Tom B.
Yelp
Friends, in my opinion AVOID THIS HOTEL... mainly for SANITARY health issues...until they change a policy. Described in this note.
First please let me ask you something. 'If you ran a restaurant, how long would you stay in business if your policy was that when each meal guest was done eating they were required to HAND WASH their own dishes for the next guest's use, but without sanitizing the dishes?' Appalling? I think so. At Cannon Beach Hotel something akin to this is actually going on.
You'll see.
If you owned Cannon Beach Hotel, would you think it would be common sense to sanitize the eating ware you provided guests in your DINING ROOM? Of course you would. And you'd do it. (State law actually, I believe). But, would you intentionally choose NOT to sanitize the eating ware in the GUEST ROOMS prior to each guest's arrival? That's the sanitation issue I'm talking about at Cannon Beach Hotel, that's the policy they've chosen. What the hell?
Let me explain. Pretty stunning actually.
When you arrive you will currently find Cannon Beach Hotel has chosen a policy NOT to sanitize the eating ware in your room prior to your arrival. There is no dishwashing machine in the unit so the PRIOR guest, under penalty of being fined $10 by the hotel, is required to wash the eating ware for YOUR arrival. In doing so it is IMPOSSIBLE
to sanitize the eating ware; the water is far from hot enough. I believe the hotel should take these dishes to be washed in their restaurant kitchen commercial dishwasher to provide sanitation. Not doing so I believe jeopardizes the health of all subsequent guests in the room.
It is easy to imagine that as a result of using non-sanitized eating ware in a guest room someone's toddler fell ill. Or a frail elderly person. Or a diet-restricted cancer patient. All of these types of people, and everyone else, I believe EXPECTS sanitized eating ware wherever a hotel offers it to the guests. My wife is a cancer patient, in fact, and susceptible to infection. Allowing an unknown prior guest to wash dishes for our arrival, we believe, clearly increased her risk. And this resulted from an INTENTIONAL decision on the part of Cannon Beach Hotel. But a decision easily changed if they wished; sanitize the guest room dishes in the kitchen dishwasher. They don't. Here's why.
As you might guess, this risk is a result of a legal loophole (drafted by the Innkeepers lobby?). The loophole is contained in the statue which
UNEQUIVOCALLY requires SANITATION......
..........but.........................
provides a loophole to clearly AVOID IT, which Cannon Beach Hotel does. To wit:
Oregon State Law: LODGING UNIT KITCHENS 333-0290110:
(3) Utensils supplied in lodging units shall be washed, rinsed and sanitized after each occupancy according to OAR 333-150-0000 parts 4-6 and 4-7, or have a notice stating "For your convenience, dishes and utensils have been washed. If you would like to further sanitize these items please contact the manager." The sanitizing agent shall be available in the office.
People, that's really spooky. Cannon Beach Hotel has the option of NOT sanitizing items in your room and telling you that the items "have been washed". But they WON'T TELL YOU that the 'washing' was done by the PRIOR GUEST and that it was IMPOSSIBLE for them to sanitize the dishes.
Or, in lieu I guess you can try to find a manager (desk is closed about 10 pm) and lug everything to the front office for sanitizing. (Good grief.)
If you are beginning to smell a rat---a lodging industry lobbyists' sanitation health dodge--- I do too. As a result, are the following outcomes very hard to imagine:
-What if the PRIOR guest was in a hurry, and did a really poor washing?
-The PRIOR guest cannot possibly sanitize them; standard hand wash is 110-115 degrees.
-Water temperature for sanitation is about 155 degrees.
-Maybe the PRIOR guest only washed them in lukewarm water?
-Maybe they just rinsed them in cold water and put them back.
-Maybe they put them back without doing anything?
-Maybe they had an infection on their hands
-Maybe sneezed into the dishwater
What this hotel is doing is perhaps technically legal, but clearly exceeds COMMON SENSE, DECENCY, COURTESY, THOUGHTFULNESS for arriving guests. And the result is, at Cannon Beach Hotel, until they change a policy, I believe you stand a potential of running into possibly contaminated dishware in the rooms here. So don't go there.
Sanitize them yourself Cannon Beach Hotel, don't expect your guests to have to request it.
Folks....in my opinion BOOK A DIFFERENT LODGING FACILITY in Cannon Beach. One that shows their respect to you by sanitizing ALL their eating ware.
[PS. Claudia....(she's the owner who reads these things, folks).... when you start sanitizing the dishes in your rooms, I will remove this review and post a highly complementary one for your thoughtfulness].