[UPDATE: To see what’s changed in 2021, check out my follow-up article on Hotel Trends as Travel Returns.]

I found myself researching hotels recently, even though I don’t currently have plans to travel farther than the grocery store.

With COVID-19 cases on the rise, I’m certainly not advocating that everyone hit the road. But I know you might need a place to stay due to quarantining, an evacuation, family emergency, essential travel, change in living situation, etc.

So what are hotel brands in the U.S. are doing in the wake of the coronavirus?

So Fresh and So Clean

Major hotel companies have ramped up their cleaning procedures and are doing an interesting dance in order to let the public know about it. It’s like they want to say “our hotels have always been spotless, but now they’re spotless-er!”

And they probably are, in fact, more spotlesser than ever. Things people are most likely to touch, like door handles and elevator buttons, are getting wiped down and disinfected frequently. Unsanitizable stuff is being taken out of rooms. (Where are they putting all those extra throw pillows and notepads? Are they just tossing them? Are they all in storage somewhere? Listed on eBay?)

Many hotels are either using or looking into using electrostatic spraying / fogging, a technique for disinfecting surfaces by spraying them with positively-charged chemicals. (Yeah, I don’t totally understand it, either, but it’s supposed to be very thorough and good for hard-to-reach spaces.)

A lot of amenities are temporarily suspended for safety reasons. Buffets are out. Workout rooms and pools are on thin ice. Daily housekeeping is becoming more of a DIY situation.

Having Reservations

This spring, when everything was suddenly being shut down and postponed, most hotels waived cancellation fees. At this point, however, a lot of those more lenient policies are expiring. So don’t forget to read the fine print when you book!

Keep in mind:

• Reservation policies I’ve summarized below apply to direct, individual bookings. (All dates are 2020.)
• For bookings through a third party (Expedia, Hotels.com, etc.), you’ve got to deal with their rules. And group bookings are a whole different mess altogether.
• Most rewards program levels and points expiration dates have been extended.
• You can also opt to convert your unused rewards points into a monetary donation to a charity the hotel has partnered with.
• As much as hotels may be attempting to follow guidelines from the WHO, CDC, and local authorities, those recommendations can change quickly. Also, the general policy for a hotel chain can still vary from one location to the next. Call ahead if you have questions.

Best Western Hotels & Resorts: We Care Clean program

Aiden, BW Premier Collection, BW Signature Collection, Executive Residency, Glō, Sadie, SureStay, Vīb, WorldHotels

Reservations + Cancellations: They had been waiving all cancellation fees until June 30, and then went quiet on the subject. Double check your booking details.

Checking In: Check-in and check-out streamlined to minimize contact (theoretically) using the Best Western Mobile Concierge platform – which I have not been able to find and have no clue how you access.

Common Areas:

• Disinfecting the lobby and touch points throughout the hotel regularly.
• Providing hand sanitizer or wipes.
• Cleaning fitness centers, swimming pools, meeting rooms, and other public amenities with disinfecting chemicals, as well as electrostatic fogging, ozone generators, or ultraviolet devices, when available.

Guest Rooms:

• Enhanced cleaning protocols with chemicals aimed at killing COVID-19.
• Removing unnecessary items (bed scarves, pens, etc.)
• Daily housekeeping service by request.
• If possible, guest rooms will not be entered for 24 to 72 hours after check-out. (I just keep thinking about the potential guest grossness that could be left to sit there for three days. Did they consult anyone from housekeeping on this?)

On that note, let’s move on to breakfast options….

Dining:

• Most hotels are currently offering a “Grab & Go” breakfast with pre-packaged food and beverage options, like a whole piece of fruit, bottle of water, granola bar, and a pastry.
• Some hotels may serve or pre-plate breakfast in lieu of a buffet. This may include a breakfast sandwich or burrito, hot and cold cereals, yogurt, pastries, and fruit.

