Coronavirus?

[JimBoone]

For us these events find us away from home, staying with grandson and spending time being handy persons cleaning up daughter’s rental house while daughter holds down the fort at the business where we have blocked new reservations for the next couple of weeks taking a wait and see attitude, will soon have to determine if travel home is possible as the pill box will need to be refilled shortly

 

[GoodScout]

With no guests, my to-do list is calling vendors to see who will let me hold off paying them until June. So far, Geico insurance is a yes.

 

[Arks]

I just canceled two 6-night reservations in May. That's a long way off, but they think things will still be awful then, and I'm inclined to agree. For now, I'm making a little income on $25 cancellation fees, which I refuse to waive, and saving some on expendable supplies and utilities, though I worry that they'll take my toilet paper.
We still don't have any "confirmed cases" in my county, and we have a 1-county buffer all around us, but I'm sure it's here and they just don't know it yet.
I have friends in Brazil, where it has been summer, who say it's not as bad there, but they still have 500 cases. So the heat of summer will help, but it's not going to end it.
Flatten the curve and press on, fellow innkeepers. This too shall pass, though it may be 18 months of hell first. :-(

 

[Anon Inn]

I am planning on discontinuing main dining breakfasts and going to a tray at their bedroom door with muffins, pastries and fruit with tea or coffee with sugars, creamers -all to enable ‘social distancing’ with guests. Considering the contagious nature of this infecting 2-3 people on average vs 1.3 with the regular flu I don’t think having people sitting around the table makes a lot of sense right now.
Is anyone else planning on this?.

I am planning on discontinuing main dining breakfasts and going to a tray at their bedroom door with muffins, pastries and fruit with tea or coffee with sugars, creamers -all to enable ‘social distancing’ with guests. Considering the contagious nature of this infecting 2-3 people on average vs 1.3 with the regular flu I don’t think having people sitting around the table makes a lot of sense right now.
Is anyone else planning on this?

not planning breakfast delivery ourselves, but maybe limiting the number of guests at a time? Going to a scheduled seating time?
We did discuss afternoon snacks and we may need to rethink how we do those to avoid those people who touch everything.
We did baskets in the rooms about 5 years ago. Might go back to that again.
i mentioned earlier I have seen zero social distancing over the past 10 days. And I’ve seen zero table cleaning after guests depart.
that’s another area - do we remove table cloths and just use the table as is so we can wash it more thoroughly?
.

The staggered breakfast is a good idea but in my case guests tend to linger in the kitchen area as it’s actually one of two entrances..
I would think Lysol may then do the trick for you once you’ve cleared the table and placemats.
I forgot to mention to everyone that “ozone generators”- we normally use in rooms for any odor mitigation (lingering perfumes etc) also are equally good sanitizers and actually kill lingering influenza germs in the air and surfaces. See amazon, they’re about $75 and have a lot of other uses post flu era. If someone is hacking, when they leave slip the device in the room for 20mins, come back in an hour to air it out and clean.
.

Our Ozone Generator arrives today from Amazon!! I had already had one on my wishlist for perfume, then was recommended by an innkeeper I know in another group, exactly for this reason, although she has been using for years.
.

I just got one of these too, even though there is no conclusive evidence of effectiveness against this virus, the generators work for quicker removal of smoke odors, which is an occasional need in high season.
At this time, I've blocked off the in the inn rooms and have only the outside apartment available. I will do delivered-to-the-door meals if requested.
No takers yet, although advance season bookings are still in place.
The vacation rental in the nearby city has many cancellations for near term bookings. A couple that didn't cancel is staying starting today. Their sole concern was finding out which of the city's restaurants are offering curbside or to go orders.

