MOTELS have always been the go-to place for travelers who need somewhere to sleep for a night or anyone who seeks privacy in those very special cases, and the Philippines is no different. However, with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic putting tourism and mobility in general on hold, motels and other types of accommodations moved to reorganize their operations.
In the Philippines, 78% of tourism-related businesses temporarily stopped offering a product or service due to restrictions in domestic and international travels, while 68% suspended operations due to the lack of demand. Many players in the accommodations subsector also mostly cut operations and employee headcount, slashed costs, and prepared a business continuity plan.
With accommodations mainly relying on tourism and travel, it became one of the hardest hit subsectors during the pandemic. But not all shut down or reduced operations and manpower; others moved to find a new purpose — they have proven useful as quarantine facilities.
Many, if not all, countries around the world have partnered with different public accommodations to house essential travelers. In the UK, people who have visited or passed “red list” locations are required to stay in government-approved quarantine hotels for 10 days. The same goes for South Korea, where the pandemic response has been deemed impressive over the past year, except asymptomatic travelers are required to stay in quarantine hotels for 14 days.
While these hotels serve their new purpose, they are still considered public spaces that pose risks to human health in the age of COVID-19. Since hotels have common areas such as the lobby, hallways, and elevators, people may likely run into others who are potentially infectious. Hotels also cater to more people in one building. The spread of highly infectious new COVID-19 strains now begs the question: Are hotels really appropriate places for quarantine?
For a safer and cleaner alternative, governments, organizations, and even individual travelers should look at drive-in motels, hopefully past their reputation as a place for a “quick” getaway. Of course, drive-in motels are structurally different compared to walk-up motels, which have more common areas like lobbies, corridors, and more. Here, guests can simply park their cars either in an open lot in front of the establishment or in designated garages and head straight to their rooms.
Since most drive-in motels have an average of two floors, guests can take the stairs when going to or leaving their units. Even health experts like Dr. John Carlo, CEO of Prism Health North Texas, believe that a motel room that exits directly outside, uses its own ventilation, and does not require the use of an elevator or common space pose lower risks than a multi-floor hotel full of other guests.
A number of drive-in motels in the Philippines have already been converted as quarantine facilities by the government. We, at Victoria Court, for instance, are already operating as such while still giving our guests five-star treatment.
Prior to staying in our rooms, guests are offered contactless methods for booking, payment, and room management. Once they’re set, they can simply drive to the motel and park their vehicle in the garage just below their designated room. This has been our structure even before the pandemic because we wouldn’t want our guests to run into people they know.
We have no common areas like the lobby or reception area, swimming pool, restaurants, and bars. Guests also have no need to use an elevator, where possible transmissions may occur.
All of our units also each have an anteroom, which separates the primary rooms from areas that may be accessed by other people. If guests are worried about how they’ll get their food, our staff can leave their orders in the anteroom so they won’t have to interact with each other. If they’re also worried about the ventilation in their room, our units are each equipped with window-type aircons, eliminating the chances of particles to circulate in shared air vents.
The lack of common areas aligns with our goal of providing guests with complete privacy. By design, Victoria Court is built on people being able to come in, enjoy, and leave, all with the hush-hush implied by our logo. Many Filipinos are familiar with this discretion (though, of course, would shy away from admitting it). But it’s this respect for privacy today that fits well into requirements for isolation and safety. Our staff are also trained to minimize interaction with guests since privacy and discretion have been our core product since the 1980s.
Once guests leave, we then fulfill our promise of quality and safety by following stringent cleaning rules. Our staff have been retrained to use medical-grade cleaning solutions and UV-C disinfection systems to sanitize all our rooms. We also hired staff members who are equipped to conduct black light spot quality inspection — an extra step that some accommodations don’t always do — to detect traces of bacteria undetectable to the naked eye.
Duty managers prepare a room beforehand by marking frequently-touched surfaces with an invisible ink marker. Hotel stewards don’t know where these markings are placed so that they will tend to thoroughly clean the room, paying special attention to critical areas taught to them in training. Duty managers then check afterwards if the surfaces they marked have been cleaned. This step is important considering that COVID-19 is an invisible enemy we cannot fight in simple ways, so simulating it using black light helps us keep our rooms clean and virus-free.
We have been certified under ISO 9002 and 9001:2008 standards, assuring our guests that we are a world-class establishment that’s cleaner than most hotels. We’ve worked to achieve this perception of our brand since motels gained a certain reputation when it comes to sanitation.
As COVID-19 cases continue to increase in the country, hospitals will continue to feel the burden of the pandemic. The government should increase the number of drive-in motels that can serve as safer and cleaner quarantine facilities. Individuals seeking privacy during these times can also rely on drive-in motels to meet their needs without risking their health and comfort. As mental health can be an issue, at least here people can quarantine in themed rooms inspired by Greek islands, popular films, and even K-dramas, which is sure to bring a tongue-in-cheek smile to anyone’s face.
In the age of COVID-19, it definitely pays to take every precaution possible to assure our safety. As Filipinos, we should use our unique trait of resourcefulness or diskarte to look for solutions in unexpected places during the pandemic. In our case, it’s using drive-in motels as quarantine facilities past their pre-pandemic reputation. The structure of drive-in motels fulfills their promise of safety, cleanliness, and more importantly, privacy.
Being resourceful has helped every one of us get through our own problems before, and together, we can use that unique trait to save others today.
Atticus King is the owner and CEO of Victoria Court Group, a family-owned business that is a forerunner in the drive-in motel industry. Mr. King and his wife Kim also co-founded Kim King’s Kitchen, a pioneer in promoting the bone broth lifestyle in the Philippines. Finally, Mr. King is also a serial entrepreneur with investments in various industries.
