Keeping Your Resort’s Spas, Gyms and Pool Areas Clean and Safe
Let’s face it, running a vacation ownership resort means having to deal with so very many issues! You have to build your reputation and maintain your brand, attract a steady stream of guests, hire and retain good staff, ensure that your bars, restaurants, and cafes serve top-notch food quickly. And at every step of the way, you have to preserve the highest standards of cleanliness in every single area of the timeshare resort, while always, always making sure your guests are happy and well taken care of.
Fitness Facilities are Bacterial and Viral Hot Spots
Well, I’m sorry to say it, but there’s another issue that you have to deal with on an ongoing basis ̶ and there’s no ducking it: The unfortunate fact of the matter is that gyms, pools, health clubs and fitness facilities are bacterial and viral hot spots, and almost all your gym equipment ̶ plus your shower stalls and dirty towels ̶ can be home to a host of hazardous organisms.
In fact, a paper in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health contends that:
“Fitness centers and exercise facilities have been implicated as possible sources for transmitting community-acquired bacterial infections. . . . Most of these bacterial genera are of human and environmental origin . . . [and include] Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, and Micrococcus. . . . Several factors (including personal hygiene, surface cleaning and disinfection schedules of the facilities) may be the reasons for the rich bacterial diversity found in this study.”
Some experts do claim that there is no real evidence that you can contract any diseases in today’s health club facilities, which is good news for the approximately 60% of Americans who make regular use of the overabundance of gyms that populate the landscape.
But the key phrase here is ‘some experts,’ since there are others who think differently. But, consider the fact that your average gym, pool area and spa provide a warm, moist environment that is ideal for bacteria of all sorts.
Pests Will Find a Way In
It’s not just microscopic invaders that you have to worry about, either! There are other, larger creatures who also thrive in such conditions, such as bed bugs, mites, fleas, lice, sowbugs, to name but a few. And it really doesn’t matter how fastidious you are about keeping your health facility clean and hygienically ‘up-to-snuff.’ Sooner or later, pests can, and will, find a way in.
Now, that’s not to say there isn’t anything you can do about these annoying interlopers, there is. You just have to know the signs and take the appropriate action.
If you are tempted to take the out-of-sight-out-of-mind approach, don’t. There is nothing worse for business than your clients having to watch cockroaches scuttling across a locker room floor or finding a bed bug infestation ensconced in the folds of that armchair in the lobby! And there isn’t anything more unpleasant than the sight of pests invading a client’s workspace.
Good news: You can get rid of the pests!
The good news is, it is possible – and easy – to keep all these critters out of your spas, your fitness centers and your pool areas. But you will need to take prophylactic action to keep those facilities scrupulously clean and make sure every space and surface is disinfected.
How to keep it your fitness centers and pools germ and bug-free
In all likelihood, your cleaning staff will turn to tried-and-trusted floor and surface cleaners (many of them bleach-based) when they tackle this tough job. Unfortunately, when it comes to keeping these areas clean the common household products won’t do the job. Only by using products (or if you can, a single, all-in-one substance) that are specifically designed to disinfect and kill all bacteria, can you ensure the safety of your guests. Sterifab, for one, does all this, is EPA-approved and completely nonresidual.
Obviously, you can’t personally supervise all of your cleaning operations, but you should make sure that your cleaning staff carefully examine the surfaces of your gym equipment for cracks or breaks that could reduce the efficiency of the cleaning or disinfection process. As your staff cleans, make sure that they get into all the crevices, serrations, and joints of the equipment.
The same goes for the floors, walls and other surfaces in the pool areas, spas and, of course, the gyms.
Maintaining these cleaning regimens will not only eradicate a wide range of pests, but will also protect your guests from a host of unpleasant infections/conditions, including athletes’ foot, ringworm, plantar warts, and impetigo.
In order to achieve this level of cleanliness, we suggest that you use Sterifab, an antimicrobial agent that not only kills a wide range of insects, but will eliminate will any microorganisms, especially resistant bacterial spores. It is formulated to kill fungus, viruses, mold, and mildew. Plus, it not only kills germs and bugs, but also gets rid of pathogenic odors. It does this by obliterating microbes at the cellular level or hampering their chief metabolic processes.
Noel McCarthy has worked as a writer and editor throughout his career. A former director for Thomson Reuters, Noel also worked for PwC for 17 years. A staff writer for Sterifab, Noel’s expertise in bed bugs is a newfound hobby of sorts. He has enjoyed learning about these pesky little pests, and their entourage of friends including lice, mites and more. Learn More at sterifab.com
