Extra PRECAUTIONS E
E Reduced capacity: Restaurants are capping numbers to reduce the number of people eating at the same time. Ikos Resorts has decreased the number of diners by 30% to allow for social distancing and two metres between each table, while Windjammer Landing has separated its dining areas.
E Longer hours: Tui, Club Med and Palladium have extended restaurant opening hours to spread out the numbers. Palladium’s Desriviere says: “If the hotel has other venues that can be used for dining, these are being opened up to create more space. We have also established an appointment system to control access to these areas.”
E Outside dining: Several resorts are putting the emphasis on outdoor seating. Sandals has expanded outdoor dining areas. Elite Island Resorts’ Hammock Cove (pictured) in Antigua has ample open-air eateries. And Beachcomber Resorts’ Boullé says: “All our restaurants are outdoor, so social distancing can be maximised.”
non-disposable utensils every 30 minutes, regularly disinfecting buffet areas and ensuring social distancing when guests go up to get their food. Aldemar Resorts also kept the emphasis on the classic
buffet when the company’s Crete and Skafidia properties opened over the summer (they’re now closed until spring 2021), but added extra live cooking stations. “The breakfasts continued to be a buffet but anything cold was in individual bowls in different areas, plus guests had to queue two metres apart,” says Mandy Kalliontzi, UK sales director. “There were also individual cooking stations with a chef cooking eggs to order, another cooking fresh pancakes, and so on. All staff wore masks and gloves, and all cooking stations and buffet areas were protected by a Plexiglass screen and sneeze guard.”
GOODBYE TO SELF-SERVICE Others have taken a different approach by getting rid of the self-service element altogether. Among those leading the pack is Palladium Hotel
Group. “We now have now more buffet staff to serve portions to the guests individually, rather than guests helping themselves,” says Nacho Gozalbo, commercial director. “Extra emphasis is also being placed on our à la carte restaurants and personalised show-cooking options.” Club Med is offering a similar service. “Our guests are still free to browse the wide variety of food offered
30 1 OCTOBER 2020
33We now have more buffet staff to serve portions to guests and extra emphasis is being placed on our à la carte restaurants
in our buffet restaurants; however, the dishes they select are plated and handed to them by a member of staff,” says Estelle Giraud, managing director for the UK and northern Europe. Tui Resorts says it has also reduced its self-service options, with masked staff serving buffet food from behind a plastic shield, while at Sandals and Beaches Resorts, breakfast buffets are likewise being served by team members from behind a sneeze guard (with plates, cups, cutlery and other utensils removed from the buffet serving area when not in use).
A LA CARTE Those less into mixing their poached eggs with their pain au chocolat may be pleased to hear that several hotels are scrapping their buffets altogether in favour of an à la carte service. Among those putting the emphasis on table service
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