TRAVELING DURING COVID-19 STAYCATION REVIEW: ORLANDO HOLIDAY INN-IHG

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I decided to do a short staycation at the Holiday Inn and Suites Hotel (I-Drive S) property because I needed a break and I also needed to get out and start to research the climate of what hotels are doing to entice travelers to return to their property. The hotel had a great rate so I jumped on it. Once I entered the hotel there was a bit of a wait as no one was at the front desk. This may be something that we should expect at least for now while staffing levels have been decreased. Once the front desk agent appeared, she was very friendly. She gave me all of the changes that had been made. One of the larger changes was that there would be no housekeeping. If we needed any linens, we would have to request them from the front desk. I learned that the front desk staff was temporarily helping out with duties that are usually reserved for housekeeping and custodial staff. I learned that instead of having our rooms cleaned daily, our rooms would not be cleaned until we checked out. The hotel has a restaurant but it was also closed. However, the hotel was providing breakfast in a bag for guests which I thought was a nice gesture. The public areas such as the lobby lounge and pool areas were open, the hotel guaranteed that these areas would be cleaned regularly. The hotel was quite empty if I had to guess I’d say the hotel was running at maybe a 40% occupancy. There were not many cars in the parking lot. In my mind that was a great situation. There were no crowds the hotel was very quiet and peaceful. However, for some people they may not like the reduction of services and amenities. I applaud IHG for all that they are doing to try to keep their guests safe. I do hope that at some point they will reintroduce cleaning to the rooms and use protocols such as what other hotels and resorts are doing but each company has to start somewhere. Stay tuned as I will post more reviews as I explore the local area to see what various hotel brands are doing post COVID-19 to try to keep their guests safe.

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