All about vacations and restrictions: how hotels in Crimea meet tourists
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The holiday season 2020 has started − since June 15 most of the restrictions, imposed due to the Сovid-19 pandemic, have been lifted in the Republic and Crimean hotels have opened their doors to guests.
Today SPA facilities receive local tourists and are preparing for the mass arrival of guests from other regions of the Russian Federation starting from July 1.
In tourist facilities − from the reception and lobby to restaurants and beaches − new rules of stay have been introduced taking into account the recommendations of Rospotrebnadzor (the Russian Authority for Consumer Protection). We tell all about preventive measures and epidemiological restrictions in hotels for those, who plan to go to Crimea this summer.
Moreh SPA & Resort: masks, information, social distance
The year-round SPA resort located in Alushta welcomes its guests at several reception desks in different buildings. This is one of the ways to split the tourist flows, which initially allows us to prevent mass crowding of guests at the registration windows, says Maxim Chastkovsky, director-general.
At the entrance to the building there are automatic doors, at the reception desks there are sanitizers and floor marks, showing social distances. The entire hotel staff works in gloves, masks and undergoes regular tests for coronavirus.
"For the safety of our guests, we test all employees, and also accept tourists on vacation only with certificates of a negative coronavirus test and safe epidemiological environment, since we have a medical license and we are obliged to request such information from the guests. We daily control the temperature of the guests, disinfect, ventilate the rooms and sanitize them upon the guests check out. According to the requirements, the staff works in masks, as for the guests, we are tolerant and do not oblige them, but we recommend wearing masks in the public areas of the hotel", — says Chastkovsky.
Thanks to the large park − about 8 hectares − guests minimally contact each other during walks, getting closer only at meals, on the beach and near the pool. Non-contact antiseptic dispensers are installed throughout the territory, antibacterial wipes and hand gels are laid out. And everywhere the principle of social distance applies.
Thus, by the pool side and on the beach, deckchairs are located at a distance of about two meters, the same applies to tables in cafés and restaurants. By the way, the guests may have meals there either according to the buffet-style system, or à la carte, or ordering meals directly to the room. In order to prevent the mass crowding of the guests, as the number of tourists in the hotel increases, several restaurants will be adapted to the buffet-style table and, at the same time, the guests will also be advised to come at a certain time interval. The food is served on dishes, which previously undergo thorough cleaning. Chefs and kitchen workers cook in masks only, as do the waiters serving customers.
Preventive measures are also taken at the hotel’s medical center. Though these measures were in force here before the regime of restrictions, says the head of the center. This is disinfection, a mask regime for doctors and paramedics, an individual time appointment of guests to the procedures.
"Our clinic has always worked in accordance with such standards: recirculators, bactericidal lamps and disinfectants have always been used in the clinic rooms. The lamps work during reception, they are closed-type lamps and are not harmful to health. We measure the temperature of the guests here and, in case of any deviations, we act according to the instructions of the Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Authority for Consumer Protection)", — said Ekaterina Konstantinovna, the doctor of the medical center.
Mass events are still banned, but the hotel promise − they will not let the guests get bored. New animation programs have been developed, which include outdoor games, gymnastics, quests in small groups around the hotel park, and other entertainment for adults and children, taking into account the recommendations of the Rospotrebnadzor.
Riviera Sunrise Resort & SPA: to the SPA by family groups, masks on at meals and – feel at ease near the pool
This Alushta hotel already welcomes and accommodates guests in full, but the epidemiological situation has made its adjustments to the usual order of things. Along with the traditional greeting at the entrance, vacationers are offered to wipe their hands with antiseptics and measure the temperature non-contact. This, they say at the hotel, is the first precautionary measure that allows checking the health condition of a guest. If the temperature is high, a guest, according to the algorithm of actions developed at the hotel, is escorted to a separate comfortable room where additional thermometry is performed and, if necessary, a doctor is called. Thus, any contact with the staff and the tourists, already living in the hotel, is prevented.
The hotel reception consists of several desks, each of which is behind a special protective glass and equipped with antiseptics. The staff wears masks and gloves. To minimize risks, even individual pens are provided for filling in registration documents.
"The concept of safety in our hotel provides maximum contact with the guest, but we have installed transparent screens as additional barriers, which are wiped after each guest. The floor is marked to indicate the social distances. And since filling in the registration form is mandatory, we have provided a separate sanitized pen for each guest, which after use are put in another container for further sanitizing. Here are the disinfectors and also a bactericidal lamp. All hotel employees wear masks and gloves", — said Yekaterina Yeryomenko, general manager of the hotel.
On the territory of the hotel complex there are restaurants with summer terraces, a bar, room service for meals delivery is also available. Breakfast is provided for all hotel guests as a buffet-style system. And here a number of rules for vacationers are established. In particular, sanitizers are installed at the entrance to the dining rooms, compulsory thermometry is performed, the results of which are recorded in a special visit journal.
"Tables are arranged at a prescribed distance from each other, napkins are in special boxes and the surface of the tables is wiped after each guest. You can enter the restaurant hall without a mask, but it should be with you, because it must be worn in the area of the buffet-style tables, were food trays are placed. It means that you may take the food only when you wear a mask. In addition, there is a limit on the number of guests: in a room designed for 120 people, now there can be only 60 guests at a time. The staff is carefully monitoring this", — the manager added.
"We are grateful to our guests that they correctly respond to these measures and understand that everything is being done for their own safety. We have provided everything so that guests minimize contacts with each other: this are the marks on the floor, and individual table setting. If the guest came without a mask, then we hand them out before entering the buffet-style area. If someone wants to order food to the room, we bring fully covered dishes and offer a contactless payment system", — said Alexander Lazurenko, head of the restaurant service.
