Hospitality Company news South Africa

City Lodge Hotels adjusts to lockdown level 4

The hospitality industry has once again had to make major adjustments to operating procedures, following President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement that South Africa has returned to adjusted Alert Level 4 from Monday, 28 June 2021. There are several key ways in which the new regulations impact City Lodge Hotel Group's operations, all of them already familiar to the group, and staff are able to swiftly make the necessary adjustments.

Guests can expect the following:

    - All food and non-alcoholic beverages will be sold on a “collect-and-go” basis or delivered as room service where possible.

    - No food or beverages may be consumed in the restaurants, bar areas or patios.
    - No alcoholic beverages will be available for sale.
    - Plated food is served covered on a tray, and trays may be left outside room doors to be collected by staff.
    - Restaurants will be closed for food preparation at 20h00.
    - Mask wearing is compulsory and guests will be asked to wear masks when interacting with staff and when moving around public areas.
    - Fitness, conference and meeting rooms are closed and may not be used by guests.

    - Room cleaners will not clean any occupied rooms with guests inside of them, for everyone’s safety.

Countrywide regulations that will impact guests include:

    - Curfew from 21h00 to 04h00 daily, unless a person arrives on a flight or is travelling to or from an airport which necessitates travelling during restricted hours of movement, in which case you will need to produce a valid boarding pass as proof of flight or a copy of the airline ticket.

    - Interprovincial travel to Gauteng for leisure is not permitted, and residents of Gauteng may not travel for leisure outside of the province.
    - Travel into and out of Gauteng is only permitted for work, transport of goods, funerals and to return home.
    - Travel between other provinces is allowed, as is transit through Gauteng.

    - All public and private schools have closed for their winter break from 30 June 2021.

Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo, chief operating officer, explains: “City Lodge Hotel Group remains committed to adhering to all of the requirements of the latest adjusted Alert Level Four. Our hotel general managers and their teams are custodians of ensuring guest safety and therefore compliance to protocols is the order of the day. Most of our hotels remain open and our guests can be assured of a warm welcome as our teams look forward to delivering service excellence in a safe and hygienic environment.”

She continues, “We already have many important safety and convenience protocols in place at our hotels, front and back of house, designed to keep guests and staff safe. Online check-in ensures fewer touchpoints at reception and we have QR codes to access restaurant menus. Our housekeeping protocols ensure that rooms are kept spotlessly clean while avoiding staff and guests spending time in confined spaces together. And our food and beverage protocols while restaurants are closed worked well previously and will do so again.”

Lindiwe concludes, “We recognise that this is a challenging time for everyone as infections and death rates rise again during this third wave of Covid-19. However, we have mastered the art and science of delivering tip-top, loving and clean hospitality during a pandemic, and our guests can be reassured that they will continue to stay safe at our hotels. Let us all fight this third wave together, by keeping ourselves and each other as safe as possible, so that we may resume more normal operations soon.”

City Lodge Hotel
City Lodge Hotel Group has a variety of hotels dedicated to providing you with comfort at a level that suits you. With 5 Courtyard Hotels (480 rooms), 19 City Lodge Hotels (3281 rooms), 12 Town Lodges (1507 rooms) and 23 Road Lodges (2 272 rooms), the Group has a total of 7540 rooms and ranks among the 250 largest hotel chains in the world. We are dedicated to providing quality accommodation for business, leisure and 'bleisure' travellers in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique. From basic, functional rooms to magnificent luxury studios, we have the range and experience to give you unbelievable service and exceptional accommodation at a price you can afford and in a location near to where you want to be. Go to www.clhg.com for more information.
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