This summer travel season promises to be a bit wild, as restrictions are lifted and people rush to the places they’ve been longing to go. Although the availability of vaccines has made us collectively safer, the pandemic isn’t over.

With hotels preparing to meet this pent-up demand, what COVID precautions are they continuing to take? Which 2020 policies will become permanent? And what changes should you expect when you return to travel?

Trends Across Major Hotel Chains

Hotel responses to the onset of the pandemic were all over the place. However, as I researched these properties’ current policies, they actually had a lot in common.

Of course, specifics can vary from brand to brand or location to location, but this is an overview of what I’m seeing within the North American hospitality industry now.

1. Easy cancellation is cancelled!

The lenient booking policies of last year are as passé as hoarding toilet paper. Before reserving a room, check the fine print for fees and cancellation deadlines.

2. Check-in changes.

Hotels have been gradually implementing both high- and low-tech strategies to make checking in more streamlined and safe.

Depending on the property, this may include…

• Limiting check-in to outdoor (night) windows.
• Plexiglass dividers at the front desk.
• An option to be notified via text or email when your room is ready.
• Web check-in for less time in the lobby when you arrive.
• Contactless check-in via the hotel’s app.

3. Points!

Hotel brands with loyalty points programs are allowing members to stay at their pre-pandemic membership level / status longer and have extended expiration dates for previously-earned points. If you’re still not going to be able to use your points, consider donating them to a charity – perhaps one that helps those affected by COVID-19.

4. Purell imagination.

Germ-killing products are freely available in quantities we could only have dreamed of a year ago!

Odds are, you’ll have some combination of the following available at the place where you’re staying:

• Hand sanitizer stations added to common areas.
• Disinfecting wipes issued with your keycard or waiting in your room or available on request.
• Your own personal, travel-sized bottle of hand sanitizer.

5. Knickknacks are no-nos.

• “Minimalist” is now every property’s decor style.
• Only essential furniture is allowed to remain. (I’m guessing the rest has been sent to work from home-?)
• Common areas have been rearranged to make space for social distancing – and those additional hand sanitizer stations.
• Extras like notepads and bed scarves have been removed from rooms to keep everything as sanitizable as possible.

6. Breakfast buffet waffling.

• Depending on the individual location, food service (including restaurants, room service, catered meetings, and free breakfast) may be modified or off the table altogether.
• Some hotels have canned their breakfast buffets, opting to instead offer pre-plated or pre-packaged breakfast items.
• A surprising number of unrelated brands call their pre-packaged breakfast offering “Grab & Go.” I don’t know why there doesn’t seem to be another name for it. I’m thinking Continental Carry Out. Or Buffet Take Away. Eat on Your Feet. Dish & Dash. Serve & Scram. Or just a straightforward Get It & Get Outta Here.

7. The housekeeping team is doing more – but you may see them less.

• Training on new protocols.
• More thorough room cleaning in between guests.
• Little to no room cleaning during your stay. Housekeeping services may be by-request only. They may leave replacement linens and amenities outside your door.
• The most frequented areas of the hotel are basically bathed in virus-killing chemicals. In some cases, this means hospital-grade disinfectant or technologies like overnight electrostatic fogging.
• So, even if they’re not coming to make your bed every day, they’re working harder than ever. Tip generously!

8. Hotels are down with PPE.

• Employees are provided – and required to wear – gloves, masks, and other personal protective equipment.
• Face covering policies for guests defer to the “guidance of local authorities.” Since the CDC updated their mask recommendations, some U.S. properties have eased up on requirements for fully vaccinated guests.
• Stay fully masked until you’re fully vaxxed!

How Hotels Are Continuing Their Pandemic Pivot

I reached out to all the hotel chains whose COVID responses I wrote about last year to find out what’s changed since then and what’s likely to continue.

Only two of them responded – neither of which provided details. Perhaps, it all still feels too uncertain and nebulous to say “THIS is what we’re doing.” Or maybe they’re just swamped since things are reopening.

Regardless, I did my own research. Below are any noteworthy updates or ways these brands differ from the pack’s policies.

Best Western Hotels & Resorts

Some of their brands: BW Premier Collection, Glō, Vīb.

A very nice Best Western PR person responded right away to my inquiry about the company’s COVID policies in 2021, saying she’d try to find answers for me. And then I never heard from her again.

