Safety is first and foremost for joining Experience House. All necessary precautions will be taken to mitigate COVID-19 exposure. We will be staying up to date with the latest country travel restrictions, which can be found here.
Coming to Experience House
Before You Arrive
Upon arrival at the airport, you are required to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test, or an Antigen Rapid Test dated no more than 72 hours before the date of your arrival, together with a printed copy of the form. Without proof of a negative test result, you will not be permitted to enter the country.
After you complete your test, please stay in self quarantine up until your flight to ensure the safety of other people in the group.
If you are not flying, we will still require you to produce a negative COVID-19 PCR test, or an Antigen Rapid Test dated no more than 72 hours before the date of your arrival.
Tips on Masks
Make sure your mask fits snugly against your face. Gaps can let air with respiratory droplets leak in and out around the edges of the mask
Pick a mask with a nose wire and layers to keep your respiratory droplets in and others’ out. A mask with layers will stop more respiratory droplets getting inside your mask or escaping from your mask if you are sick.
In-flight
While you’re flying, you must wear a N95 mask to ensure property safety of any airborne pathogens. Similarly, if you take an Uber/Taxi to the house, please continue to wear your N95 mask.
Arrival
You will be picked up at the airport by a member of our team. For the first 5 days, we will practice social distancing and limiting physical contact. You will be responsible for communicating with the group about your levels of comfort with COVID risks. (IE wearing masks indoors, only going maskless outdoors, etc.) If you develop symptoms related to covid during our arrival period, we will ask you to self isolate. You can refer to the section below on the subject of a positive test result.
When you arrive at your house, you’ll be encouraged to take a shower and clean the clothes that you wore on the plane.
After 5 days, we will administer rapid antigen tests to everyone in the group. Results are ready in 15 minutes. Once all the negative results are in, there will be a massive group hug. We will navigate risks (IE needing to quarantine someone) at that point. Afterwards, we will all be hanging out together as a group!
Late Arrivals and Short-Term Guests
There may be members that cannot commit to the full term of experience house, or due to scheduling conflicts, cannot arrive on the same day as the majority of the group. In this case, members will follow the same arrival protocols outlined above in accordance to their schedule.
Day to Day Life
The purpose of our program is centered around human connection. There will be amazing people attending that you will have the opportunity to connect, share, learn, and grow with. Our intent is to create a covid free bubble with as many logistical items accounted for so that you will not need to leave for the duration of the trip.
Continued Testing
During the remaining time of our program, we will test the entire group every Wednesday (or once per week) to ensure we did not contract the virus during any weekend excursions.
Leaving the Bubble
There are so many beautiful places to explore, we will likely be going on trips during the weekends. However, going outside will be handled with extreme caution. Here are our general guidelines:
- Do not sit in the front seat of taxis and ride with the windows down.
- Do not visit indoor environments without a mask.
- Do not leave the space without notifying other members of the house.
- Do not go out without proper COVID-19 protection gear
- Do wash your hands when coming back from anywhere
- Do go on nature walks and enjoy the great outdoors
- Do enjoy eating at outdoor restaurants with proper COVID-19 precautions in place
- Do go on drives to cool outdoor places
- Do enjoy yourself within reason
Meeting with Outsiders
We understand that situations may arise that require you to meet with people who are not in the bubble. Whether for personal or professional reasons, we have to trust that you have the best interest of the group and can make decisions responsibly as an individual. Here are our rules:
- The guest must present a negative PCR or Antigen test that is no more than 48 hours before the meeting.
- Any meeting should be done with masks, outdoors, and socially distanced.
- If the guest develops any symptoms of Covid or tests positive for Covid within 7 days after your meeting, it is your responsibility to self isolate for 7 days, receiving a rapid test on the last day.
Shopping
All groceries will either be picked up by 1-2 members of the Experience House team on a weekly basis OR can be requested directly from the house staff. If you wish to go into town and shop for yourself, we ask that you follow the standard guidelines for public spaces:
- Avoid the public market if possible, it can be quite crowded and many people do not wear masks.
- Maintain social distance from others.
- avoid small shops, and indoor areas if they are busy.
Staff and Special Guests
Staff that do not live onsite will be subject to more strict policies. They include our housekeeping, grounds keepers, and shuttle driver that all will follow the below rules around covid safety:
- Wash your hands upon arrival to work.
- Masks must be work at all times during your shift
- Maintain at least 6 feet of distance from the guests
- Sanitize with antibacterial cleaners all work surfaces and materials you are in contact with before you leave for the day.
On occasion we will have special guests visit our site. They may be Chefs, Musicians, Performers, etc. While on site, they will follow these guidelines:
- Outside only (nowhere near a house)
- Masks on the whole time
- Social distance the whole time
- Rapid Antigen Test on arrival
Prior to their arrival, they will be asked to complete the screening form below:
COVID-19 SCREENING
1. Have you experienced any of the following symptoms in the past 48 hours:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
Yes▢ No▢
2. Within the past 14 days, have you been in close physical contact (6 feet or closer for at least 15 minutes) with a person who is known to have laboratory-confirmed a COVID-19 case or with anyone who has any symptoms consistent with COVID-19?
