Hospitality firm Accor, whose hotel brands include Fairmont, Sofitel, Orient Express, and Raffles, has announced a partnership with healthcare-technology provider x.labs to provide optional Covid-19 testing for guests at all properties in the U.S. and Canada.
Meeting organizers or attendees can opt for testing done before arrival on property or testing conducted on site. For advance testing, hotel guests can access a co-branded Accor-x.labs website to receive PreCheck PCR tests at home at no cost; the test must be conducted within 72 hours of arrival at the property. Results take 24 to 48 hours to process. Planners can monitor attendees’ compliance through a PreCheck app ahead of the event.
Alternatively, planners can order antigen rapid tests through the concierge function on the website, but then must arrange for a healthcare professional to be on property to administer the tests to attendees. Planner can track those results in real time via x.labs’ READY app to see who has been cleared to enter the event. Preferred pricing for on-site tests is available to meeting groups who use the website to coordinate an on-site testing process.
This initiative is the latest step by Accor to address health security for guests and meeting attendees. Several months back, Accor launched its ALLSAFE hygiene and cleanliness prevention label and announced a partnership with healthcare firm AXA to provide guests with free access to telemedicine.
In the same vein, Marriott and Hilton instituted programs earlier this year that facilitate advance testing (for a fee, unlike Accor) and on-site testing as part of larger Covid-safety programs at their properties.
Since January, certain Marriott hotels, including the five meetings-focused Gaylord properties, offer both testing options as a complement to the company’s Commitment to Clean program. And in early March, Hilton began providing information in its EventReady Playbook about how meeting organizers can conduct advance or on-site Covid testing through test providers Impact Health, Vault Health, and Saliva Direct. The playbook is part of Hilton’s EventReady with CleanStay program aimed at health security for on-site meetings and events.