Two outdoor pools are already working for the guests, one of which is with heated fresh water and a pool-side bar. Deckchairs are arranged at a distance of two meters from each other, by one or by two, as most of the guests of the hotel came in pairs or families. The deckchairs are disinfected after each guest, and instead of soft mattresses individual towels are spread on them. The same is on the beach. By the way, to visit the pool and the beach, as well as take a walk around the territory, individual protective means are not needed.
A fruit stand is open here, where guests can purchase a variety of products without visiting crowded markets and/or shops. Animators for children and programs for adults work outdoors. For example, for children they organize quests and master classes, for adults – romantic evening parties to the sounds of a saxophone on the summer terrace of the restaurant and other entertainments.
But the SPA complex is still closed for visiting. Specialists have already fully prepared it for the reception of guests and are now finalizing the special mobile application, which will allow the guests to monitor the occupancy rate of a particular SPA zone, register for individual procedures and reserve seats. As it was explained in the hotel, they plan to let the guests to the saunas of the aqua-thermal complex one by one or by families in order to reduce the number of contacts.
Mriya Resort & SPA: obligatory transfer, double test and smile with eyes
Preventive measures for the guests of the health resort complex located in the village of Opolznevoyeh on the South Coast, begins… at the airport. A hotel representative greets the guests upon arrival, offers them antiseptic and masks, measures the temperature and escorts to the transfer vehicle. In order to avoid unnecessary contacts on the way from the airport to the place of leisure, guests are transferred by buses and cars of the hotel, which are pre-disinfected. Individual and group transfers are possible. However, the guests must decide in advance and inform the hotel about their decision. Before departure, the driver blows the luggage over from a special cold mist generator. By the way, if the guests travel from their home regions by car, in this case there is no travel restriction.
Tourists should have with them a negative test for coronavirus, made no more than 2 days before the trip, and a certificate of the epidemiological environment. In addition, a quick antibody test is carried out before check-in, which shows whether there are antibodies of the acute phase COVID-19 and whether a person is a virus carrier. This is a blood sampling from a finger, the result of which is ready within 10 minutes. If antibodies are detected in the acute phase, guests are taken to a separate observatory, where they undergo tests for coronavirus. When there is a proof that the guest is healthy, he can check into the hotel.
At the main entrance there are special barriers that spray mist of a disinfectant solution for treating clothes and shoes. Here is a stationary thermal monitor that additionally measures the temperature of the guests, and reception desks separated for the safe social distance.
"We made the zoning with the help of green plants, which separate the reception desks and make the established social distance less evident to the guests. It is important for us that our vacationers do not feel any barriers. It looks nice. Here are the yellow marks on the floor − this is the last color from the spectrum that visually impaired people distinguish. The service staff is obliged to wear masks and gloves. As for the guests, we do not force them to wear masks, but offer them. There are antiseptics and contactless dispensers with disinfectants throughout the territory, cleaning of the guest rooms and public areas of the hotel has been intensified", — said Nadezhda Biryukova, hotel’s public relations manager.
Restaurants and bars of the hotel complex serve guests taking into account social distance. The tables are located at a distance of one and a half meters from each other, sanitizers are installed, additional hand antiseptics are available and contactless payment is provided. The Azurr buffet-style restaurant operates with some restrictions: no more than 200 people at a time can be in the dining room, an express service system is organized, and guests themselves have meals in sessions, at pre-booked tables.
For the duration of the restriction regime, the common hamam and sauna baths are temporarily closed, however, individual SPA treatments are offered to the guests. You can also improve your health in the medical center, which has developed a whole range of wellness programs for guests, said Natalia Evgenievna, head of the physiotherapy department of the hotel’s medical center.
"Wellness and immunity strengthening programs from the first day of stay have been prepared. Group procedures in our medical center are replaced with individual or family, by appointment. We plan visits in advance, which are shown, above all, in the mobile application, so we do not have crowds. The most popular among our guests is all types of massage, including hydro massage, algae massage and non-contact massage using Japanese technique. Masseurs work with guests after disinfecting the hands and the surface of the massage table", — said the doctor.
The hotel’s indoor pool is not yet accessible, but the outdoor pool and the beach are waiting for vacationers. Without masks, gloves, but with the observance of social distance and careful cleaning of places of rest.
"The deckchairs are located at a distance of two meters from each other, they are disinfected immediately after the guest leaves, after that a sticker is glued that the deckchair has been disinfected. In addition, all deckchairs, even if they are vacant, are disinfected twice a day by cold mist generators. In the pool, as in the recreation area, it is also recommended to observe social distance", — said Nadezhda Biryukova.
The Dreamwood Theme Park and the Japanese Garden are open and operate in compliance with all requirements. Contactless disinfectors are also installed there, regular sanitization and disinfection are carried out. However, so far these facilities let in only hotel guests. Also, admission of visitors from outside to the resort complex is temporarily suspended.
"We try to maintain a balance of safety and comfort. The main history of hospitality is related to the fact that a person is friendly and constantly smiles. And how the staff can smile, if they should always wear a mask? How to show the guest that you are glad to see him? That is why we have introduced a new standard called "smile with eyes". Our employees took special courses and learned not only to smile with their eyes, but also to communicate with people during a coronavirus pandemic to reduce stress among our guests", — summed up the hotel’s public relations manager Nadezhda Biryukova.
As you can see the hotels on the peninsula already welcome local tourists in full and are looking forward to welcome guests from the mainland. Security measures are also observed in other accommodation facilities of the peninsula. The mass arrival of Russians will begin on July 1, which means that soon everyone will be able to appreciate the philosophy of Crimean hospitality and the healing power of Crimea.
