Vista Rooms introduces Hospitality Guidelines for Homestays

Underlining its commitment to ensuring that its guests remain well-protected from the ongoing pandemic, Vista Rooms, boutique holiday home rental network, has implemented a mandatory 24-hour window between consecutive bookings.

Introduced as part of its ‘Stay Assured’ initiative, the move is aimed at providing Vista’s service staff with adequate time to sanitise properties and ensure the maximum safety and hygiene for all guests. 

Under the ‘Stay Assured’ initiative, Vista Rooms has defined extensive guidelines for the homestay industry, which has generally lacked any form of rating or certification. The guidelines focus on topics such as facilitating seamless contact tracing.

All support staff have been directed to download the Aarogyam Setu app – a recommendation that will also be extended to visiting patrons. Vista Rooms has additionally restricted the number of guests at its managed properties in line with the recommended social distancing norms to minimise the risk of an inadvertent infection.

The development comes at a time when businesses – particularly those in the travel and hospitality space – are trying to adapt to a new normal in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic and the recent easing of lockdown restrictions. The latest move underlines its aim to capitalise on the opportunity on the horizon, as more travellers are expected to bust the COVID-19 stress by booking private homes at secluded, serene locations.

Ankita Sheth, Co-founder, Vista Rooms said, “The COVID-19 outbreak has heightened the following of strict safety and hygiene standards by businesses and people. Words like social distancing and contact tracing have become a part and parcel of our daily lexicon. People are eager to resume their lives but, at the same time, they don’t want to compromise on their safety and that of their loved ones. Players in the travel and tourism space, one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, need to evolve in pace with this rapidly-changing dynamic. This is why we have introduced the ‘Stay Assured’ initiative. The aim is to foster greater trust amongst our target consumer base and share best practices with the entire hospitality and homestay industry in preparation of reopening our doors.”

“While most of our properties are situated in green zones, we have left no stone unturned to ensure that, while our guests enjoy the premium Vista experience, they do so in a manner that is safe and hygienic. Our service staff has been fully trained to comply with cleaning and sanitisation guidelines before, during, and after the stay. We have also implemented a checklist for guests as well as staff members before and after arrivals, which includes the option for guests to cook their meals themselves if they want to. These measures will help us improve our guest experience and deliver unparalleled peace of mind to them,” she added.

To provide maximum comfort and convenience to its patrons, Vista Rooms has introduced a ‘Book Now, Pay Later’ option that allowed guests to book a property for a nominal fee of INR 5,000. The brand has also relaxed its cancellation and rescheduling policies and created dedicated self-quarantine rooms, apart from placing restrictions on room-wise rentals and shared pool usage, to ensure adequate safety during homestays.