Room Mate Group is innovating and reinventing all of its cleaning and safety protocols in order to minimize the risk of infection and transmission of COVID-19 (coronavirus). Since reopening its first hotel, Room Mate Mario in Madrid on March 21 (to healthcare professionals), the company has redesigned its cleaning strategy and protocols in order to protect, look after and guarantee the safety of all the healthcare workers and company employees who are working through this health crisis.
Room Mate Hotels will roll out the following protocols across all of its hotels, and is already implementing them daily in the 13 hotels currently open to healthcare professionals and the elderly:
- Additional cleaning and sterilization measures will be taken for all frequently used equipment
- Mats with a water and bleach solution will be installed at hotel entrances and in elevators to ensure disinfection of shoe soles and suitcase wheels
- Temperature controls will be carried out on all people entering hotels
- Reception areas will be fitted with methacrylate screens and safety distance markers on the floor; in addition, protective masks and gloves will be provided and will be mandatory for both employees and guests
- Keys and high-contact surfaces, such as lobby access doors, stairway banisters, elevator buttons, desks, door handles and floors, will be disinfected regularly
- Increased cleaning and ventilation in communal areas where hand sanitizing gels and wipes have been made available and where specific signs have been installed to remind guests about social distancing measures
- All guests will be provided with a sanitary kit containing a mask, gloves and sanitizing gel
- All employees are receiving ongoing training to ensure health and safety measures are upheld and to protect the health of our guests
In the first phase of hotel reopenings, breakfast will be served to guests in their rooms. In the second phase, an à la carte breakfast will be served in the communal areas to avoid large gatherings of people at the breakfast buffet. In the third phase, a staggered breakfast buffet service will be offered, ensuring all the necessary safety measures are followed and minimizing the use of table linen, with guests required to wear gloves at all times.
Communal dining areas will be disinfected and cleaned continuously, ensuring the hygiene of all high-contact surfaces like chairs, tables and vending machines. In addition, dishes, silverware and glassware will be washed and disinfected.
Designers including Patricia Urquiola, Lázaro Rosa-Violan, Jean Nouvel, Tomás Alía, Karim Rashid, Melián Randolph, Cuarto Interior, Lorenzo Castillo, Nacho García de Vinuesa and Teresa Sapei, will create proposals for the protective screens to be installed in the receptions of the chain's 28 hotels. (It will be up to guests to choose the winning designs, through an online contest.)
Kike Sarasola, CEO and founder of Room Mate Group says that once the tourism sector gets back up and running, the company will continue to apply these protocols across all of its hotels.
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