 

[Anon Inn]

Just got the call tonight. One of my last remaining elderly relatives lives in a nursing home and two of the residents have the virus. These are weak and frail people. The outlook is not good. All the other residents, employees, visitors, even random contacts have all been exposed and could be carriers. including the elderly husband of one of the sick residents ... he does not live there. They might have a mild case of this flu and then recover, or might not .... and they might have carried it to someone who can’t fight it off. My cousin went to visit his mother in that home, and may have carried it to his brother who is on dialysis.
You see the problem?
Where I used to live, the town has postponed the St Patrick’s Day Parade and some people are furious. It was postponed a few years ago due to heavy snow and we all had a great time when it was finally held. No amount of explanation will help the angry ones understand.
I work for small venues that host coffeehouses. It looks like we will have to cancel. At least four. I am hoping we can reschedule some. It’s a lot of lost revenue. For us and for the groups scheduled to perform.
Someone is considering rescheduling a celebration of life .... after so much planning. It looks like air travel for some of the family coming in from Ireland will be restricted ... and they want to be there.
A young woman I know works in food service for a college. All the students are being sent home early for spring break. And then they are going to resume classes online. She is worried about lost wages.
My hands are raw from hand sanitizer (they don’t like it at all) ... I would shake hands, grab a little hand sanitizer. Repeat. I’m switching back to soap and water.
We are all in for a rough ride, I fear.
Hold tight, my friends..

 

[GoodScout]

I am planning on discontinuing main dining breakfasts and going to a tray at their bedroom door with muffins, pastries and fruit with tea or coffee with sugars, creamers -all to enable ‘social distancing’ with guests. Considering the contagious nature of this infecting 2-3 people on average vs 1.3 with the regular flu I don’t think having people sitting around the table makes a lot of sense right now.
Is anyone else planning on this?.

I am planning on discontinuing main dining breakfasts and going to a tray at their bedroom door with muffins, pastries and fruit with tea or coffee with sugars, creamers -all to enable ‘social distancing’ with guests. Considering the contagious nature of this infecting 2-3 people on average vs 1.3 with the regular flu I don’t think having people sitting around the table makes a lot of sense right now.
Is anyone else planning on this?

not planning breakfast delivery ourselves, but maybe limiting the number of guests at a time? Going to a scheduled seating time?
We did discuss afternoon snacks and we may need to rethink how we do those to avoid those people who touch everything.
We did baskets in the rooms about 5 years ago. Might go back to that again.
i mentioned earlier I have seen zero social distancing over the past 10 days. And I’ve seen zero table cleaning after guests depart.
that’s another area - do we remove table cloths and just use the table as is so we can wash it more thoroughly?
.

The staggered breakfast is a good idea but in my case guests tend to linger in the kitchen area as it’s actually one of two entrances..
I would think Lysol may then do the trick for you once you’ve cleared the table and placemats.
I forgot to mention to everyone that “ozone generators”- we normally use in rooms for any odor mitigation (lingering perfumes etc) also are equally good sanitizers and actually kill lingering influenza germs in the air and surfaces. See amazon, they’re about $75 and have a lot of other uses post flu era. If someone is hacking, when they leave slip the device in the room for 20mins, come back in an hour to air it out and clean.
.

Our Ozone Generator arrives today from Amazon!! I had already had one on my wishlist for perfume, then was recommended by an innkeeper I know in another group, exactly for this reason, although she has been using for years.
.

I just got one of these too, even though there is no conclusive evidence of effectiveness against this virus, the generators work for quicker removal of smoke odors, which is an occasional need in high season.
At this time, I've blocked off the in the inn rooms and have only the outside apartment available. I will do delivered-to-the-door meals if requested.
No takers yet, although advance season bookings are still in place.
The vacation rental in the nearby city has many cancellations for near term bookings. A couple that didn't cancel is staying starting today. Their sole concern was finding out which of the city's restaurants are offering curbside or to go orders.
.

At this time, I've blocked off the in the inn rooms and have only the outside apartment available. I will do delivered-to-the-door meals if requested.

We've done the same, but likewise, no takers. It's not the thing you want to promote, for fear of being accused of exploiting fear and trying to make money off a pandemic. That's a job for senators.

 

[Arks]

Since business is so slow anyway, I've started blocking off a couple of days after each check-out, with the plan of leaving the room alone for a day or more before the housekeeper goes in to clean, hoping any coronavirus dies on surfaces first.
They're saying now it can live up to 3 days on stainless steel and plastics, but if after a day or so it's dead on cloth and most everything else, I think it's safe to go in with the Lysol and spray those smooth hard surfaces and get on with standard cleaning.

