Hilton Outlines New Hotel Cleaning Standards

While we’ll hopefully all return to traveling soon(ish), I think it’s safe to say travel won’t ever be the same. Even if there’s such a thing as a post-COVID-19 era, I think many of us have a new appreciation for hygiene after all of this, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

New Hilton CleanStay initiative

Today Hilton has unveiled the basics of “CleanStay,” the term for their new elevated hygiene practices, from check-in to check-out. They’re developing this with RB (the maker of Lysol) and Mayo Clinic, and this should be implemented globally by June 2020.

Hilton CleanStay builds on Hilton’s existing housekeeping and hygiene practices, with upgraded protocols and hospital-grade cleaning products. As it’s described, the goal of CleanStay is to provide guests with assurance and peace of mind when they stay at Hilton’s 6,100+ hotels and 18 brands.

What will be changing at Hiltons?

The full details of the program are still in development, but hotel brand standards under consideration include:

  • Hilton CleanStay Room Seal: Add an extra measure of assurance by placing a room seal on doors to indicate to guests that their room has not been accessed since being thoroughly cleaned.
  • 10 High-Touch, Deep Clean Areas: Extra disinfection of the most frequently touched guests room areas – light switches, door handles, TV remotes, thermostats and more.
  • De-clutter Paper Amenities: Remove pen, paper and guest directory; supplement with digital or available upon request.
  • Focus on Fitness Centers: Improved guidelines for disinfecting the hotel Fitness Center, possibly closing for cleaning multiple times daily and limiting the number of guests allowed in at one time.
  • Clean and Clean Again: Increase the frequency of cleaning public areas.
  • Guest-Accessible Disinfecting Wipes: Provide stations at primary entrances and key high traffic areas, for instance, a station to allow guests to wipe the elevator button before pressing.
  • Contactless Check-In: Hilton will double-down on its award-winning Digital Key technology for guests who desire to have a contactless arrival experience. Guests can check-in, choose their room, access their room with a digital room key and check-out using their mobile devices through the Hilton Honors mobile app at participating hotels. Hilton will continue to expand its Digital Key capabilities to common doors and access points throughout the hotels.
  • Innovative Disinfection Technologies: Hilton is exploring the addition of new technologies, like electrostatic sprayers – which use an electrostatically charged disinfecting mist – and ultraviolet light to sanitize surfaces and objects.

Here’s an infographic from Hilton about the 10 high-touch areas in the room that will be deep cleaned:

Bottom line

I expect all major hotel groups to change their cleaning protocols, and this will likely be permanent.

I’m a fan of most of these developments. For example, more frequent cleanings of gyms and other public areas seems long overdue. I also like having disinfecting wipes in public areas. Meanwhile some may miss that paper, pen, and guess directory you’ll find in a room.

What updated hotel cleaning standards are most important to you when you get back to traveling?

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R.A. Borck Guest

The failure to clean rooms daily, makeup bedding, replace used towels and cloths and other sanitary amenities now makes Hilton Hotels at the same tier in quality as the bargain brands. As pandemic fear is in the past and the long established past cleaning standards were excellent I must reason that saving employment costs is favorable to comfortable customer experience. No longer my hotel of choice for business until such policies revert back to common sense. At present, no notice of the Hilton policy is expressly provided on reservation, checking or in room signage to indicate any services must be expressly requested by the guest.

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Oh MY Guest

So many people living in a fantasy world on here. WOW ! most can't spell and you intelligence level is lower than the average fifth grader. Thank God there are a few on here with common sense.Those of you that are dumb enough to believe the virus is no big deal, keep right on thinking so. The people who have been sick and in the hospital have said by the hundreds,you don't want this shit. And many more aren't saying anything because they are dead. I hope if you have loved ones at home you do nothing less than think of them and try to protect them as much as possible. USE common sense, I know for a fact that their are Hotels that require every item and every surface to be wiped down every time a guest checks out and ALL linens are changed out fresh and every surface was and still is thoroughly cleaned as policy-- long before the virus came about.It is easy to walk into a room and quickly check the bed before climbing into it,bend down and look across a desk top and see if it is dust free and clean check headboards,backs of televisions for dust and the showers and tubs are clean,shiny and spot free. You say you travel a lot ? obviously you don't know too much about clean or how to check for it. Poor dumb souls, who would stay and not call the desk for another room if it was as bad as you all say it is ? I have left with a refund when I get to a place some of you say you have. I have been compt free rooms for a week, (when I had two dirty rooms in one night.} at a competitor chain of choice for such. But, most of all better get better educated and cautious of the idiots around you and stay safe. There is No guarantee you will be one of the lucky survivors if you get the disease. This is NOT just the flu that doesn't exist if you keep telling yourself that. And it's not going to just go away because you refuse to believe. Do what you will just stay 6ft away from me or I will remind you, and only ONCE. I had a healthy 43 yearly loved one die in Colorado from being exposed in a grocery store because of the social distancing was looked down on there and they refused to believe as many of you it was no big deal. YEP ! They just refused to believer listen. Now for them nothing to worry about anymore.

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Moshe Guest

In the DC Metro Area and Baltimore, especially in public space, resturants, and meeting spaces, Hiltons are known for being immaculate. Perhaps because it is the capital and they have the funds, but I have been staying at Hiltons in DC and Baltimore for 20'years and rarely encountered a problem.

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Mike Guest

@DCS: "See? I will not hold my breath for an apology, but the “problem” in my comment was pointed out before, and it is not just limited to Hilton, making yet again plain what has been evident for more than two years and there is no indication that it’s ending: this Mike’s obsession with me." More moving the goalposts and projection from DCS, as usual.

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MJLL Guest

Use your brains people. Most of this is normal practice. It's a marketing scheme a Hilton is more likely getting kick backs from lysol. But for those of you freaking and complaining about cleaning standards. Then stay home! You can get bed bugs at a movie theater does that stop thousands of people from going? nope... You can get flesh eating bacteria on the beach but yet thousands of people flock to beaches evey year. Have you ever heard the horror stories of what is found in the water at waterparks? You will never be 100% safe if thats what you are looking for the stay home! Thats the only place you make sure the food you're eating and the place your sleeping is to your standards.

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