A SALISBURY hotelier has spoken about the measures put in place to welcome back leisure guests from this weekend.

Peartree Serviced Apartments on Mill Road has been open throughout the pandemic for foreign nationals who could not fly back to their own countries as well as key workers.

However, from Saturday, director Arron Howle is hoping to see the return of much-missed holidaymakers, having spent the past few months making the premises Covid secure.

Outlining the social distancing measures brought in, Mr Howle said: “We closed the reception desk which is a shame because it was brand new but luckily one or two years ago we introduced a check-in kiosk for out of hours so that’s going to be how people check in from now on.”

As far as cleaning is concerned, staff have introduced a Covid secure housekeeping protocol which will see cleaners wear PPE, use antibacterial spray on all surfaces and spray disinfectant on all touching points.

As every apartment is self-contained - each has their own kitchen - enforcing social distancing is relatively straightforward as contact with others will be reduced to a minimum.

“The idea is that [guests] are here and they’ve got their own space to themselves. In a way [the guidance] supports the business model that we’ve got,” added Mr Howle.

And as the lockdown easing approaches, the hotel’s calendar has started to fill up.

“We noticed a lot of bookings have started to come which is great, we have a couple of bookings for this weekend and then the weekend after it’s really starting to pick up.”