Hotel in Llandudno among first in Wales to reopen, but not as before
The hospitality sector has been battered more than most by coronavirus but hotels are slowly easing their way back into business.
The St George's Hotel in Llandudno was one of the first to open its doors again but for now it's still room service only.
Nathan Cousins, group sales and marketing at the Anderbury Hotel Collection, which operates the hotel, talked about the new way of working - saying the re-start had overall "gone well".
He said: "We had some initial teething, adjusting to some of the new procedures like the digital registration cards and then having to stagger the guests as they arrive.
"Even in the first few days we’ve had up to 60 arrivals per day and trying to welcome these guests and get them to their rooms whilst still maintaining social distancing has been difficult.
"Only being able to offer room service breakfasts is also putting pressure on the breakfast teams – having to serve up to 60 breakfast trays and deliver them on time has also proved to be difficult and tiring."
It comes as campsites, cinemas, and beauty salons have been given the green light to reopen, with face masks set to become mandatory on public transport from Monday in Wales.
Nathan Cousins was full of praise for the staff and says guests have been understanding.
"The staff have been fantastic and very enthusiastic to be back working again, even with all the new procedures in place," he added.
"The guests have also been very sympathetic to all the restrictions and they have been doing their part to help with social distancing."
But the current confusion over rules has caused some issues with non-residents.
He said: "At this stage we are only open to residents and our bar and restaurant are not open, even with all the signage up we still have people trying to get into the hotel wanting to use our toilets or have a coffee.
"We’ve even had an occasion where some people who were not residents got very upset that we would not allow them to come in and use the toilets."
He is now looking forward to the green light for indoor hospitality.
"We can't wait until the 3rd of August when we are then able to open our bar and restaurant, not only to our residents but non-residents too," he said.