Travel has resumed to many Caribbean destinations, challenging hotel and resort operators across the region to implement innovative protocols and practices to ensure the health and safety of guests, employees and island residents following the COVID-19 outbreak.

The new measures naturally impact virtually every aspect of guests’ experience and thus represent additional hurdles for operators seeking to welcome guests in the year’s first three months, traditionally the Caribbean’s high season, while preventing outbreaks.

Sandals Resorts International’s Platinum Protocols of Cleanliness has emerged as an industry model for heightened health and safety measures for resort guests.

"We take the safety of guests seriously and treat them like we would want to see our own family treated when they travel," said Adam Stewart, SRI’s vice chairman.

"This includes the luxury experience, and now the safety experience. Guests have commented to us that they are truly impressed by how Sandals is managing through this time, and it shows in the numbers of repeat visitors and the growth in reservations we are seeing across the region."

Established Initiatives

Prior to establishing the current program, SRI utilized "sophisticated" methods to prevent the spread of illnesses at its resorts under the guidance of medical professionals, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization and local ministries of health in the countries in which it operates.

These include dedicated quality inspection teams and environmental health and safety managers at each resort responsible for ensuring procedures are in place to protect every guest and employee, extending to supplier personnel interacting with staff at each property.

SRI resorts are also equipped with full-service medical stations staffed daily with a registered nurse and 24/7 on-call medical personnel. The company has upgraded these facilities to include the appropriate equipment and supplies needed to address the new protocol.

Platinum Protocol of Cleanliness

SRI’s Platinum Protocol of Cleanliness encompasses added health and well-being requirements at all points of contact at every resort, including common areas, restaurants and kitchens, bars, guest rooms, activities, fitness centers, spas, and behind-the-scenes operations. The new measures include:

Precautionary temperature checks at check-in: Guests’ temperatures are checked upon arrival at resorts. Additional temperature checks may be done at the guest’s request or upon the advice of the nurse on duty during the duration of a guest’s stay.

At-home to in-room check-in: Guests may now check-in online, allowing them to bypass the front desk and proceed directly to their accommodations. A refreshing welcome cocktail and personal anti-bacterial hand towel will be waiting for them, along with individual in-room hand sanitizers.

Certified Sandals sanitized guest rooms: Sandals has implemented more robust housekeeping measures to ensure a hospital-grade, sanitized environment. Linens are cleaned daily, while mattresses and pillows are equipped with protectors that will be disinfected daily.

After each room is cleaned, the door is locked and a seal placed between the door and casing to certify no one else has entered until the guests arrive. The room’s accompanying bellman and/or butler will respray and disinfect the inside and outside of the door handle upon leaving the room.

Triple-check cleaning and sanitization system: All areas of the company’s resorts are thoroughly cleaned and sanitized with a minimum of three daily inspections, with public restrooms cleaned, sanitized and inspected each halfhour. And all restaurants will have a host providing hand sanitizer to guests before entering.

Physical distancing practices: Sandals’ couples-only properties have traditionally emphasized romance, offering guests space for personal togetherness. The resorts’ multiple open-air restaurants and facilities encourage guests to maintain safe social distancing while still providing a relaxing resort experience.

Dining and bar facilities: In restaurants and bars, all staff wear gloves and protective face masks, and all bottles, bar equipment, beer taps and soda dispensers are sanitized. Frequently used machines, including coffee, popcorn and ice cream machines plus cookie jars, are cleaned and sanitized according to triple-check protocols.

In-room dining: The new protocols mandate that all equipment be sanitized prior to assignment for service in guest rooms. Overnight servers wear gloves to collect door hanger menus and copy them onto an order pad. The door hanger menus are then discarded.

Public areas: New standards are also in place at resort aqua centers and on dive and snorkel boats. Countertops, pens, clipboards and picnic tables are sanitized after each use, and weight belts, regulators and dive masks are stored in onboard sanitization buckets after each use.

At pool and beach areas, water quality tests are conducted hourly for pools, Jacuzzis and hot and cold tubs in accordance with a triple-check system. Pool chairs are sanitized every morning before use, and again after guest changeovers. Chairs are separated at six feet apart or greater according to physical distancing guidelines.

"Our plan and protocol was the first out of the gate," Stewart said. "We’re the first to do the door seal, which has been replicated. We’re the first to use black light technology to make sure our hospital-grade chemicals were used everywhere.

"We trained, and retrained staff on our protocol," he added. "We have a whole division of our company that is responsible for training. We track back, not only organically through cross-examination and interviewing our staff, but through technology," Stewart said.

"Every one of our properties is linked up and we are monitoring [our resorts] digitally, not only [on] the premises," he said, "but in the home office."

Added Stewart, "We’re leaving no stone unturned as we prepare to welcome guests back to the beauty and warmth of the Caribbean in a friendly, clean and, most importantly, safe environment."