Is it because it of the article where I questioned their policy of not entering guest rooms for 24 to 72 hours after check-out? And referred to the “potential guest grossness”* left for days before being cleaned? I was really just looking for a clarification.

[*By “guest grossness,” I’m thinking of messes people make that do not age well. What if someone leaves behind half-eaten takeout? Or dirty diapers? Or clogs the toilet? Or spills red wine? Or vomits on something? What if someone dies in their room? Does no one know until 1-3 days after the deceased was supposed to have left? I mean, in a way, they did depart. Would that be the ultimate late checkout?]

Checking In: Accessing the Mobile Concierge platform via Best Western’s site allows you to communicate with the hotel before you arrive, at check-in, and during your stay. There’s no app download required.

COVID-19 Outreach: You can donate points to Project C.U.R.E., which supports frontline workers fighting COVID-19.

Choice Hotels International

Some of their brands: Ascend, Comfort, EconoLodge, Quality Inn, Rodeway Inn, Sleep Inn.

Guest Rooms: If you’re staying awhile, you can expect housekeeping after every third night. Otherwise, you’ll need to specifically request it.

COVID-19 Outreach: Choice Hotels is currently matching rewards points donations to “Stay Home, Send Beds,” a program that provides beds to hospitals facing shortages.

G6 Hospitality

Brands: Motel 6, Studio 6.

Reservations + Cancellations: Although cancellation penalties are no longer waived, they do recommend you call Guest Reservations (800-899-9841) if you need to make a change in your reservation.

COVID-19 Outreach: They participated in the American Hospitality and Lodging Association’s (AHLA) Hospitality for Hope program. This helps the hotel industry connect with health workers struggling to find housing during COVID-19.

Hilton

Some of their brands: DoubleTree, Embassy Suites, Hampton, Homewood Suites, Waldorf Astoria.

Checking In/Out: Loyalty program members can use the Hilton Honors app for contactless check-in and -out with Digital Key at an increasing number of properties.

Guest Rooms:

• After a room is thoroughly cleaned, the housekeeping inspector verifies the room meets the standards of Hilton’s new CleanStay program.
• A CleanStay Room Seal is then stuck from the front of the door to the door jamb to show that a room has not been accessed since it was cleaned.

COVID-19 Outreach: The Hilton Effect Foundation has awarded over $1 million dollars to community response efforts to help those impacted by COVID-19.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)

Some of their brands: Candlewood Suites, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Hotel Indigo, InterContinental, Kimpton, Staybridge Suites.

IHG was the only other brand to reply to my inquiry.

Their statement: “We continue to evaluate updated guidance from health authorities and governments around the world and adjust our policies as appropriate and necessary.”

So. No new information there. But at least they wrote back.

Checking In/Out: Reduced contact via their app.

COVID-19 Outreach:

• Partner to #FirstRespondersFirst, providing free accommodation across the U.S. for frontline COVID-19 workers and access to a dedicated VIP reservation service to match local needs with nearby hotels.
• Supporting food banks through funding, donating excess food, and assisting with deliveries.

Marriott International

Some of their brands: AC Hotels, Aloft Hotels, Courtyard, Fairfield, Four Points, Renaissance Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton Hotels and Resort, W Hotels, Westin Hotels.

Checking In:

• Web check-in available for less contact. You’ll get a notification when your room is ready but still need to stop by front desk to pick up keys and swipe your credit card.
• Marriott Bonvoy members can use the Marriott Mobile App to check in, order room service and other amenities, and chat with associates. In many hotels, members can use the app to access their rooms (instead of a physical key)!

Common Areas: Using air purifying systems that are effective against viruses in the air and on surfaces.

Wyndham Hotels + Resorts

Some of their brands: Days Inn, Howard Johnson’s, La Quinta Inns & Suites, Ramada, Super 8, Travelodge.

Checking In: Mobile check-in/out available at select hotels through the Wyndham Hotels & Resorts app.

Guest Rooms: More thorough cleaning and disinfecting in guest rooms between stays — with a recommended 24–72 hour rest period between guests checking out and new guests checking in.

COVID-19 Outreach: Everyday Heroes Complimentary GOLD membership upgrade for Wyndham Rewards Members who are essential workers has been extended through June 30, 2021. If you’re not a member, you can sign up for free.

Are you ready for summer travel? What are your plans?