Employee Policies:

• Must use Personal Protective Equipment and follow frequent, stringent hand-washing protocols.
• Workstations cleaned and disinfected after every shift.
• If unwell, employees are “empowered to stay home.”

Option to Donate Your Reward Points? Yes, to a variety of charitable organizations via their Rewards Redemption Mall.

Choice Hotels International

Ascend, Cambria, Clarion, Comfort, EconoLodge, MainStay Suites, Quality Inn, Rodeway Inn, Sleep Inn, Suburban, WoodSpring Suites

Reservations + Cancellations:

• You can now cancel or modify reservations online.
• For new reservations with arrival dates through September 30, there is no charge for cancellations up to 24 hours in advance. (Does not apply to bookings with a pre-paid rate. Also several other exclusions. Definitely read the fine print when you book.)

Common Areas:

• Cleaning high-traffic areas such as the front desk, fitness centers, and pool area with hospital-grade disinfectant.
• Furniture arranged to encourage social distancing.

Guest Rooms: Housekeeping “on demand.” You can request delivery of additional toiletries, towels, linens, or coffee without having a housekeeper enter the room.

Dining: Offering pre-packaged breakfast items instead of buffets at many hotels.

Employee Policies:

• Creating the new position of “Commitment to Clean Captain” (which I can only picture as a comic book character. Like a grime-fighting superhero!)
• Every Choice-branded hotel will designate a Commitment to Clean Captain, who will be in charge of implementing new cleaning protocols at the property.

COVID-19 Outreach: Special room rates for front line workers, including nurses, doctors, FEMA employees and American Red Cross volunteers.

Individual Choice Hotels have been helping their communities in different ways, for example:

• Quality Inn in Sylva, NC donated toilet paper and other essentials to senior centers and is currently providing shelter for people experiencing homelessness.
• Comfort Suites in Carlisle, PA sponsored a blood drive.
• Cambria Hotel in Bloomington, MN helped to send essential supplies to the Minnesota Nurses Association.
• WoodSpring Suites in Allentown, PA donated a dozen handmade superhero masks to healthcare workers who were staying at the hotel.

Option to Donate Your Reward Points? Yes.

G6 Hospitality

Motel 6, Studio 6

Reservations + Cancellations: Cancellation penalties were waived for reservations through July 6, but no update since then.

Checking In:

• Using single-use keycards for the rest of the year.
• Plexiglass hygiene guards installed at some front desk terminals.
• Night windows have become all-the-time windows. If a hotel has an exterior front desk window, guests should check in there rather than going inside the lobby.

Common Areas:

• More frequent cleaning and heavy disinfection of high-touch surfaces.
• Adding hand sanitizer stations.
• Closing pools.
• Limiting the number of people in lobbies and lowering the maximum occupancy for most hotels.
• Removing complimentary coffee from lobbies and microwaves from the vending area. (Caffeine addicts take note! Motel 6 also doesn’t include coffee pots in rooms, so plan on getting your fix outside of the property.)
• Engaging a third-party supplier to provide deep cleaning and sanitization services, as needed.
• Masks required.

Guest Rooms:

• Using EPA-approved, antiviral disinfectants to sanitize the most commonly touched areas of guest rooms.
• Hotel staff will not enter any occupied room.
• Limiting housekeeping to pre-scheduled trash removal, amenity replenishment, and providing fresh towels and sheets outside of each room.

Employee Policies:

• Employees required to wear provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – unless the hotel is unable to get their (ungloved) hands on said PPE. (In which case, I guess everyone is off the hook-?)
• Hand sanitizer stations in the team center.
• Furloughed Team Members receive a lump sum payment and can remain on the company’s healthcare plan.
• Partnering with several companies who have immediate job openings to assist team members in securing interim employment.

COVID-19 Outreach:

• 20% discount for first responders, medical professionals, and active duty military working on the front lines of the pandemic. (Must book online and provide identification at check-in.)
• Partnering with local governments in several communities to provide shelter for first responders, medical professionals, other essential workers, and those who may need to quarantine.

