Skip the lines and get a COVID-19 test at your hotel

(This is a slightly different version of our story for NBC News)

You may not be able to work out in hotel gyms or hang out in lobby bars just yet. But at an increasing number of hotels, guests can now get COVID-19 tests as part of their stay.

The tests are offered in partnership with a local laboratory or medical company and at an extra, sometimes hefty expense. But now that a negative COVID-19 test is required for crossing many state and country borders, hotels hoping to stand-out are adding medical testing to their list of amenities.

Results before you fly

“Test and Rest” packages starting at about $240 at the Sofitel Heathrow and about $200 at the Sofitel Gatwick allows guests to check-in and take a self-administered saliva COVID-19 test from a kit.

Twice a day, the hotel sends test samples via courier to a HALO testing laboratory. Results, plus a certificate to be printed at reception, are emailed to guests so they can go from the airport hotel to the plane.

“It seemed to be the right thing to do to both encourage travel and get people booking airport hotels again,” said Raj Shah, Commercial Director – Hotel Division of the Arora Group. The company operates several hotels at both Heathrow and Gatwick.

COVID-19 testing at resorts and boutique hotels

In Las Vegas, the REVIV wellness spa at the Cosmopolitan offers COVID-19 PCR testing ($100) with results and documents promised within 24-hours. Antibody tests ($40) are also available, with discounts offered to guests who bundle their tests with some of the spa’s treatments.

With HELIX Urgent Care, Florida’s Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa provides COVID-19 testing for guests three days a week. The fee is $125, with results promised in 48 hours or less.  

Both the W South Beach in Miami Beach and Chateau Marmont Hotel, Cottages and Bungalows in Hollywood are partnering with Sollis Health to offer guest COVID-19 PCR tests with a 24-hour turnaround. Test prices are $175 at the W South Beach and are included as part of the amenity package at Chateau Marmont, where rates start at about $475 a night.  

For $299, the Nemacolin, a resort in Farmington, PA, is offering guests rapid COVID-19 tests that are analyzed on-site, with results in 15-20 minutes. “Should a positive test result occur, you will be expected to re-test immediately,” the resort tells guests.

And at the Nobu Hotel Palo Alto in California’s Silicon Valley, guests simply ask their private concierge to arrange an on-site COVID-19 test. A licensed medical professional then arrives in full personal protective equipment (PPE) to administer the test. And couriers take the samples to a certified laboratory for expedited results. The white-glove service starts at $500.

What do you think of this new hotel amenity?