Palanga hotels are closing, but some have found a way out: offering to enjoy the baths and even the pool.

The complex is closed

Already on Wednesday, the policemen were on duty at the entrance of the spa and verified the purpose of the trip to Palanga and checked the documents. The mayor of Palanga Municipality, Šarūnas Vaitkus, also urged not to go to the beach.

Hotels won’t work

Although the provision of accommodation services is allowed, most of the hotels and restaurants in Palanga had already decided on Wednesday to close during the holidays. This was confirmed by Ingrida Valaitienė, president of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of Palanga, in Delfi. According to her, due to the restriction of movement between municipalities, visitors will not be able to enter Palanga to entertain themselves.

“As activities are restricted during the control of movement between municipalities, our guests cannot enter Palanga today. The government decree lists the arguments that allow travel between municipalities. These are real estate, labor matters, health care services Eventually, it all comes down to labor issues. But only a family farm, or one person, can live in a room. When evaluating the impact of such a decision, we believe that our potential clients will have trouble going to Palanga, to the resort. The vast majority of hotels, as far as we were able to conduct the survey, appreciated this perspective, and closes on January 3 of next year. Once the restriction on movement between municipalities is lifted, everyone will decide individually what to do next. Of course, there are hotels that hesitate to monitor arrival control and only then make individual decisions. Some will wait until at the weekend, they will control how the arrival control will be carried out, what documents they request and will make the final decisions about the holidays ”, announced I. Valaitienė on the decision of the accommodation and catering establishments of the resort.

She acknowledged that hotel guests constantly ask what documents are needed to get there. “Guests ask us what documents will be needed to get to Palanga. But hotels cannot collect excessive information about their customers, so we do not care why a person books a hotel. Because accommodation services are not prohibited. Yes the room is reserved and the hotel is operational, it will accept the guest. But if it is forbidden to come from another municipality, we will not have clients “, predicted the businesswoman.

Cancellations will refund your money

According to I. Valaitienė, hotels and restaurants in Palanga will suffer losses due to such a decision, but tend to return money for reserved rooms or paid services.

“We will return the money to those who have paid and will not be able to come. I cannot be held responsible for all hotels that are independent companies, they will be dealt with separately. During the first wave of the pandemic in the spring, it was proposed to move the date of stay, to use the money paid after, which is already the same. But if the person disagrees, you should write a refund request. But you already need to see the order conditions, each object has different conditions. Is it a reservation fee, is it a refund or is it an advance? Each object has the right to establish its own order conditions. But there is still a lot of time left, I don’t think that many people have paid the advance, I don’t think there will be a tragedy due to the refund ”, predicted the businesswoman about the behavior of the members of the association.

However, accommodation services in Palanga are also provided by individuals.

It will also work during the holidays.

However, an institution located in the Kretinga district near Palanga will provide accommodation services during the holidays. Ričardas Jovaiša, Director of the Atostogų parkas Wellness and Recreation Center, informed Delfi that the latest legislation on quarantine and pandemic management does not prohibit his institution from operating.

“Yes, movement between municipalities is restricted, but an exception is made for those who are losing health services. We have been providing these services for the second year in a row, we have a health care institution license and our own physicians. In addition, we provide accommodation services, rehabilitation services and offer various rehabilitation programs. We have developed a four-step rehabilitation program consisting of a variety of mineral water treatments. We have the right, and even the obligation, to provide meals to clients who come to us for treatment ”, explained the director of the Holiday Park.

He admitted that he has no right to provide recreational services, but invites him to enjoy the “Four Steps” rehabilitation program. They are also available to people from other municipalities. “If you are traveling from another city, such as Kaunas, you must book a treatment program with us, which includes a hotel, a medical consultation, a treatment program, and we will send you a confirmation that you have booked health care services. And you are not Forbidden to move between municipalities for health services. When you come to us, you will first go to a rehabilitator, who will examine you, show you a card and prescribe certain procedures “, said R. Jovaiša about reservations.

It is not an entertainment complex, but a sanatorium.

He explained that all the pools at Holiday Park are for medical use. Because the purpose of building the Holiday Park was to create a medical sanitarium.

“When we started operating in 2015, there was no such recreational complex in the Palanga region, so for the first three years we worked as a recreational entertainment complex. But two years ago we got a license and hired doctors. Because we have two natural, very good things: the sapropel healing mud and the geothermal mineral water pumped from a depth of two kilometers ”, said the head of the center about the healing procedures.

According to him, even during the restriction of movement between municipalities, it will be possible to enter therapeutic pools. This service is called a four-step healing program. During which the doctors will direct you to the fitness pool, where you can exercise.

Then you go to the hydromassage bath, to the hot-cold water tracks to activate blood circulation, then to the healing geothermal mineral water, after this procedure we recommend not washing for a few hours so that the minerals are absorbed by the skin. If you enroll in the Four Steps program, we will send you a confirmation that you have signed up for health care. If the area of ​​the complex is 2000 square meters. meters, we divide that area by 20 square meters. meters per person and we allow 100 people at a time, “said R. Jovaiša.

He also explained that in the summer months and September-October the complex was visited by 100 thousand. visitors, but no Covid-19 cases were recorded after the visit.

“Because the virus is spreading through space. In our pool area, the air changes four times an hour, so everything that is exhaled is extracted in 15 minutes and is removed to the environment. It is replaced by fresh and clean purified air from outside. There is no ventilation in the places that are considered foci of the disease, nursing homes, hospitals, nursing homes. The air would be ventilated, the virus would not spread in this way ”, advised R. Jovaiša.

A case: in spring

R. Jovaišas admitted that in March a person who visited the Holiday Park was diagnosed with Covid-19. However, according to the manager, the person was from a large group that was celebrating some kind of family party in Palanga that day. “Everyone was initially in the church in Palanga, where they greeted and kissed. After all, the virus spreads by greeting each other when touched or through the air. Later we closed the place where the celebration took place and disinfected everything, ”said the head of the recreation and wellness center.

The mayor of Palanga urged not to cheat

On Tuesday, the mayor of the municipality of Palanga Š. Vaitkus was urged not to be cunning and to think about the consequences.
“It may be possible to try to circumvent the prohibitions, to deceive the officials who control the entrance to the municipalities, but is it worth fooling oneself? Will the earnings received from the hosting service provided redeem the health or even the life of our loved ones? After all, by opening the door wide for guests, we are also opening the door to the threat of infecting our family and ourselves. We never know what hug, handshake, what lunch at the common table will be decisive for us or for the people we love the most. Therefore, with sincere respect to all of you, please do not try to deceive yourself, be aware and responsible, do not open the door of your house or hotel to guests during this winter break. This year, we will fulfill the winter holidays only with the closest people safely, in our own homes ”, urged the mayor of the resort.