Option to Donate Your Reward Points? Their loyalty program (My6) seems to be discount-based rather than point-based, so I don’t think there’s anything for you to donate!

Hilton: CleanStay

Canopy, Conrad, Curio, DoubleTree, Embassy Suites, Hampton, Homewood Suites, Home 2 Suites, LXR, Motto, Tapestry, Tempo, tru, Waldorf Astoria

Reservations + Cancellations:

• Free changes and cancellations for reservations booked March 12 – August 31 (if canceled up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival day).
• Refunds of deposits for canceled bookings may take up to 30 days to process.
• Hilton Honors members canceling Advance Purchase bookings may be eligible for a free night certificate for each canceled night.

Checking In: Contactless check-in and check-out with Digital Key (at more than 4,700 properties).

Common Areas:

• Continuing to use hospital-grade disinfectant.
• Cleaning more frequently.
• Some services or amenities (such as pool, spas, fitness centers, restaurants, daily housekeeping, etc.) may be modified or suspended.
• Enhancing fitness center cleaning.
• Disinfecting wipes available at entrances and in high-traffic areas.
• Adjustments made to help guests adhere to social distancing guidelines.

Guest Rooms:

• Hilton CleanStay Room Seal indicates that a room hasn’t been accessed since it was cleaned.
• Extra disinfection of top 10 high-touch areas in guest rooms.
• Reduced paper amenities (like notepads and guest directories) in rooms.

Dining: Enhancing cleaning and making other changes to buffets, in-room dining, and meeting spaces, in accordance with current food safety recommendations.

Employee Policies: Additional training, protocols, and Personal Protective Equipment.

COVID-19 Outreach:

• Donated hotel room nights across the U.S. to frontline medical professionals who needed a place to sleep, recharge or isolate from their families (as part of 1 Million Rooms).
• Hilton Effect Foundation has pledged financial assistance to organizations to help those impacted by COVID-19.

Option to Donate Your Reward Points? Yes.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG): Way of Clean / Clean Promise

Atwell Suites, avid, Candlewood Suites, Crowne Plaza, EVEN, Holiday Inn, Hotel Indigo, InterContinental, Kimpton, Regent, Six Senses, Staybridge Suites, voco

Reservations + Cancellations:

• New Book Now, Pay Later rate allows cancellations up to 24 hours before your stay, does not require a deposit, and is at least 5% less than Best Flexible Rate (which typically allows free cancellation until 6pm the day of arrival).
• It’s valid for bookings made at least 3 days in advance from March 25 through September 1 with stays ending by December 30.
• IHG Rewards Club members save more on Book Now, Pay Later and Best Flexible rates.

Checking In:

• Reduced contact at check-in and paperless check-out.
• Sanitized keycards.

Common Areas:

• Additional  deep cleaning of high-touch surfaces.
• Hand sanitizer stations.

Guest Rooms:

• IHG Way of Clean  already includes deep cleaning with hospital-grade disinfectants.
• Visible verification of sanitized items (e.g. glassware, remote control).
• Reducing or changing furnishings.
• Implementing new laundry protocols.
• Cleaning with electrostatic technology.

Dining:

• Updating  approach to buffets, banquets, room-service,  and catering, based on official guidelines.
• Some hotels have temporarily reduced restaurant and bar service.
• Contact the individual hotel for specific details on dining options.

COVID-19 Outreach:

• Partner to #FirstRespondersFirst, providing free accommodation across the U.S. for frontline COVID-19 workers and access to a dedicated VIP reservation service to match local needs with nearby hotels.
• Working with hotels and charity partners to ease pressure on foodbanks through funding, donating excess food, and assisting with deliveries.

Option to Donate Your Reward Points? Yes, to Red Cross / Red Crescent COVID-19 relief fund.

