Well, we had hoped to have a trial run with a small quilting group, but that one was canceled due to Colorado’s Safer at Home stipulations within our business designation; no use of common areas except for check-in and check-out, from May 9 to May 26, provided the area does NOT become a hot spot.
We are still planning on officially re-opening for business June 1 – and doing it as safely as we can for everyone (our guests and ourselves). We are very appreciative of how gracious all our guests have been who have had to cancel their plans/reservations by either immediately rescheduling for a later date or making donations ‘to the cause’!
We have a new order of our own we would like to introduce, called our “Rules of Engagement”. This is a work in progress, but let us know what you think. Are we being too strict? Too lenient? More ideas/suggestions?
1) Wear face masks upon entering main part of lodge. Guests can bring their own if they want; we will also have them available to either keep or leave behind. (I am making them per CDC instructions for general wear, and washing per their instructions for safety.) We have set up a station outside the front door with hand sanitizer, a box of face masks in plastic bags, a covered trash can for the disposal of the plastic bags, and a container so the used face masks can be collected, washed and recycled.
basket for recycling masks, & trash can for disposal of plastic baggies
2) Face masks required at all times inside the lodge with the exception of at the dining tables for breakfast, or inside their personal room (for both your and our protection). We will also be wearing face masks whenever guests are present in the lodge, so as not to spread virus germs from us to you unawares.
3) Hand sanitizer available upon entering lodge, in all guest rooms and in multiple places throughout the lodge, probably next to tissue boxes making it easy to locate. And LOTS of proper hand washing; liquid soaps available in all rooms (as usual).
4) Set up smaller tables in the dining room so they can be 6 ft. apart. Still planning on same type of hot breakfast, just served on separate platters for each table. To-go bags still available; may enhance them in case more people want to do that. We have added plastic coverings for open cabinets of dishes and glasses, and adding paper placemats to add to the sanitizing of the tables.
I figure a couple per table if they are sharing a room. If hikers are not a couple, they should probably be in separate rooms.
5) Separate rooms as much as possible, with a ‘clean’ day between rentals to allow any possible virus to disseminate from soft goods, such as comforters, carpets, curtains. People will not be required to wear masks inside their own rooms. We have a acquired a CDC approved disinfectant for misting the rooms between guest rentals, to sanitize the soft coverings.
6) Will use only rooms with private bath as much as possible to eliminate use of hallway bathrooms. In case of rooms with shared bath, no more than one rental at a time so that room can use the hall bath as a ‘private bath’.
7) Per social distancing rules, we will only be allowed to have 10 – 12 guests present at any given time. (Colorado Health standards as of May 8th.) We are adding markings on the floor near the coffee and tea stations so those don’t become the ‘social gathering area’ that was customary until now.
If we end up with an “incident”, we are required by law to report it to the health authorities to help with the tracking. An incident is defined as two or more persons who have tested positive for the virus. We feel that with the care our guests take, we should have zero incidents.
As you can see, availability will be limited, so CALL EARLY! Keep tuned in for further developments. Let’s make this work.
Juanita
