Since our last members update we were mainly busy finetuning the details regarding the return to our contracted hotels in the US. This happens with a constructive dialogue between the Procurement Department, OHS, Compliance and us. We still have to ask you to remain patient while we are in the transition phase. In this update we will, however, give you some information on planned changes concerning hotel accommodation.
DWC
We have been informed that a number of reports have been filed regarding noise problems in the Hilton Jumeirah Beach.
A quiet room is of utmost importance for a crew rest. The amenities in the Hilton hotel are extensive. There is a variety of restaurants and food outlets on the hotel premises as well as beach access, giving us the opportunity to have a quality rest even when required to be in hotel confinement.
The Hotel Committee would not have any opportunity to inspect alternative hotels in the area, particularly as anyone would need a PCR test certificate to be allowed to leave the hotel. Furthermore, as this is the high tourist season, it was felt that any open hotels would be in a similar situation with higher occupancy.
Regarding the potential noise problems, we will remind the Hilton hotel management to allocate rooms on the more quiet side of the hotel (not facing the pool area and the adjacent construction site) and as far away from the elevators as possible. In order to enable you to ensure that this is respected when you check in, we would like to share the room numbering information:
- Even room numbers are facing the quiet side (south).
- The lower numbers are further away from the elevator (eg #300 is the furthest, #350 is opposite of the elevator).
In summary it is the position of the Hotel Committee to stay at the Hilton resort. We expect the high amounts of hotel tourists to become less as soon as it gets hotter in the summertime. Furthermore, for many of us a layover in DWC will be followed by one or more layovers in BKK, where the harsh in-room confinement is still enforced. To give crew members a maximum amount of freedom beforehand is something that we would also like you to consider.
While we understand the significant problems related to disturbed crew rest, we are faced with the challenge to find suitable solutions. Therefore, we would like to encourage you to trust us and use the aforementioned information on quiet rooms to mitigate any issues, in case that the front desk fails to allocate suitable rooms in the first place.
GYD
Crews are allowed to move freely, however, the Fly Inn Baku airport hotel is the mandated accommodation for crews by the authorities. We monitor the development and will try to organize a move back to city as soon as we are allowed to do so.
IND
Reestablishing layovers in IND started off on a bad foot. Our priority recommendation was the Conrad hotel, with the Omni as an alternate, suggested out of memory. Unfortunately, the quality of the Omni has suffered since we left it many years ago.
Thanks to your quick reports we were made aware of the deficiencies and agreed with management to reassess the situation and to contact the Conrad for an offer.
MIA
Due to certain deficiencies at the Hyatt we also agreed to move back to the Conrad.
ORD
We suggested to move back to downtown Chicago where the only known open option for the time being is the InterConti hotel.
In general USA
Regarding the overall breakfast situation in the US, it is the position of the Hotel Committee that we need some improvements in order to be CWA compliant. Therefore, we suggested to establish the following procedure:
We shall be entitled to:
- Breakfast buffet where available. With COVID measures this may not be possible for some time.
- A‘la carte breakfast or Room service breakfast included in the room rate. That breakfast shall include a hot main dish, fruit, a regular hot beverage (coffee/tea), a juice and all supplementary fees like tax, delivery fee and gratuity. Premium hot beverages like Cappuccino would have to be paid by the individual crew member.
- A 25$ daily allowance where the above is not available or not up to standard. This will be claimed via the “Reporting” application on the iPad.
This was agreed on and Procurement will try to contact the relevant hotels for incorporating this into the room rate where applicable. We will keep you updated whenever there is a change.
Texas has lifted the requirements to wear masks in public, although it is still recommended by the US health authorities. We would like to emphasize that it is nonetheless in our own interest to use the available and known COVID precautions. Please stay vigilant!
Last but not least we would like to farewell Dave Wainwright from “Your Everloving Hotel Committee”. Dave has decided that sixteen years of organizing hotels is finally enough. We respect this decision and want to thank Dave for his commitment during such a long time. He will thankfully continue to be approachable to the rest of us, allowing all of us to benefit from his experience. Cheers Dave!
