Solutions That Create Safer Hotels

by Madison Olson August 7, 2022

Hotel manager, Jeremy, uses air-based sanitizing technology to reopen amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Leader Committed to his Staff

In 2012, Jeremy had been a food and beverage manager at a small luxury hotel in Calgary for several years when he was offered a position as a front of house manager at one of the most elite hotels in Banff, Alberta. Jeremy knew this large hotel could provide him with the growth opportunities he was looking for. He talked over the opportunity with his wife, and they decided to move their two children to Banff to start a new chapter living in the Canadian Rockies.

In the summer of 2018, Jeremy was celebrating twenty-five years working in the hotel industry. He had worked in countless positions, from front-of-desk to housekeeping, and almost every managerial role in-between. He always worked closely with his staff and knew the industry extremely well. It was this year, that Jeremy was offered his dream job, General Manager. Without a second thought, Jeremy accepted the position, excited about this new opportunity to invest in the people and place he had called home for six years.

Since becoming the GM, Jeremy prioritized the well-being of his staff which has allowed him to decrease staff turnover and increase staff morale. He believes that when you have your employees back they will have your back and the back of their guests. Since 2018, Jeremy has spent a significant portion of his budget on improving shared staff spaces. In 2019, Jeremy implemented a green initiative, committing to switch all cleaning products in the hotel to sustainable and bio-degradable products by 2021. This switch was a huge hit with his housekeeping staff because of the negative associations with many of the products they were currently using. Since implementing these improvements in the hotel, Jeremy had become a crowd favourite amongst his staff. However, in 2020, just two years into his new role, he was met with what could be the biggest challenge of his career: the Global Pandemic.

Navigating a Global Shift

2020, was a very difficult year for Jeremy. Throughout the year, his hotel had a limited occupancy capacity and was closed for five months. As a result, Jeremy was forced to let go of 50% of his staff. It was now spring of 2021 and it looked like hope was on the horizon for Alberta. Jeremey was gearing up for a busy summer, hiring staff and working to create as safe of a space as possible. During the pandemic, the hotel implemented a Disinfecting Protocol where each room would be sprayed by an electrostatic sprayer after it was used by the client and before the housekeeping staff entered to clean. Before cleaning the room, housekeeping staff would have to gear up in carbon filtered masks, gloves, goggles and more because the spray was unsafe to breathe. Jeremy knew this wasn’t the ideal solution but when he purchased the products, he didn’t have time to look into other solutions. His staff did not like this process because of the time requirement and the introduction of new chemicals into the space. With more staff available, Jeremy was now able to look for another solution that would have a long-term impact on the hotel.

Finding a Long-term Solution

In his research, Jeremy learned about air-based disinfecting solutions. He began comparing these options to ready-to-use sprays and the fogging and electrostatic machines the hotel had previously purchased. His focus is on complete disinfection, ease of use for staff, and cost-effectiveness. Jeremy was also looking to maintain his sustainable product commitment but this was a secondary consideration to the safety of his staff and guests. Balancing the short and long term costs and benefits is a difficult task. Jeremy wondered what is the best disinfection products and cleaning solutions for hotels now?

Companirg Common Sanitizing Options

Jeremy was already familiar with ready-to-use products since his hotel currently uses many. However, to properly disinfect the whole room (including walls, ceiling, aris, and all surfaces), ready-to-use product costs would increase drastically month-over-month. Jeremy was worried about how much longer it would take for his staff to clean to the new standards with these manual products. He knew many hotels simply increased their ready-to-use solution protocol but Jeremy felt that this option wasn’t sufficient enough. In addition, these solutions didn’t address the need to sanitize the air as well as surfaces.

Next, he considered foggers and electrostatic sprayers. Jeremy knew it would be ideal to improve this process for his staff rather than purchasing new products, but his priority was his staff and he already knew their concerns. Jeremy recognized that these products would be faster at disinfecting the whole room than read-to-use products and he saw online that there were many sustainable and bio-degradable options available. He thought that switching to the sustainable solution would help to ease his staff concerns about breathing in harmful chemicals will also moving the hotel towards achieving his commitment. However, these sustainable products were more expensive than regular chemicals and with monthly refills required he wasn’t sure if the hotel could maintain this solution for the long term. He also knew his staff didn’t enjoy the application process associated with these products. He was not convinced that the costs would outweigh the benefits.

Last, Jeremy looked into air-based solutions. While there is a number on the market, Jeremy was introduced to In The ClearZone’s products through Google. Immediately, Jeremy liked that the machines were automated. This would eliminate the time associated with additional disinfecting making the working experience simpler and easier for his staff. He also liked that the machines did not require monthly refills but only needed parts replaced on a semi-annual basis. This was important to him because it would cut down costs for his hotel drastically over the long term and this made it a more eco-friendly solution. As a bonus, Jeremy learned that these air-based solutions had been proven to disinfect on hard and soft surfaces as well as the air unlike ready-to-use products and fogging machines. This is critical since each of his rooms has chairs, couches, and rugs inside.

The Best Disinfection Products and Solutions

After Jeremy ran the numbers, he was convinced. He learned that over time, and as occupancy increased, ready-to-use products and fogging machines costs would increase by 66-300% while In The ClearZone’s products would only increase by 15-30%. He also learned that using these products would save him hundreds of hours of employee labour and reduce disinfecting spending, long-term. Last, these products were natural solutions that harnessed the power of nature through light and oxygen. This provided a unique opportunity to strengthen his hotel's position as a sustainable company. He liked that, In The ClearZone would:

Decrease time costs of staff by 75% over traditional disinfecting
Decrease operating costs by 56% on day one
Reduce human error for a more comprehensive result
Be effective at destroying germs on hard surfaces
Be effective at destroying germs on soft surfaces
Leave no chemical residue

Jeremy contacted a sales representative and ordered In The ClearZones products. For his hotel, he ordered 15 Atmosphere’s for large frequently travelled rooms, 8 Breezes for small shared staff rooms and three Airbenders to use in the case of an emergency. Today, Jeremy has peace of mind and confidence in his disinfecting protocols from every perspective. His staff feel significantly more comfortable coming into work knowing that rooms with the highest foot traffic were continuously being sanitized. He and his employees are proud to offer exceptionally disinfected spaces for guests while respecting the environment. Jeremy felt hopeful and proud of the solution he was bringing to his hotel.