Ensuring Safe Stays: A Complete Guide to Motel & Hotel Room Disinfection

As the world continues to navigate through and grapple with COVID-19, the need for thorough and effective disinfection practices in public spaces, and on high-touch surfaces, remains important as travel begins to pick up again. In hotels and motels, where many guests are coming and going, hotel room disinfection is a critical step in reducing the spread of all virus types and ensures that guests have lodging that is safe and clean. In this disinfecting hotel rooms guide, we’ll provide a detailed look into what types of surfaces to prioritize, and which areas of the hotel room are a must-clean for hotel staff and owners. 

Prioritize Airflow & Identify Touch Points First

Airflow

When guests enter their hotel room, the first thing they’re going to interact with beyond the door handle is the air inside the room. The first step here is to head on over to the windows or the sliding glass doors if there is a balcony, and open them right up.  This will get fresh air flowing into the room, which helps reduce airborne contamination from viruses and bacteria, and ensures that the room is properly ventilated.

Identify Touch Points

Next, scan the room and identify all of those high-traffic areas and surfaces. These are called touchpoints and are the spots in the room that guests are most likely to interact with during the duration of their stay. These areas are going to be things like door handles, buttons, flat surfaces, and linens.  It’s also a good idea to consider what possessions guests often unpack while staying in the room, as these objects are going to interact with the environment too. For example, smartphones will be placed on surfaces, clothing may be hung up, and toiletries may be placed on the bathroom countertops. 

Sanitize

Here comes the time-consuming part – sanitization. While contaminated surfaces are not the primary way that viruses are transmitted, it is still a good idea to disinfect high-touch surface areas, as you don’t know what germs may be lurking.  Simply use an all-purpose cleaner or sanitization cloths, and get busy wiping down the following areas:

• All doors, cabinets, drawer knobs, and window handles (night tables, mini-fridge too).  
• All light and power switches for lamps, main room, and bathroom. 
• Make sure to wipe down all faucets for the sink, and bathtub. 
• Wipe down table surfaces/flat surfaces like the media unit, as these are commonly used by guests during their stay.
• Wipe down the coffee machine and its associated cups and utensils. 
• Wipe down all remote controls, and small buttons. This applies to the television, air conditioning unit, thermostat, telephone, and alarm clock. 

In addition, all linens need to be replaced with fresh ones. The curtains/drapes should be spot cleaned, as should information booklets, and brochures, as these could be a point of interaction during a guest’s stay.

Disinfecting Hotel Rooms: Area by Area

When it comes to disinfecting hotel rooms, you’ll want to split the hotel room into each of its common areas to make the disinfection process quicker.   

1. The Bedroom:  as noted above, all bedding and linens need to be replaced. But, also pay special attention to the bed frame, headboard, and any storage areas that may get used like the closet, nightstands, and their handles. Things like hangars, light switches, wireless charging stands, and the phone should also be wiped. 
2. Kitchenette Area/Sitting Area: if the hotel room contains a small kitchenette and sitting area, then the high-touch areas on the appliances and furniture should be wiped down. This includes the coffee machine, the glassware, the trays where the coffee sits, the mini-fridge, and the nearby chairs and table. 
3. The Balcony: if the room comes with an attached balcony, then any accessible railings and furniture should also be wiped down.  While this area may be less used and is a much smaller area of the entire room, it’s still a good idea to at least clean the top-side surfaces of the furniture and the handrail. 

How To Tackle The Bathroom in 15 Minutes Or Less!

You’ll notice we’ve saved the bathroom for last, as this is arguably the most important, and labor-intensive area, requiring thoroughness and high attention to detail. Luckily, we have a special time-saving trick for you to make the process much easier.

1. The first step is to grab a cleaning solution for the bathtub and shower walls that need to sit to work their magic. Pay particular attention to the sliding glass doors or shower curtains, the faucets, water knobs, and shower heads, as well as the walls and flooring of the tub.  We highly recommend using R.O.G.3’s Bathtub and Tile Cleaner, as it comes in the case in spray nozzle bottles, is non-acidic and non-harmful, and works on tile, grout, cast iron, and fiberglass, making it perfect for hotels. After spraying it on, you’ll need to wait 10-15 minutes, so move on to the other high-touch surfaces in the bathroom.  
2. Now look to clean the toilet, sink, faucets, mirror, shower door/curtain, and any other surfaces in the bathroom. Start with the mirror, using an all-purpose cleaner and microfiber cloth. Then move to the toilet next with an anti-bacterial cleaner and a rag, paying attention to any spots or sections that may look dingy. Finally, use a disinfecting cleaner to wipe down the countertops, vanity, and door handles. 
3. Once you’re done cleaning the above areas, the shower and bathtub cleaner will have had enough time to soak. Now simply give it a good scrub, making sure to get into all the crevices, and then rinse the entire shower off.
   

Wrapping it Up

When it comes to disinfecting hotel rooms, hotel and motel owners and staff can ensure that their guests feel comfortable and secure during their stay, by prioritizing airflow, identifying high-touch areas, and sanitizing each area of the room. Hotel owners should pay particular attention to bedding, towels, linens, surfaces on electronics and furniture, and the bathroom, as these areas have the potential to play host to a variety of germs and bacteria. Hotel staff should also use non-harmful, and non-acidic cleaning supplies, as these will be suitable for long-term use and will not harm any of the surfaces in the room. With a little extra effort and attention to detail, hotels and motels can give their guests peace of mind and provide a safe and memorable experience.