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In normal times, hotels try to attract customers with star chefs or high-end design. But these are not normal times. Seven out of 10 hotel rooms in the U.S. are empty now. And to survive, hotels are adapting. Here's NPR's Uri Berliner.
URI BERLINER, BYLINE: The news from Hilton lately isn't about craft cocktails or a spa; it's a partnership with Lysol. That's right - Hilton is teaming up with the parent company of Lysol. It's all about enhanced cleanliness. Phil Cordell is Hilton's global head of brand development.
PHIL CORDELL: We know that through this pandemic, that expectation of cleanliness has probably been elevated to the point now where its cleanliness almost with a double exclamation point after it.
BERLINER: At Hilton and other hotels, guests can expect disinfectant being applied liberally and visibly for the sake of cleanliness and for reassurance, says Jim Coyle, who consults with hotels on customer experiences.
JIM COYLE: When you get a guest key, you will see the staff members - they will conspicuously wipe the guest key in front of you before they hand it to you. When you arrive at the desk, you're going to see hotel staff wiping the desk clean in front of you, even though there's nothing on it.
BERLINER: And when you get to your room, more efforts at reassurance. Marriott International has identified 12 touch points for extra disinfectant. Ray Bennett is the company's head of global operations.
RAY BENNETT: Doorknobs, thermostats, door handles, drawer handles - things of that nature.
BERLINER: As Hilton rolls out its CleanStay campaign, Cordell says guests will notice some familiar objects missing.
CORDELL: They will see that some of the items in the room that could likely be fingerprinted by previous guests - magazines, notepads, pens - those items have been removed from the room.
BERLINER: And there's likely to be more. Here's industry consultant Jim Coyle again.
COYLE: The phone will probably be something that is seeing its last days because of COVID.
BERLINER: And that most divisive object in the hotel room?
COYLE: I think the death of the minibar is probably finally here.
BERLINER: All of these steps have one purpose - to assure travelers that hotels are safe or at least as safe as they possibly can be while coronavirus is still with us. An early test will be convincing business travelers like Liz Oppenheim, who lives outside of Boston. She's itching to get back on the road.
LIZ OPPENHEIM: The longer I go without traveling, the more I just don't feel like a person. I literally have dreams almost every night about traveling.
BERLINER: Oppenheim works with drug companies on clinical trials and normally spends three or four nights a week in hotels. She enjoys it. For one thing, she racks up a lot of loyalty points.
OPPENHEIM: I have all the statuses (laughter).
BERLINER: For now, her travel is on pause. And as Oppenheim imagines staying in hotels again, there's one word she uses a lot - anxious.
OPPENHEIM: So there's something about slipping between the sheets of the clean, white, crisp sheets of a hotel that's just incredibly relaxing, especially if you've worked at a really hard, you know, tense day at work. And it's just so wonderful. But I think I will be anxious. I think I'll be anxious, too.
BERLINER: As hotels spray and disinfect and purge their rooms of pens, magazines and notepads, they may eliminate germs, but will they eliminate anxiety? Hotels are about to find out.
Uri Berliner, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF EMANCIPATOR'S "MAKO") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
