Staying at a Hotel during Covid-19 (Boston, Amesbury: hotels, to buy, to live)

[NewEngGal]

Hi. I'm at a hotel with the nicest staff. The problem is, about 85% of the guests here aren't wearing masks indoors. I can't social distance when passing a dude in a hallway.

There is only hand sanitizer at the front entrance (not the other entrances) and people who don't wear masks are touching the same door handle all day long without hand sanitizing afterwards. I've carried a little bottle in my pocket for months for situations like this. I know exactly what I've touched and have been SO careful I every way.

I talked with the manager who immediately escalated the situation to an argument. For some reason, he is afraid. He either can't or won't enforce the MA Phase III re-opening mandate which states that all hotels must have hand sanitizer throughout the place, and everyone must wear masks. I looked it up yesterday.

At first I thought he didn't want to get beaten up by guests who seem insistent upon not wearing masks. But now I think it might have to do with money. His numbers as a manager. If he starts telling people they have to leave, how can he explain that to corporate? How will he feed his family if fired? He's a rather new manager. He said he had the police here few times to enforce mask wearing with a few people, and they could do nothing.But they aren't the correct entity. The Board of Health has been here but say they can only do so much. They seem lax about things, but there are entities above them.

I really don't know what his reason is. I just know that I am very nervous staying here.

Due to disabilities and cost, this is literally the only hotel I can stay at in the area, and don't want to have to leave.

I am planning to buy a face shield and I already wear two masks.

Any suggestions as to how to deal with this situation without getting myself kicked out would be welcome. Also, why do you think the hotel isn't being more adamant about the law?

[id77]

Originally Posted by NewEngGal

Any suggestions as to how to deal with this situation without getting myself kicked out would be welcome. Also, why do you think the hotel isn't being more adamant about the law?

I think you've already done what you can do. You can probably lob BBB complaints and the like, but those usually result in very little real action. If you really want to fight this fight, that's going to be your next step.

Some people just aren't going to wear masks, and there's not much you can do to make them wear one. If the police aren't adamant about enforcing the law, why would you expect an underpaid hotel desk manager to risk getting stabbed or beaten up over enforcing a law that law enforcement doesn't care about?

[CaseyB]

The manager should have paper masks at the front desk to give out to guests if they don’t have their own.

There should be a sign in the lobby that masks are required in all common areas.

These would be corporate policies, not subject to the authority of an individual manager.

[roodd279]

This isn't the advice you want - but - what are you hoping to accomplish, long run? The masks, isolation, closures -etc - are aimed at the slowing the spread - not stopping it.


Sooner or later, you're gonna get it. Wash your hands, don't touch your face, avoid people when you can - and then live your life. You may have already had it.



If you are in a panic because you are gung-ho on never ever ever getting it - that's unlikely.


If you are fretting because you feel EVERY guest has it - statistically unlikely - but prudent. So what you need is a guy who has it - that it exhaling it - then you inhale enough to catch it - and then you're unlucky enough to get ill. This is far from inevitable.



Be cautious, but also realistic. You are unlikely to catch it from a door knob or whatever. But catching it isn't all bad, or, rather, it's 99% good.

[western mass and love it]

I’ve stayed in a hotel in Amesbury and they had hand sanitizer everywhere, elevators, every exit door, doors to the stairs , personnel bottles in the room. And the front desk staff were firm with the mask rule.

I did complain about the cleaning staff not wearing masks and I saw the manager address it right there.

I’m sorry you are dealing with this right now but I don’t think it’s the norm among hotels.

[in_newengland]

I think the face shield would be a good idea. Use your hand sanitizer too and just try not to stress out about it too much. Some people are just careless or lazy or uninformed and there doesn't seem to be anything we can do about it. Wash your hands a lot and remember that right now we are at a low in the number of cases compared to how we were. If you have to stay in a hotel, now is probably the best time. Later, as the cases spread from the highly infected states, it will probably get sort of bad again.

Depending upon where you are, the non mask wearers could be there because Trump is having a rally in Portsmouth NH tomorrow. And I think the manager is afraid of scaring customers away and that's why he's letting them get away with all of this. Money.

[NewEngGal]

Thank you all for your comments. After another day here, I think the manager wants peace at his hotel. I don't think this has been easy with this face mask issue, since some guests have been adamant about not wearing them. I think he's walking a fine line to try and keep everyone happy. He is SO nice. And as a new manager, he really wants to do a good job. I think I really kind of took it personally, when actually there are some decent people in this world.

I am going to get rest, get my immune system up, and also buy a face shield. I'll continue to be careful but also try to not let my fear get the best of me.

Oh, And pray, a lot.

I think everything will work out.

[FCMA]

Good luck! I am definitely not ready to stay in a hotel with shared common spaces. If anything, those deteriorating sketchy cabin-style detached unit motels without shared ventilation are looking more appealing this year if need to travel!

The anti-mask issue is just absurd and makes the US look like aggressive brainwashed zealots (maybe more like pitiful whiny children) to the rest of the world by politicizing a simple and barely obtrusive method proven by science to reduce and slow spread and possibly buy time until a vaccine. It wouldn’t necessarily be “inevitable” that most people get it if mask wearing lessens spread enough that lives are spared until a vaccine comes out. Remember that if every citizen got the virus, even if 99% survive, 1% of citizens dying is over 3 million Americans and that is not acceptable, neither should 0.5% be. It isn’t “99% good” as someone just said. This mask nonsense is the wrong issue to dig in and die on a hill for one’s “freedom”. With this imbecilic attitude and a federal leadership vacuum, unfortunately too many will continue to die though. Thankfully MA has a Republican governor who respects science, data, and fact-based reopening decision processes so we are now (at least temporarily) in a much better place and we are lucky to live here given the madness.

This manager is in a tough and unenviable position but the place should at least pretend to respect state guidelines and provide hand sanitizer and masks and put up signs saying it’s required even if they don’t enforce every lead-poisoned rube to wear one.

[NewEngGal]

Actually our Governor RE-opened too fast to pacify his supporters. Mayor Walsh in Boston has been the safer of the two, refusing to let anyone push him into putting people at risk. Boston is re-opening more slowly and they are doing better than some other areas of the state with covid.

I agree that 1% dying is absolutely unacceptable and the people who use the mask issue to have some “purpose” are going down the wrong road. They may not care about themselves, but I care about myself. I know how valuable my life is.

For now I will have to put up in the hotel, and it angers me that people want me to risk my life and act like that’s acceptable, and although the manager’s nice, the company is concerned with $$$$$$. but yeah, I’m not liking this at all.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by NewEngGal

Actually our Governor RE-opened too fast to pacify his supporters. Mayor Walsh in Boston has been the safer of the two, refusing to let anyone push him into putting people at risk. Boston is re-opening more slowly and they are doing better than some other areas of the state with covid.

I agree that 1% dying is absolutely unacceptable and the people who use the mask issue to have some “purpose” are going down the wrong road. They may not care about themselves, but I care about myself. I know how valuable my life is.

For now I will have to put up in the hotel, and it angers me that people want me to risk my life and act like that’s acceptable, and although the manager’s nice, the company is concerned with $$$$$$. but yeah, I’m not liking this at all.

What would you have the Governor do? Not open the hotels? Then you wouldn’t have had a place to stay. Your gripe should be with the local board of health.