Are you planning a major corporate event — during the pandemic? If you're in charge of the company conference, retreat, or another similar activity that you could hold at a hotel with meeting spaces, take a look at the questions to ask before choosing a venue.
Is There a Meeting Participant Maximum?
Some states and local areas have new maximum occupancy limits. Public venues (such as hotel conference and meeting spaces) have fire and other similar codes that regulate the number of people allowed in one indoor space. But the pandemic may have changed the group gathering limit in your area.
The hotel manager or event staff should know if your state/city has an indoor group gathering limit right now. If your event is months into the future, the venue's manager or staff may not know the potential maximum occupancy or group gathering limit. Instead of mathematical guesswork or speculation, go with the current limit. You can always make changes later.
What Is the Hotel's Sanitization and Disinfecting Routine?
You need more than just a clean venue for your next company meeting or event. Even though cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting may seem similar, they aren't the same. To remove dust, debris, food particles, or anything else that accumulates in hotel meeting rooms, the venue's crew needs to clean. But to reduce or eliminate germs (viral and bacterial particles), they need to disinfect or sanitize.
While you don't need to know the exact products the hotel uses, they should provide you with assurances that they sanitize and disinfect the meeting spaces. To effectively reduce/eliminate the SARS-CoV-2 (a.k.a. COVID-19) virus, the hotel should use EPA List N registered products.
What Is the Hotel's Exposure Policy?
What happens if a hotel staff member or one of your employees/guests accidentally exposes everyone in the meeting space? The hotel should have an existing plan of action that they can share with you (prior to planning your event). Review the plan and make sure it meets your company's or organization's standards or needs.
Is It Possible to Social Distance?
You know the meeting room maximum. But will that accommodate your guests with added social distancing measures? Along with the total square footage, ask the hotel's manager or event staff member if it's possible to set up the room for maximum (six feet in between guests) distance. This should include more than just the empty space. Make sure you can provide physical distance between tables, chairs, or other pieces of furniture.
For more information, reach out to some hotels with meeting spaces today.
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