 

[TheBeachHouse]

We ordered paper placemats and will switch to setting the tables and clearing them, rather than the self serve buffet we had previously. But I’m not sure anyone will care if they don’t come to stay. We will see. We are closed now, so I can’t really gage..

We have also been doing a self-serve buffet. Are you planning on taking orders? Just cooking and plating individual servings du jour? We always have a bread basket with multiple choices... are you going to ask what kind of bread folks want? Maybe we need to do menu choices the night before for juices, hot beverage, etc? Am thinking of bringing preordered breakfast to rooms on the trays that we use for our outside porch tables. Let's brainstorm.
.

Sorry for the delay in responding! I hadn’t decided, but I now think we will need to take orders and plate in the kitchen. I don’t see any other way to prevent people from retouching things like serving spoons, sugar bowls, piles of flatware.....
for now, it looks like we will have a couple months to think it through. We are dead for April. May is looking full now, but I’m expecting it to be a cancellation month. Our reservations are individuals, not groups, so I imagine they are waiting to see

 

[Momma Smurf]

Since business is so slow anyway, I've started blocking off a couple of days after each check-out, with the plan of leaving the room alone for a day or more before the housekeeper goes in to clean, hoping any coronavirus dies on surfaces first.
They're saying now it can live up to 3 days on stainless steel and plastics, but if after a day or so it's dead on cloth and most everything else, I think it's safe to go in with the Lysol and spray those smooth hard surfaces and get on with standard cleaning..

That was exactly our strategy!!! In fact, we have a room sitting since last Sunday. Since everyone has cancelled, maybe when we're really really bored of sheltering in place, we'll eventually clean it as a "remember when" experience! Be well.

 

[Momma Smurf]

We ordered paper placemats and will switch to setting the tables and clearing them, rather than the self serve buffet we had previously. But I’m not sure anyone will care if they don’t come to stay. We will see. We are closed now, so I can’t really gage..

We have also been doing a self-serve buffet. Are you planning on taking orders? Just cooking and plating individual servings du jour? We always have a bread basket with multiple choices... are you going to ask what kind of bread folks want? Maybe we need to do menu choices the night before for juices, hot beverage, etc? Am thinking of bringing preordered breakfast to rooms on the trays that we use for our outside porch tables. Let's brainstorm.
.

Sorry for the delay in responding! I hadn’t decided, but I now think we will need to take orders and plate in the kitchen. I don’t see any other way to prevent people from retouching things like serving spoons, sugar bowls, piles of flatware.....
for now, it looks like we will have a couple months to think it through. We are dead for April. May is looking full now, but I’m expecting it to be a cancellation month. Our reservations are individuals, not groups, so I imagine they are waiting to see
.

Funny, we too decided we'd start taking orders the night before and then just plate and place trays at their door at a time previously requested. All have cancelled for March. Next Reservations mid April.

 

[Morticia]

We ordered paper placemats and will switch to setting the tables and clearing them, rather than the self serve buffet we had previously. But I’m not sure anyone will care if they don’t come to stay. We will see. We are closed now, so I can’t really gage..

We have also been doing a self-serve buffet. Are you planning on taking orders? Just cooking and plating individual servings du jour? We always have a bread basket with multiple choices... are you going to ask what kind of bread folks want? Maybe we need to do menu choices the night before for juices, hot beverage, etc? Am thinking of bringing preordered breakfast to rooms on the trays that we use for our outside porch tables. Let's brainstorm.
.

Sorry for the delay in responding! I hadn’t decided, but I now think we will need to take orders and plate in the kitchen. I don’t see any other way to prevent people from retouching things like serving spoons, sugar bowls, piles of flatware.....
for now, it looks like we will have a couple months to think it through. We are dead for April. May is looking full now, but I’m expecting it to be a cancellation month. Our reservations are individuals, not groups, so I imagine they are waiting to see
.

We’ll also have to rethink the serve yourself coffee and juice. I’m wondering if my welcome speech now has to include telling guests to wash up before taking utensils out of the drawer or using the Keurig. Or do we just remove everything?
We’re closed until mid-April. Everything in town, just about, is closed until the end of March. If need be, we’ll close until May.
We do not want to get sick.

