Hotels hard hit by pandemic adjust with new safety measures

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    OMAHA, NE (WOWT) — The hotel industry took a hit when the COVID-19 virus slowed business across the country. Now the hotels are working hard to make customers feel more comfortable staying away from home.

At the Omaha Hilton, a cell phone is now a valuable tool for contact-free service.

“We have what’s called a digital key so you can actually select your room, go to your room all on your smartphone device,” said Robert Sabin, general manager at Hilton Omaha.

You can also make a contact-free food order. You also use your digital key to use the elevator, and it’s your cell phone that actually unlocks the sealed door to your room.

“You can as a guest stay as contact-free with other guests and social distance as much as possible, we’re finding a lot of people like that advantage,” said Sabin.

Robert Sabin is the general manager of Hilton Omaha; Sabin says Hilton went to the mayo clinic to get advice on how to better protect the hotel guests and employees from COVID-19. They’ve stepped up their cleaning process making sure to pay extra attention to often touched items in the rooms.

“We’re just doing everything we can to bring the consumers back and to be confident as leisure travel begins at some point, we’re going to see the event and concert business come back and it’s going to be led by creating consumer confidence,” said Sabin.

Hilton management tells 6 News that all employees wear masks, but guests are not required to wear them.

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