We hope you are putting safety above all in your day-to-day actions. ProMiller stands in solidarity with the Hospitality and Hotel industry in India and across the globe in these difficult times. As we mentioned in our last blog "Surviving in times of COVID-19 : Hotel Version", we are attaching a comprehensive checklist exclusively for a COVID-19 lockdown of hotels. This can come handy for independent hotel operator companies as well as small hotel management companies. Since the situation created by this pandemic is unprecedented, it calls for employing a new approach as well. In times when hotels cannot do much but lockdown and wait things to revive, it becomes important to plan ahead and use the time wisely. Even the best hotel management companies in India need to approach the lockdowns with a two-fold effort:
1.) Save on resources and cut back expenses effectively during hotel lockdown;
2.) Be mindful of future problems that this hotel lockdown might cause.
Since the duration of hotel lockdown is unknown, it becomes tricky to approach it efficiently. Hotel owners and hotel management companies are approaching us with multiple doubts as well as speculations on how to deal with lockdowns. Out of these, a lot of independent hotels are wondering about 'an ideal way to lockdown hotels in times of COVID-19'. Here's what ProMiller has to contribute, coming from the experience of successfully locking down its hotel properties. Our hotels consist of various scale and differences, for instance, some had in-house guests whereas some had none. This unprecedented situation does not leave us with a 'one-size-fits-all' solution and hence contextualization becomes the key. We have tried to learn from various scenarios and put our learning together in this article, we still do not claim the completeness of our experience and/or the checklist. After all, even the governments across the globe are still learning new things about this novel virus and its effects every passing day. With that, let's get into our suggestions about how to approach the lockdown;
First and foremost, hotel management companies in India need to put together a special team to be put in-charge of the lockdown, which we are calling-'COVID-19 Task Force'. It is obvious that whole of the hotel staff is not required on the property during the lockdown, but the trick is to decide whom to choose based on the utility and department. We have identified few key members from multiple departments who play a key role in maintaining the property during the lockdown.
The objective is to reduce fixed costs associated with the property while making sure that this cut-back is not creating technical problems in the future.
For instance, if structural systems like plumbing lines are shut for a long time without supervision, it is going to result in a hefty expense when the hotel becomes operational. The same applies to other infrastructural systems of a hotel property, may it be pool, spa, guest rooms or others. The dangers are numerous, based on the geographical factors of the property, pests, dampness, etc. Another man-made danger can be vandalism, theft and more- since lockdowns may result in an increased crime rate. The size of 'COVID-19 Task Force' is vital as many other factors depend on it, too much or too less is dangerous in this case. Based on these factors, we are sharing a list of considered members in a hotel's 'COVID-19 Task Force'- which is bound to change in context of every hotel management agency:
Appoint an effective leader as the 'COVID-19 Task Force Manager'
A Housekeeping staff with preferred experience in pest control measures
Good number of Security team members depending on the size and points of access
An Engineering department staff
Efficient Front Office staff, based on in-house guests
Kitchen team and Chefs, based on the size of 'COVID-19 Task Force' and in-house guests
'COVID-19 Task Force' should be enough to take proper care of the property during lockdown while maintaining a minimalistic expense; since the team would require to stay within the property during the lockdown period.
Lastly, we have attached a checklist for your to begin with for an efficient lockdown. It goes unsaid that the checklist is not 'one-size-fits-all' and would need to tweaked for each hotel or any of the third party hotel management companies. You can find the checklist here
If your hotel needs help with any operational, financial or legal process; please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. ProMiller is happy to offer pro-bono consultation to independent hotels in these difficult times. You can write to us info@promiller.in and/or visit us at www.promiller.in to know more.