By Amit Ahuja
The pandemic and the accompanying focus on social distancing have highlighted the need for new and progressive technologies to ensure the highest standards of sanitation in public spaces. Bathrooms and restrooms in a commercial space receive much higher footfall than a private bathroom. This makes it essential for spaces such as restaurants and hotels, who deal with a large number of guests, to inspire confidence in the safety and hygiene of their spaces.
An effective solution to these concerns that is rapidly being adopted is the use of contactless bathroom technology. Contactless technology uses specialized sensors to replace manual operation in high-touch facilities such as faucets, dispensers, doors, and flushes, to ensure social distancing and minimize contamination between users. As an already well-known technology, it is ranked highly in both safety standards and ease of use, making it highly impactful in the hospitality industry.
Alongside its excellent safety standards, contactless technology also offers an array of other benefits that make it poised to transform the hospitality sector. Contactless flushes and faucets are environmentally friendly as they can be programmed to conserve water and prevent overuse. Even a small hotel could save over 10,000 liters of water every year with just a single contactless bathroom with intelligent cutoff technology, which is both economical and environmentally sound.
Contactless soap dispensers and hand dryers further prevent waste of soap and tissue paper in public restrooms, both reducing overhead costs and the hotel’s carbon footprint in one simple step. This streamlining of bathroom spaces with technology also reduces the need for overall maintenance and sanitation. Many conventional bathrooms require dedicated personnel to clean, restock, and disinfect it multiple times a day. Contactless bathrooms however ensure a much higher standard of cleanliness, allowing for faster cleaning and easier disinfection processes, while saving time with intelligent restocking alerts when required. This allows for reduced costs and greater productivity of maintenance staff.
With guests being increasingly conscious of their safety, adopting a contactless bathroom design also inspires confidence in guests. It establishes the hotel as a modern, responsive, and safe business, building a positive business image and securing client trust, which is a priceless commodity.
While the world is working tirelessly to overcome the pandemic, the changes of the ‘new normal’ are here to stay. The new standards of safety and hygiene are going to be an essential factor in defining the success of hospitality businesses in the future. In this age of social distancing and hygiene, it is safe to say that contactless technology is the future of bathroom design, and its impact on the hospitality sector will only continue to grow.
Amit Ahuja is the Director of Colston Bath and Spa