Marriott International

AC Hotels, Aloft Hotels, Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard, Delta Hotels, Edition Hotels, Fairfield, Four Points by Sheraton, Gaylord Hotels, JW Marriott Hotels, Le Méridien, The Luxury Collection, Moxy Hotels, Protea Hotels, Renaissance Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, Sheraton Hotels and Resort, SpringHill Suites, W Hotels, Westin Hotels

Reservations + Cancellations:

• New reservations for dates between July 6 and September 30 can be canceled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival date.
• Reservation refunds may take up to 90 days from the date of cancellation to be processed.

Checking In:

• Adding partitions at check-in.
• You can use the mobile app to check in, access your room (instead of a physical key!), and order room service (in over 3,200 hotels).

Common Areas:

• Using electrostatic sprayers and other technology to sanitize surfaces throughout the hotel.
• Cleaning surfaces more frequently and using hospital-grade disinfectants.
• Installing hand sanitizing stations at hotel entrances, front desks, elevator banks, and meeting spaces.
• Some lobby furniture removed or rearranged to allow more space for distancing.

Guest Rooms:

• Thoroughly cleaning all surfaces with hospital-grade disinfectants.
• Placing disinfecting wipes in each room.

Dining:

• Food and beverage operations are required to conduct self-inspections for compliance to food safety standards. Results are validated by independent audits.
• Designing new approaches to buffets and in-room dining.

Employee Policies:

• Voluntary transition program for employees choosing to leave the company to pursue other opportunities.
• The TakeCare Relief Fund (TCRF) makes need-based financial grants available to associates who are facing financial hardship.
• Forming the Marriott Global Cleanliness Council with in-house and outside experts in food and water safety, hygiene and infection prevention, and hotel operations. The council will work to develop a new cleanliness standards, norms and behaviors for Marriott properties.

COVID-19 Outreach:

• Partnering with Rooms for Responders to provide hotel stays for healthcare professionals leading the fight against COVID-19 in the U.S.
• Community Caregiver Program provides significantly discounted rates for first responders and healthcare professionals who want to book rooms near the hospitals where they’re working.
• Some properties have been donating meals and supplies, like cleaning products, masks, gloves, anti-microbial wipes, sanitizers, and shower caps to medical and other frontline workers.

Option to Donate Your Reward Points?

Yes, to relief organizations that are active in COVID-19, including the American Red Cross, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, UNICEF and World Central Kitchen.

Marriott has also said they’re working on an option for donating points to organizations focused on advancing racial equality and social justice that they will then match.

Wyndham Hotels + Resorts: Count on Us initiative

AmericInn, Baymont Inn & Suites, Days Inn, Dazzler, Dolce Hotels and Resorts, Esplendor Boutique Hotels, Hawthorn Suites, Howard Johnson’s, La Quinta Inns & Suites, Microtel, Ramada, Super 8, Trademark Collection, Travelodge, TRYP, Wingate

Reservations + Cancellations:

• If laws restricting travel prohibit you from getting to a hotel you’ve booked, you can change or cancel your reservation without fees.
• Other than that, no blanket policy for bookings made on or after June 6. You just have to check your Rate Details.

Checking In: Disinfecting wipes provided with your keycard.

Common Areas:

• More frequently cleaning and disinfecting high-touch areas.
• You may be required to wear masks or other facial coverings in public areas of the hotel.

Guest Rooms: Complimentary travel-size hand sanitizer for each room.

COVID-19 Outreach:

• Essential workers get 15% off Best Available Rate for stays booked by September 30.
• Everyday Heroes Complimentary GOLD membership upgrade for Wyndham Rewards Members who are providing essential services in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic between April 14 and September 30. (If you’re not a member, you can sign up for free.)

Option to Donate Your Reward Points? Yes, to preferred charities, many of whom are working to help those affected by COVID-19.

 I took any photos requiring travel before the pandemic. The hotel interiors probably look a bit different now!