Italy: new operational rules for hotels

The debate between central Government, health authority and the regions has been strong and after a previous communication which was rejected as unfeasible by the retail and hotel operators, the Government has agreed to implement a protocol for each sector, the application of which will be under the regional control.

As far as the hotel sector is concerned, while waiting for the opening of the national boundaries, each hotel, of any category, will have to abide to the following rules from Monday 18th May 2020:

• Hotels must provide adequate information on prevention measures being implemented at each hotel, understandable also for customers of other nationalities;
  
  
• Body temperatures of guests may be checked and access to the hotel denied to those presenting a temperature of more than 37.5 ° C.;
  
  
• Hotels are to ensure compliance by guests with an interpersonal distance of at least one metre in all common areas. They must also encourage separation of pathways within hotel buildings, paying particular attention to the entrance and exit areas. This will require hotels to post information signs and to delimit the spaces, for example by attaching stickers and track markers to floors and walls ;
  
  
• Although reception desks can be equipped with physical barriers (e.g. screens), hotels should favour electronic payment methods and online booking management, with automated check-in and check-out systems wherever possible;
  
  
• At the end of each work shift, the receptionist must clean the work surface and the equipment used;
  
  
• Guests must wear face masks. Employees must also wear face masks when in the presence of customers and in all circumstances where it is not possible to guarantee an interpersonal distance of at least one metre;
  
  
• Hotels must ensure a wide availability and accessibility to hand hygiene systems with hydro-alcoholic solutions in various locations within the hotel building, and promote their frequent use by customers and employees.
  
  
• Each object supplied for use by the hotel to a guest must be disinfected before and after each use;
  
  
• The use of lifts must be such as to allow respect for interpersonal distance, even with the wearing of face masks (with exceptions made for members of the same family / a group of travelers).
  
  
• Hotels should frequently clean and disinfect all rooms and other parts of the hotel, with particular attention to common areas and surfaces touched more frequently (such as handrails, light switches, lift buttons, door and window handles).
  
  
• In terms of the microclimate within each hotel, there are a number of enhanced and detailed rules that hotels (and restaurants within hotels) must observe with regard to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, including increasing the frequency of cleaning and maintenance regimes.

Last reviewed: 28th May 2020