Patna hotels to ‘unlock doors’ from Monday

PATNA: Hotels and restaurants in the city are gearing up to throw open their doors for customers from Monday. While hotels were shut, restaurants were open only for home delivery and takeaways during the lockdown. All hospitality services were shut since March 22.
According to hotel owners, customers and tourists are going to have some new hospitality experiences, including buffets and online check-ins, while facilities such as swimming pool and spa will remain suspended.
The food and beverages manager of a private hotel at south Gandhi Maidan told this newspaper that customers will have to undergo thermal screening at the entry point and enter the hotel through a disinfectant tunnel. “Customers will also have to submit their luggage for sanitisation at the entry point,” said Vivekananda.
He added, “At the café and the eating joint, we will prepare the table as per requirement and maintain 5-6 feet distance between each tables. There will be no table cloth or napkin, instead we will use paper rexine for tables and paper napkins. Besides, we will use Teflon cloth on bed sheets and pillow, so that we can dispose it off after use,” Vivekanand said.
Supriyo Dhali, the general manager of a private hotel on Exhibition road, said the guidelines of the Centre for sanitisation and social distancing will be followed properly. “After check-out, we will not allot that room to another customer for at least 72 hours. The room will be properly sanitised by sodium hypochlorite,” he said.
He added: “Hotel employees and chauffeurs will be provided headgear, face mask, gloves and boots. We will only use our in-house workers to carry out routine work.”
Hotels are going to use hand-free sanitisation machines, rooms will be stocked up with hand-wash and hand-sanitizers and there will be no curtains, table cloth or normal bed sheets. The banquet halls will allow only 50 people at a time.
BD Singh, the general manager of a five-star hotel near South Gandhi Maidan, said there would be no spa or swimming pool facilities. “Picking up customers from airport, check-ins and check- outs, everything is going to be contactless. The whole concept of servicing our guests is going to change,” Singh said.
Akhil Kochhar, vice-president of a private hotel at Beerchand Patel Marg, said, “Hands-free sanitization machines are placed at every point. Sanitisation of rooms and hotel premises is an ongoing process. We will strictly follow the Centre’s protocol for safety of our customers.”
He added, “For the dine-in area, we have made private dining facility. Nine separate cabins have been prepared for people to have family dine- in. We will encourage our guests to order food in their rooms.”
Restaurant owners said they are all set to welcome guests after more than two months. Vishal, the hospitality manager of a restaurant in Rajvanshi Nagar, said sanitizers and temperature screening measures will be in place at the entrance. “We have decided to sanitize the table and chair after a guest leaves. Besides, proper sanitization of kitchen will also be done on a daily basis,” he said.
Saurabh Kumar, operations manager of a restaurant near RPS Mor said the management is making guidelines and SOPs to give a safe and hygienic experience to customers. “We will resume dine-in from Monday for which we are making certain rules that are mandatory for everyone, be it customers or staff to follow,” he said.