Yes▢ No▢
3. Have you been, or are you isolating or quarantining because you may have been exposed to a person with COVID-19 or are worried that you may be sick with COVID-19?
Yes▢ No▢
4. Are you currently waiting on the results of a COVID-19 test?
Yes▢ No▢
5. Do you consent to having your temperature checked, wearing PPE, washing your hands and social distancing during your stay, including during travel and after hours?
Yes▢ No▢
6. Do you agree to alert us if you test positive for Covid-19 before, during or within 14 days of wrap?
Yes▢ No▢
Full Legal Name _________________________
Signature_______________________________Date ________________
They’ll also be sent the following message specifying our protocols:
{Name}, we’re so excited to have you at Experience House. As you may know, we’ve worked hard to create a COVID-free bubble for our attendees and ask that all outside guests honor what we’ve created by agreeing the following safety protocols:
- You agree to receive a rapid covid test upon arrival
- You agree to stay outside at all times
- You agree to maintain 6ft (2m) of social distance from other people at all times.
- You agree to wear a mask at all times. The only exception is while performing.
- When you arrive:
- You’ll be greeted by a member of Experience House outside the main entrance of Casa Ecco. Please maintain social distance and keep your mask on. Distanced air-hugs and high-fives are encouraged.
- From there, you’ll be escorted to the back patio of Casa Ecco where you’ll be administered a rapid antigen test by a member of our group. We’ll provide drinks and snacks and amazing humans to keep you company.
- Once 15 minutes have elapsed and your test shows negative, the rest of the group will greet you.
- We ask that you stay outside during the entire event. The bathroom is located down by the sauna.
These rules, while strict, are designed to keep everyone safe and to maintain the integrity of the bubble we’ve worked so hard to create. Thank you for understanding and complying with these protocols.
Excursions
Group outings represent a higher than normal level of risk. By participating in Experience House, you accept that you are responsible for your own health and safety, and that you may opt out of any excursion you do not feel comfortable participating in. For the safety of the group, we have developed these policies to minimize the higher risk:
- Excursions will primarily be outdoors, or in a controlled, isolated venue space.
- Large crowds or busy areas will be avoided.
- All 3rd parties must be notified via email of our expectations.
MESSAGE TO THIRD PARTIES
To whom it may concern,
We intend to visit {business} with our group on {date}. Our group is a part of a very strict Covid-Free bubble, and by visiting your establishment, we require you to comply with our policies. To protect the health and experience of our attendees we’d like you and all members of your staff to agree to the following requests:
- Check the temperatures of all staff members upon their arrival to work.
- Sanitize all surfaces and seating areas where we will be gathering before arrival.
- Masks on at all times (completely covering mouth + nose), especially when handling/preparing food.
- Maintain 2 meters of social distance from attendees at all times.
- Wash hands + use hand sanitizer frequently.
We Appreciate your compliance in these trying times, and look forward to our visit.
In the event that somebody gets COVID-19
While we hope nobody gets COVID-19 in the house, we will follow best practices to ensure the entire group’s safety in the instance that somebody contracts the virus.
Identify
It’s everybody’s personal responsibility to themselves and the group as a whole to be on the lookout for potential symptoms of COVID-19. See the symptoms of coronavirus here. Whether you feel the symptoms yourself or feel somebody else could have symptoms, please let us know directly so we can handle the situation further.
Test
After we’ve identified any potential symptoms, we will drive you to a testing facility to get same day results. If you test negative, then you’ll be free to continue your experience at Experience House. If you test positive, then we’ll begin a self-quarantine.
Quarantine
If you test positive in the event of COVID-19 exposure then you will be on a mandated 7 day lockdown or until the test turns negative. Failure to comply will result in a removal of Experience House.
Though we don’t expect this to happen, we will still make your trip as memorable as possible. There are plenty of beautiful trails around and we’ll set you up with your own wifi hotspot. We’ll bring food and beverages directly to your bedroom, with the occasional love letter slipped under your door.
Treat
Treatment will range depending on the severity of your case. If you struggle to breathe or have any of the other severe symptoms,
- We have multiple doctors on call who will come to the property to test for COVID + treat symptoms.
- We’ll have COVID kits on site (these kits are provided by the Guatemalan government and have been shown to be extremely effective at treating symptoms of the virus)
- If you need hospital care, we’ll bring you to one of these two private hospitals, the best in Guatemala:
- Hospital Herrera Llerandi (Guatemala City)
- Hospital El Pilar (Guatemala City)
If your symptoms are mild or non-existent, then you’ll probably be ok and treatment will largely be unnecessary.
Travel Health Insurance
All attendees must have travel health insurance. We recommend World Nomads or Safety Wing. By joining our program you acknowledge that this is a requirement, and neglecting do so waves us of any claims or liability.