Editor’s Note: As America slowly begins to open up, we welcome situation reports from our readers on their first travels away from home. This diary is from Kimberly Ritchie and her recent trip from Austin, Texas to The Hyatt Lost Pines in Bastrop, Texas:
After weeks of quarantine and coronavirus restrictions, we decided to try a small road trip, as many resorts and hotels were beginning to open for business. I love to travel but have not been looking forward to staying in a resort/hotel or interacting with strangers. I prefer to stay home when confronted with unpredictable situations. But my husband and I were celebrating our anniversary and decided to return to a familiar resort, The Hyatt Lost Pines in Bastrop, Texas, to celebrate. We chose to arrive on a Thursday and leave Saturday morning, hoping that we would hit a less crowded weekday when chances were good the hotel would have low occupancy. I packed with coronavirus in mind and brought my own hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, personal pillowcase and mask. Bastrop is only 45 minutes away from our house in Austin and there wasn’t much traffic, so we were able to drive directly to our destination without stopping. We pulled into the entrance to the Hyatt Lost Pines and were met by the valet, who was wearing a mask. I exited the car immediately requesting self-park after we checked in. He was very understanding and then offered to help us with our luggage but understood when we declined.
At check-in: We were the only people checking in but 6 feet spacing was designated on the floor, and the front desk staff were wearing masks and hand sanitizer was available. All of the usual complimentary lemon water and snacks had been removed from the lobby As we proceeded to our 1st floor room, I noticed only half of the hotel guests were wearing masks while all of the staff were wearing masks. There were multigenerational groups — parents and grandparents wearing masks but not children, entire families wearing masks but some couples not wearing masks. Masks were not mandatory at the time of our stay. We had a king sized room with a patio and upon entering, I wasted no time using Clorox wipes on all door handles, light switches, clothes hangers, remote controls, refrigerator, water bottles, Keurig and bathroom fixtures. Housekeeping would not be returning during our stay. After leaving our luggage in our room, we decided to tour the property to discover what was open/available.
The swimming pool and the lazy river were open — (and the inflatable tubes were being sanitized in a separate area by staff). Pool towels were distributed only by hotel staff and upon request.
Pool lounge chairs were not spaced for social distancing but were easy for us to move to isolate ourselves from others.
Poolside food and drink service was available but with a very limited menu. Of course the most important snack: s’mores — were provided by the front desk staff with a thoughtful, disposable skewer.
But forget the hotel’s Movies on the Lawn program…closed. The good news: bicycle rentals were available — and they were sanitized by the staff.
While the spa was open, guests were encouraged to wear a mask during treatments….a little awkward. So I only scheduled a pedicure with proper social distancing. And that was physically difficult to do! (The technician wore a mask and face shield.)
While three hotel restaurants were open, they were empty. But we also chose an off time to eat, to avoid any large gatherings of people. It paid off — Only two couples were in one restaurant on our first night there. And one couple the second night. So it was easy to be seated more than 6 feet away from the other guests at a two-top table. Hand wipes and sanitizer were available at the entrance of the restaurant. The waitress wore a mask and gloves. The server that brought the food wore a mask and gloves.
On Saturday we returned to Austin, and with that we survived our first pandemic road trip. The trip was pricey: our room was $389 a night, not including the $40 resort fee. But in general, the hotel seemed well prepared in the era of Covid-19, but many of the guests didn’t wear masks, and the hotel didn’t require them. This and the price would certainly impact our decision to return.
