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It WILL be safe!

It WILL be safe!

It seems that, at last, restrictions are being restricted, lockdown is unlocking and we are gradually being allowed out into the wild.

For most of us, that means getting out our pride-and-joy… and boy is it clean after a few months in the garage prepping it for numerous on-line concours events!

No doubt you’ve also spent some of that spare time flicking through the pages of PetrolheadsWelcome.com planning a stop-over, if not a full blown tour. But will it (that’s you, rather than your car) be safe?

We put that same question to some of the property owners on our site and this is what they said:

Sarah & Steve at Petrolhead Pitstop, Sussex

“Like many other companies, we have created a separate Covid page on our website which details all the extra measures that we will be initiating.
Our main change though is that our normal continental breakfast with a hot egg option will now be eaten in the rooms, served on a trolley at the guest’s chosen time. This eliminates all contact with other guests and us, and ensures a relaxing & leisurely breakfast. 
And of course all of our rooms will be thoroughly cleaned, sanitised, etc. before each guest arrives.”

Stephanie & Stephen, Bonnes Routes Gite, Dordogne

“Bonnes Routes was created as our ideal place to stay, in the hope that like-minded people would love it too. That included being clean …. properly clean. Even before we bought the property we had a list of things that bugged us in other gites, such as leaving used dishwashing sponges in the kitchen! As a result we developed a cleaning list for every room and work systematically through the gite to make sure it’s exactly as we would want to find it. We do love it when guests leave the place spotless, but that doesn’t stop us going through our changeover lists in full.
 
So what has changed with Covid-19? We’ve used the opportunity to review our practices in line with government/tourist office guidance to see what we can improve. It was quite satisfying to find our standard cleaning e.g. steaming floors, disinfecting door handles/light switches, were seen as best practice. For us it’s just normal. We have made a handful of changes to our cleaning regime, such as disinfecting the bed frames rather than just dusting them, and we’re now using disinfectant rather than a normal cleaning spray. We’re also wearing masks/gloves while cleaning and preparing the gite; leaving a clear day between bookings to fully air the rooms; providing masks for guests (obligatory in many places in France); and while guests will still receive a warm welcome it will be at a distance. Keeping visitors safe isn’t difficult – it just takes a bit of common sense and a lot of disinfectant!”

We gave the last word on this to Alistair Handyside, Executive Chair of the Professional Association of Self-Caterers UK (PASC UK):

“As always scare stories make the headlines. At PASC UK we have worked with other self-catering associations and come up with the industry standard for cleaning post opening. A clean can be done in an Intensive Care Unit in twenty minutes. A cottage can easily be cleaned and then sanitised in a changeover. The cleaning materials are more expensive, but if you want to open that’s what we need to do.

It’s not that hard, really. We have had over 25,000 protocols downloaded from the PASC UK website, we have had online cleaning training courses created, and we are on hand to help. We have helped create AA and Visit England certification to show they are COVID ready.

The cottages will be as clean as your Members cars ☺”

So there we have it.

As you know, we at Petrolheads Welcome focus our energies on how safe your car will be when taking it to stay somewhere. Nice to know the occupants will be too, eh?

Naturally, the decision to stay anywhere is yours alone, but hopefully our above article has at least helped your thinking.

If you would like to know more about Covid-19 compliance in the industry, click on these links for PASC UK and the B&B Assoc.

Please send us your comments and don’t forget to rate/comment on any of the venues on our site. You’ll be doing them and your fellow Petrolheads a great service.

Thank you!

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