request etc, document to be scanned with handheld scanner, allowing guest to swipe his CC card on his own. In addition, guests can choose to use their phones to check in, check out, make special requests and order room service that will be specially packaged and delivered right to the door without contact. These 'touchless' services can all be done quickly via Marriott’s mobile app.

All the luggage to be disinfected before scanning, all the associates in the hotel will be wearing PPE all the time, stringent and receiving standard in all the back areas. To help alleviate the risk of COVID-19 transmission through person-to-person contact, our hotel will be using signage in all public areas to remind guests to maintain social distancing protocols and will remove or rearrange furniture to allow more space for distancing.

We have added see through partitions at front desks to provide an extra level of precaution for its guests and associates. You’ll see more hand sanitizing stations around the hotel – near the entrances and front desks, elevator banks, restaurants, fitness center and meeting spaces.

Food Safety

At Four Points by Sheraton Mahabalipuram, food handlers and supervisors are trained on safe food preparation and service practices. The company’s food and beverage operations are required to conduct self-inspection using its food safety standards as guidelines, and compliance is validated by independent audits. Additionally, we are also enhancing sanitation guidelines and training videos for associates that include hygiene and disinfecting practices. In addition, the hotel is modifying its operational practices for in-room dining and designing new approaches to buffets.

New Cleaning Technologies

We have initiated plans to roll out enhanced technologies at our properties, including electrostatic sprayers that allow for touchless disinfecting capabilities. The magnetically charged droplets produced by the electrostatic sprayers seek out and coat hard to reach areas and surfaces typically missed in standard cleaning processes and the highest classification of disinfectants recommended by our global partner ECOLAB and Diversey who specialize in hygiene and infection preventions solutions and services to the healthcare, hospitality and industrial markets and WHO to sanitize surfaces throughout hotels.

Cleaning Regimen Changes

When guests check into our hotels over the next few months, they will notice a number of additions to our cleaning regimen designed to set an even higher standard of cleanliness for the hotel as well as modifications to associate-guest protocols developed to be consistent with recommended social distancing guidelines.