The Westin Houston Medical Center | First Hotel in the U.S. to deploy ‘Virus Killing Robots’
Lightstrike Germ-Zapping Robots at the Westin Houston Medical Center
The Westin Houston Medical Center is the first and only hotel in the U.S. to utilize LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots™ to sanitize and disinfect its guest rooms and common areas to help combat the threat of coronavirus. The room disinfection technology, provided by San Antonio-based Xenex Disinfection Services, was developed by two epidemiologists in Houston, with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center as their first customer. The Westin Houston Medical Center purchased two of the decontaminating Robots, which are already at work sanitizing rooms inside the building.
In these times of stress about the spread of COVID-19 amongst travellers worldwide, these virus killing robots are an interesting new cleaning product for hotels. The Westin Houston Medical Center pioneers one of the hospitality industry’s response to COVID-19.
Virus Killing Robots | LightStrike™ Germ-Zapping Robots
LightStrike Robots have been proven to quickly destroy viruses, bacteria, and fungi using intense pulsed xenon ultraviolet (UV) light. Hundreds of healthcare facilities use LightStrike Robots to disinfect their facilities as part of their comprehensive infection prevention program and several hospitals have published peer-reviewed studies showing 50%-100% reductions in their Clostridium difficile (C.diff), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and surgical site infection (SSI) rates after they used LightStrike Robots and Xenex’s recommended protocols for room disinfection.
Minimizing Risk
“We are taking significant proactive measures, along with following CDC guidelines, to minimize risk while also keeping day-to-day business momentum,” said Archit Sanghvi, Vice President of Operations for Pearl Hospitality, the hotel’s owner and operator. “Wellness is at the core of our business and with the LightStrike technology, we saw a distinct and innovative opportunity to create a well-prepared environment for travellers within our hotel.”
UV light to disinfect
The LightStrike Robot uses intense germicidal UV light to disinfect rooms by quickly destroying microscopic bacteria and viruses that may be missed during the manual cleaning process. Operated by hotel staff, the Robot uses pulsed xenon (a noble gas) to create intense broad-spectrum UV light, unlike older technologies that use mercury bulbs (mercury is toxic) to create continuous, single spectrum UV light.
Check out how the ‘Virus Killing Robots work in this video! (text continues after the video)
Disinfecting protocols
Along with utilizing cutting-edge robotic room disinfection technology, The Westin Houston Medical Center is implementing enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols including:
- All public areas and guestrooms are disinfected using hospital-grade cleaner (Ecolab’s TB Disinfectant Cleaner).
- All guest room consumable amenities (bath amenities, coffee & tea) and items such as the remote control are disinfected on-site and placed in sealed bags for guests.
- Removal of all non-essential (magazines, collateral, decorative pillows, etc.) items in guest rooms to ensure a continually clean, disinfected environment.
- EcoLab’s disinfectant cleaning protocols in all areas of the hotel including public areas, guest rooms and back of house areas (i.e. kitchen, etc.)
- Dedicated team member to use enhanced sanitization methods on all guest-facing public areas – 24 hours coverage.
The Westin Houston Medical Center has also created immune-boosting food and beverage offerings including:
- A special immune system boosting menu packed with antioxidants, vitamins, probiotics and prebiotics for guests to ensure continued health.
- Immune Booster Kits – Energize Kit and Travel Kit with tinctures and Airborne products.
The 273-room Westin Houston Medical Center hotel is located at 1709 Dryden Road, between Main Street and Fannin Street. The newly opened hotel is situated in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, which attracts more than 15 million annual visitors.
Website: Xenex
