Guests hoping to check into any of the Velas Resorts in Mexico these days will first have to offer up their foreheads to have their temperature taken.
Then they’ll be presented with a scented sachet.
It’s not a welcome gift; it’s a test.
Sniff and identify: Is that garlic, coffee or citrus?
The sensory check, part of the chain’s extensive new “Stay Safe with Velas Program,” is intended to detect probable cases of COVID-19, the hotels’ management has announced.
Velas based the safety requirement on British research. “In a recent study by King’s College London, it was revealed that there are six distinct ‘types’ of COVID-19, each distinguished by a particular set of symptoms,” the statement said. “Across all six ‘types’ there was a consistent symptom: loss of smell.”
Guests won’t be the only ones taking sensory tests. All employees at these Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Maya and Riviera Nayarit resorts will be required to do the same, both at home before departing for work and upon arrival. Other stringent safety protocols are outlined in a 15-page Velas manual based on World Health Organization and Mexican government standards.
And while lots of people love a whiff of coffee, citrus or garlic, others may not be wild about those smells.
Just be thankful Pepe Le Pew isn’t at the front desk perfuming those sachets.