 

[Anon Inn]

Since business is so slow anyway, I've started blocking off a couple of days after each check-out, with the plan of leaving the room alone for a day or more before the housekeeper goes in to clean, hoping any coronavirus dies on surfaces first.
They're saying now it can live up to 3 days on stainless steel and plastics, but if after a day or so it's dead on cloth and most everything else, I think it's safe to go in with the Lysol and spray those smooth hard surfaces and get on with standard cleaning..

Yes, thinking of doing same. At this time, cancellations are effectively doing that for me.

 

[Anon Inn]

Since business is so slow anyway, I've started blocking off a couple of days after each check-out, with the plan of leaving the room alone for a day or more before the housekeeper goes in to clean, hoping any coronavirus dies on surfaces first.
They're saying now it can live up to 3 days on stainless steel and plastics, but if after a day or so it's dead on cloth and most everything else, I think it's safe to go in with the Lysol and spray those smooth hard surfaces and get on with standard cleaning..

And I just now got my first two month out cancellation.
“Fasten you’re seatbelts........”

 

[GoodScout]

We have a 7-day cancellation policy in place now. I'd suggest telling all the people trying to cancel for two months out "We don't know what the situation will be, so we're happy to keep your reservation in place in hopes of things getting better. You can always cancel with just a week's notice without penalty."
Of course, if you charged a refundable deposit and they need the money, that's another issue.

 

[Morticia]

Since business is so slow anyway, I've started blocking off a couple of days after each check-out, with the plan of leaving the room alone for a day or more before the housekeeper goes in to clean, hoping any coronavirus dies on surfaces first.
They're saying now it can live up to 3 days on stainless steel and plastics, but if after a day or so it's dead on cloth and most everything else, I think it's safe to go in with the Lysol and spray those smooth hard surfaces and get on with standard cleaning..

And I just now got my first two month out cancellation.
“Fasten you’re seatbelts........”
.

And I just now got my first two month out cancellation.
“Fasten you’re seatbelts........”

yes, we just got one for late summer. Sounds like they were in a bit of a panic because they also just had a car accident and it was too many things all at once.
I refunded and said they could just call back if it looked like it was going to work out after all.
otoh, just found out two new stores are opening next month on Main Street. That’s helpful!

 

[Arks]

Remember when our biggest worry was whether or not to use doilies?

 

[Morticia]

Remember when our biggest worry was whether or not to use doilies?.

Remember when our biggest worry was whether or not to use doilies?

thanks for the laugh!

 

[Eugee2]

Processed 5 different cancellations today between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
2 were state employees coming to town for a seminar that's cancelled.
2 were dance instructors coming to town to teach a dance class that's cancelled.
1 was coming to town to see a play that has been cancelled.
But somehow I suspect the monthly bills will still come on time. I'm planning to turn off the heat and air systems. Luckily, my water heaters are "on demand" so they cost nothing when not used. I wish TV cable/internet was "on demand". Trying to think of other ways to cut corners, pinch pennies. I have NOT having fun!.

For me, Mediacom dropped my cable broadband $20/mo when I called to cancel, I moved from Verizon to Tracfone (same phone) and saved $25/mo. I called my AARP roadside service to cancel and they cut my membership on half. I called Sirius to cancel and got it to $7/mo. I found a new insurance carrier and saved $700/yr.. if I can think of a way to save I’ll get on the phone and try! The key is to come on strong, say it’s too expensive (cite alternatives) and have a plan to cxl.. if they won’t budge, if they think you’re serious, they’ll budge..

 

[gillumhouse]

I made use of my City Clerk hat to get some extra publicity for Gillum House. this is in the "big" newspaper in the County today
https://www.wvnews.com/theet/news/shinnston-holds-drawing-to-determine-ballot-order/article_17ff947d-8 287-5de4-8be8-eef908937902.html

 

[Arks]

I made use of my City Clerk hat to get some extra publicity for Gillum House. this is in the "big" newspaper in the County today
https://www.wvnews.com/theet/news/shinnston-holds-drawing-to-determine-ballot-order/article_17ff947d-8 287-5de4-8be8-eef908937902.html.

I made use of my City Clerk hat to get some extra publicity...

Take it where you can get it! Someday the world will come to life again.