July/August 2020

guests now be carefully
analyzing a hotel’s ability to
ensure enhanced health-andsafety
standards before making
their booking decision, they’ll
also be looking at a hotel’s
ability to meet their basic
needs and preferences, since
many hotels have scaled back
on staff and services during
the crisis.
Further supporting the
need for hotels to adapt are
recent findings from Global-
Data, with three quarters of
global travellers indicating
their purchasing choices
will be influenced by how
the world around them is
changing. With this in mind,
hoteliers will need to strategize
on how to address the new
demands for contactless and
physical-distancing-compatible
services, meet guest needs
and still ensure a steady flow
of revenue. The solution to
this dilemma can be found in
the place that many changes
are already being made to
enhance cleanliness and guest
safety — in the guestroom
itself.
GlobalData’s research
reveals 85 per cent of global
travellers indicated a significant
amount of concern
over possible exposure to
COVID-19, so will likely
seek to avoid public spaces,
such as a hotel’s restaurant
or bar, and will opt instead
to spend more time inside
their guestrooms to minimize
health risks. Yet, although
seemingly representing a
loss of revenue, avoidance of
public areas does not mean
guests don’t expect their
food-and-beverage needs
to be met at the property.
Instead, they’ll expect more
options to be made available
to them within the
safety of their guestroom.
With remote-management
capabilities, online minibars
and monitored dry-goods
Hoteliers are now
beginning to recognize
that solutions such as
minibars provide an ideal
means of addressing the
decreasing use of
restaurants and bars
by guests, and are
increasingly becoming
open to exploring new
options as a way of
maintaining physicaldistancing
abilities while
still generating revenue
trays can allow hoteliers to
provide flexible options for
guests, while respecting their
desire to maintain physical
distances. With the addition
of enhanced cleanliness
measures that ensure minibars
and its products are sanitized
before each new guest arrives,
a guestroom-centred minibar
food-and-beverage strategy
can enhance guest satisfaction
and confidence while allowing
hoteliers to recoup profits that
may have otherwise been lost
due to the declining use of
other property amenities.
“As hotels welcome back
guests during this unique
time, it’s critical to project
safety and cleanliness at every
touchpoint and creating an
environment of confidence
and trust in your F&B operations
yields strong results,
reviews and return visits,”
says Deana Kay, managing
partner at California-based
gourmet-food supplier Torn
Ranch. “At the property,
communicating and taking
visible steps to enhance guest
comfort and safety is central.
The in-room offering is a key
part of the equation.”
Forbes Travel Guide
reiterated Kay’s stance in a
recent post, adding tips on
how to accomplish a safe and
healthy guestroom environment
for guests, suggesting
hotels offer pre-packaged,
outer-sealed, multi-snack
item delivery options as
part of their full or limited
room-service program; have
packaged snacks available in
the room and let the guest
know at check-in; and add
non-food items, such as a PPE
welcome kit.
Sharing a similar viewpoint
on the importance of revising
food-and-beverage operations
to incorporate a more
guestroom-centric approach
is Ray Burger, president and
founder of U.S.-based
Pineapple Hospitality.
“Hoteliers are now beginning
to recognize solutions
such as minibars provide an
ideal means of addressing the
decreasing use of restaurants
and bars by guests and are
increasingly becoming open to
exploring new options as a
way of maintaining physicaldistancing
abilities while still
generating revenue.”
Guestroom minibars can
also be tailored to meet a
wide range of guest-consumption
needs, including
full meals or even customized
alcoholic beverages.
“Properties could offer
pre-made meal options that
a guest can purchase via a
hotel’s website at the time of
booking and that could be
brought up and stored in the
guestroom minibar prior to
arrival,” says Burger. “This
ability can even extend to
making popular items such as
cocktails available for order
online by providing guests
with an easily accessible menu
of options. By providing these
updated service alternatives,
hotels can demonstrate their
commitment to cleanliness,
while still ensuring that guests
have everything that they
need to experience an
enjoyable stay.”
More recent advances in
minibar technology have
provided hoteliers with
even greater flexibility in
making products available
for in-room purchase that
go beyond refrigerated items
or even food and beverages.
With guests likely to avoid
onsite or offsite retail outlets
as they would restaurants
and bars, such items can
include electronics, toiletries,
hand sanitizers, gloves or
face masks.
“The ability to monitor door
openings on an automatic
minibar system is an ideal
tool to combat the spread
of COVID-19 and other
potential contaminants, as it
provides electronic contact
tracing,” says Bruno Agrario,
VP of Sales at U.S.-based
Bartech Systems International.
“Once a minibar
is sanitized, guests can be
assigned to rooms that are
certified as safe, since it’s
possible to ensure that the
minibar door has not been
opened since the last sanitation.
With automated minibar
systems, this information is
collected by a central server,
instead of requiring a staff
member to visit all rooms in
order to check. This not only
helps to ensure guest safety
by limiting guestroom entry
by staff, but also minimizes
labour costs.”
By considering the benefits
a minibar solution can
provide, hoteliers can strike a
balance between prioritizing
the health and safety of guests
and staff, while fulfilling
essential-service expectations
and ensuring their ability to
increase their revenuesearning
opportunities. ◆
38 | JULY/AUGUST 2020 hoteliermagazine.com