In the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of visitors to New York City sadly devastated the Big Apple’s apartment rental opportunities. After all, both personal and business travelers put traveling to New York City on hold. However, the pandemic is now easing, which is good news for both the long-term and the short-term rental market. Still, this easing comes with major changes—especially for the city’s luxury rental market, according to travel guru Brian Ferdinand in a recently released article.
CLEAN EXPECTATIONS DURING COVID-19
As travelers become increasingly comfortable with visiting New York City, expectations for maintaining cleanliness during the COVID-19 pandemic will remain strong, according to Brian Ferdinand, the managing partner of SoBeNY. In other words, people will expect a high level of contaminant removal and sanitation in luxury accommodations, including corporate housing.
In light of this, corporate housing firms should be placing extra emphasis on disinfecting rather than simply cleaning and organizing items. They can achieve disinfection status by utilizing higher-strength cleaning products to get rid of the virus. These products include those that the Environmental Protection Agency recommends, for example.
It is also paramount that corporate housing companies pay extra attention to cleaning all of the touch surfaces present throughout their properties, according to Brian Ferdinand. In addition, New York City firms should open their window and balcony doors when possible. This will encourage the flow of fresh air into their properties during the cleaning process and before future tenants enter them. Handing out masks to new tenants, or promoting the use of masks in public areas is also an expedient move for today’s corporate housing providers.
EXTRA COVID-19–SPARKED CHANGES
Many corporate housing companies are also working hard to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by performing temperature checks on their employees and monitoring their symptoms. They should also be routinely checking their communities’ and counties’ guidance and data regarding COVID-19 cases. According to Ferdinand, these firms should defer to their local guidelines prohibiting or restricting travel for any guests from other communities/states, then adjust their reservations accordingly as soon as possible.
All in all, corporate housing firms that are navigating the new pandemic era in New York City should remain in communication with their guests regarding their particular disinfecting and cleaning steps. In addition, they should be able to provide area public health officials with the information they need for contract tracing purposes in the event that COVID-19 exposures occur moving forward.
