Chattanooga Vacation Rentals, a locally operated and state licensed short term vacation rental property management company, has suspended operations for the months of April and possibly May due to the COVID-19 virus. It manages a number of single family homes within 25 miles of downtown Chattanooga.
Initially, it was still accepting guests, but was waiting 72 hours in between stays to give the virus time to die before housekeepers were sent in. This was for the safety of the housekeepers as well as future guests.
Additionally, the professionally trained Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professionals team already uses many of the products recommended by The American Chemistry Council's Center for Biocide Chemistries which has compiled a list of products that have been pre-approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use against emerging enveloped viral pathogens. These products have been used during the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and includes, but is not limited to, many of the Clorox and Lysol brand products. The houses are very well cleaned, sanitized, disinfected and are guest ready when the housekeepers are done, said officials.
As an additional measure, Chattanooga Vacation Rentals personnel always return to the property prior to the next guest check in and re-sanitize, and disinfect all aspects of the property as well as insure all mechanicals, hvac, water, electric and of course the must have, internet and TV, are in working order.
"While this is not a decision we make lightly, we chose to prioritize the health and safety of our housekeepers and guests as well as our owners," said Christian Thoreson. "Our goal as a company has always been to establish a high standard of excellence and act as an example of that excellence in the short term vacation rental industry. So along the vein, we want to set a standard for others in industry by highlighting the importance of social distancing as a country and encourage guests to not travel right now. We have suspended operations until the end of April (possibly May) and will reevaluate reopening as time goes on.
"This was not an easy decision to shut down and lay off 16 hard working and dedicated employees, but for the best interest of everyone involved, we believe it is the right thing to do. At Chattanooga Vacation Rentals, our employees don’t just work 'for' us; we all work together as a team. For this reason, we have put measures in place to ensure that every employee continues to receive the total amount for the average income they earn from us each month. We have done this initially by filing unemployment for each team member. Typically unemployment pays 60 percent of the average paycheck, so we have also started a non-profit organization to pay any gap between their average income and what unemployment will pay. We initially started this idea a couple of years ago to help pay for any of our employees who wanted to further their education and pursue other careers. The first employee to benefit from this is currently working on her pilot's license, as she wants to become an airline pilot. She just recently soloed! Thus, the name Fly Foundation, Inc.
"We will now use this non-profit to pay the gap between our employees' unemployment and their regular pay. Any donations can be sent to “FLY FOUNDATION INC.” at Post Office Box 357 Lookout Mountain, GA 30750. We are currently pursuing the IRS Non-Profit status.
"We understand that times are challenging for many local businesses. The short term vacation rental industry, along with so many folks in hospitality, has also been hit very hard. However, we are doing our best to flatten the curve while protecting the health and financial security of our team members."
Chattanooga Vacation Rentals is still available for future reservations by phone or text at (657) 777-2899 or email: inquiry@ChattanoogaVacationRentals.com or book directly on its website at: www.ChattanoogaVacationRentals.com.