Instead of ‘stars’ Singapore may also rank hotels based on how clean and safe its hotels are

We all know luxury travel will drastically change post-coronavirus. The pandemic which has equally affected the rich and the poor, with no private clinics or VIP treatment will leave behind major fears and scares which made everyone reflect. As we mentioned in our previous editorials, wealthy travellers will not only have much higher expectations but also very different ones, when it comes to luxury travel, especially luxury hotels.

The way travellers regard value and relevance will also drastically change. Beyond product quality and customer service standards, wealthy travellers will be very much guided about how safe, health wise, a luxury hotel is. This will translate into significant investments but it will also allow those hotel which meet expectations to aim for higher rates.

Tripadvisor should already start planning to add a distinct evaluation on any hotel reviews – beyond location of the respective hotel, views, interior design, service – travellers will be keen review on how safe the respective hotel is from a cleaning (disinfection) point of view. Besides a short questionnaire which will generate a particular score, travellers should be encouraged to provide separate comments on cleanliness.

Beyond the learning process, with travellers becoming knowledgeable on cleanliness and safety, hotels will face zero tolerance for overlooked aspects, for instance, an old Air Conditioning system. If until now, most references would be on how noisy an AC system is, travellers will be interested to learn whether the AC system has been cleaned and disinfected – an identical comparison with the health perils of air on planes. The fact that a hotel may be housed within a heritage (old) building will no longer serve for an ”excuse”.

Often, luxury hotels housed in old buildings would conduct ‘extensive’ renovations and refurbishments, but would get away with not changing windows (changing the fixture of the windows and in old heritage / historical buildings adding a completely new window layer on the inside) and properly cleaning and disinfecting the entire AC system including pipes, outdoor cooler units and in-room AC grids . Changing the ‘control pads’ in the rooms will no longer suffice. On many of my stays in such renovated properties, these ultra ‘high-tech looking’ pads would actually not control anything but fan speed – the cooling would not be able to be set on a certain temperature and cooling or heating depends on a central control.

Often, a technician or engineer sent to ‘fix’ the problem would admit that there is no actual individual control because the building would not permit and that the grid terminals in the rooms do not have cooling or heating units enclosed.

In fact, it is a matter of costs and owners or operated of the respective hotels . The only option in most such cases would be for housekeeping to bring a heater, a cooler or just a fan – and management would find my complaints exaggerated. This is no longer an option, knowingly, viruses and bacteria thrive in AC systems.

Singapore has come up with a brilliant initiative to launch an audit that gives hotels a clean bill of “health” if they meet seven criteria.

• Hotels that pass the audit will receive an “SG Clean” stamp to ease traveler apprehensions in the post-coronavirus era.
• The Singapore Tourism Board aims to audit and certify 570 hotels, attractions, and other tourism establishments in the next two months and 37,000 eventually.

Assessment is done by independent organizations such as KPMG and, along with certification, is free. For hotels, the criteria include appointing an SG Clean manager to oversee the property’s practices, temperature and health screening of employees, arrangements for engaging external suppliers and contractors, cleanliness and hygiene practices, and compliance with health and travel advisories and government orders on Covid-19.

The first hotel to be certified was Grand Hyatt Singapore, which suffered when several coronavirus cases were linked to a private company meeting held at the hotel on January 20-22

The hotel’s manager Praveen Kumar said as an international operator, strict operating standards were already in place at the property before Covid-19. Getting an all-clear with an SG Clean mark is “yet another step in the right direction to raise domestic and global confidence through independent auditing of public hygiene standards,” he said.

A fast-growing chain Asian chain, Park Hotel Group, which operates six hotels in Singapore hotels, also said prior to Covid-19, procedures for cleaning and sanitation of rooms and facilities and ensuring personal hygiene of team members were already aligned with world standards.

“What makes a hotel SG Clean certified are the extra precautionary steps: ensure general well-being of anyone entering the hotel premises by temperature screening; increase frequency of disinfecting the common areas and guest rooms [now hourly, from every four hours previously]; documenting and recording all preventive measures; and proper management of suspect/confirmed Covid-19 cases,” said the group’s executive director, Shin Hui Tan.

Four of its six hotels in the city have earned the SG Clean mark while the remaining two are waiting for it to be issued. Park Hotel Group’s Tan believes SG Clean is the new and alternative way for consumers to further filter for hotels with enhanced hygiene standards.

While a stamp such as SG Clean is a visible proof of hygiene standards, hotels will no longer be able to use outsourced companies to provide the housekeeping staff. Cleaning and disinfecting will be a critical service of a hotel including from a legal point of view, hotels being liable and responsible directly. The poor or no English speaking housekeeping staff will be a matter of the past.

Last but not least, probably another major change post-coronavirus will be the return to ‘old school’ travel media hotel reviews such as those published by CPP-LUXURY.COM, which provide a comprehensive 360 degree overview of the respective property. Social media content by ‘travel influencers’ (most often ‘models’ or fitness trainers) or ‘content generators’ which reflect their ‘review’ solely based on imagery, most often of breakfast in bed or by a pool, will be a thing of the past.

Oliver Petcu

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