Category Archives: Guest Issues

Hospitality Industry Liability Update: “If a Hotel Loses Your Bags Are They Responsible?”

“…Hotels are liable for employees who may commit a criminal act against a guest, but are not generally liable when that act is committed by another guest or guests. hotel_theft_istock This falls under the law that states that the hotel can’t be responsible for acts that are considered outside of the property’s control.  The exception would be if a hotel was aware of a potential problem, or previous issues, but didn’t take steps to insure guest safety…”

Have you ever arrived at your hotel only to find that your room is not yet ready?  Anyone who has traveled has had this experience.  What do most people do next?  They typically check their bags with the bellman and find a place to pass the time.  A call comes a few hours later to tell them that their room is ready, but their bag, the one they checked earlier, can’t be located.

For more: http://fxn.ws/1sm6Ptg

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Filed under Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “Taking Steps to Help Prevent Suicides in Hotels”

“…Whether for the purpose of industry excellence or humanitarian interest, properties must sharpen their skills at preventing and dealing with tragic events on site.Suicide In the end, it is not only a hallmark of good business and an assurance for optimum guest experience but also a strategy for preserving the most precious of commodities—life…”

On July 20, 1995, comic book writer George Caragonne checked into the Marriott Marquis in New York City intent on taking his own life. The despondent comic book writer asked a bellman if the Marquis was the highest building in the area. Assured that it was, he rode a glass elevator to the 45th floor and walked onto an atrium balcony. As he hoisted his leg over the railing, a housekeeper frantically called to him, “Get off of there!” He did.

Reports say Caragonne fell 500 feet before hitting a glass elevator shaft and landing at the base. The New York Daily News estimated Caragonne’s body traveled at 100 mph before it made landing. The report gave credit to a bellman who efficiently ushered guests away from the scene and to staffers who quickly used blankets to block the grizzly sight. “They handled this pretty professionally,” one bystander was quoted as saying.

Motels and hotels—from modest rooms to the most luxurious suites—are among the “lethal locations” described by suicide researcher Steven Stack, Ph.D., of Wayne State University, Detroit. “Lethal locations include any place, such as a hotel room, where there is no one around—like a loved one—to intervene and stop a suicide,” he explains. Even a resort full of vacationers, a high-rise bustling with business travelers, or a motel filled with weekend holiday-makers does not discourage a deadly sense of despair hidden behind a single locked door.

For more: http://bit.ly/1zDi8k7

 

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Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “8 Ways to Improve Guest Satisfaction”

“…The days are gone, Craig said, when travelers respond to “fantasy photos and fairy-tale descriptions on a website.Happy travelers If you don’t deliver on your promises, guests will be disappointed and that leads to backlash…it doesn’t matter whether operating a 2-star, 3-star or 5-star star hotel, it’s important to strive to exceed expectations. He said all guests arrive with expectations, so operators have a choice…”

An organized and diligent approach to the management of social media and online reputation is a sure way to improve a hotel’s guest satisfaction scores, speakers said Tuesday during a webinar.

“We have very discerning guests with high expectations, so online reputation management is very important in the luxury hotel segment in which we operate,” said Anna Kavelmann, corporate coordinator of digital strategy for Geneva-based Kempinski Hotels, during a webinar titled “Guest satisfaction: 8 best practices,” hosted by ReviewPro.

For more: http://bit.ly/1AyPphH

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Filed under Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology

Hospitality Industry Technology Update: “Innovator: Marriott Official Says Technology Will Play a Growing Role in Your Hotel Stay”

“…What we clearly know is not every guest wants to walk into a hotel and not talk to anybody. At a premium brand like JW or Marriott, they want both. If I’m on a vacation and I’m at a resort,Cahill_606 I’m probably going to spend a lot of time talking to a person. If I’m on a business trip and I’m checking in at 11 at night and getting up at 5 in the morning, I may want to bypass people. We’re looking at every aspect of our business model and trying to understand how does technology enhance it from a customer standpoint and a business standpoint…”

From check-in to check-out and every service in between, Marriott International is evaluating ways that technology can improve its hotel business. In an industry where customer service is paramount, that means a strategy that blends high tech with high touch, says Paul Cahill , senior vice president of brand management for Marriott Hotels.

Cahill oversees the company’s flagship hotel chain and the one where it pilots new technologies before rolling them out to other properties. To date, those technologies include a broad range of mobile services to ease guests’ stay inside the hotel, as well as experimentation with text messaging, social networking and location-based services.

For more: http://wapo.st/X4mEKs

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Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Technology

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Veteran, Local Service Dog Turned Away From Hotel”

“…He went to Panama City Beach with his dog, which he depends on, along with his parents and his roommate.Karl-Fleming-and-dog He went looking for a hotel room at the Front Beach Inn….Fleming said he was yelled at by the front desk clerk and told she had no vacancies when the sign out front read vacancy. Fleming said she later told police they had rooms…”

Karl Fleming was just looking to do something fun at the request of his family, but it turned into a distressing situation when he and his service dog were turned away from a hotel.

Army veteran Fleming attended K9s for Warriors camp in Ponte Vedra Beach. He graduated with his service dog ‘Kuchar’ last year and moved on, ready to face the world. But Wednesday night he had a setback.

Fleming has a traumatic brain injury as a result of a rocket propelled grenade while he was serving in Afghanistan in 2011.

For more: http://fcnews.tv/1A1SZAR

For a brief video on some of the steps you can take to help train your front desk staff at your hotel, check out the video below:

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/96622404 w=500&h=281]

Petra Risk Solutions’ Loss Control Manager, Marco Johnson, offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Report – ‘Front Desk Best Practices’. 

P3 (Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America ’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.

For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.

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Filed under Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Training

Hospitality Industry Security Update: “Secret Service Warns Hotels of Data Theft”

“…Given that users at hotels use public computers to check email, print boarding passes, pay for travel arrangements and download private business information,SecretService it’s not too hard to imagine what an imaginative hacker could do with this information. Worse still, there isn’t much that even a savvy hotel operator can do to prevent this misuse…”

The Secret Service has confirmed what you’ve probably suspected for a long time: Public computers at hotels are ridiculously insecure, and you’re taking a gamble with your personal data each time you use one.

For more: http://fxn.ws/1rk6Pfg

 

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Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Privacy, Technology, Theft

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Small Palm Springs Hotels Slapped with Disability Lawsuits”

“…The lawsuit claims Langer wanted to stay at her hotel back in March,calla lily inn palm springs - 01 but it didn’t have a parking space compliant with the American with Disabilities Act. Other hotel owners on Belardo Road said they’re getting sued for the same issue and were surprised to discover Langer has a reputation for filing lawsuits…”

Leslie Dunn owns the Calla Lily Inn in Palm Springs. The boutique hotel, built in the 1950s, has nine rooms and nine parking spots.

Her business is among at least four small Palm Springs hotels, including the Del Marcos Hotel and Chase Hotel, getting sued by Chris Langer, of San Diego, for not having handicapped accessible parking available on their property.

For more: http://bit.ly/1zu1apl

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Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Security Update: “Luxury Hotel Computer Breach Impacts Thousands”

“…It’s difficult to know how many customers were impacted, Love added, because people use multiple payment forms – online presencecredit cards, cash, checks and member charges – for amenities including stays in the posh 289-room hotel, food and valet service. Membership accounts, including the items and services charged to them, were not affected, the news release said…”

At least 10,000 customers of The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa were exposed in a credit card security breach that lasted nearly six months, officials alerted guests on Tuesday.

The west Houston luxury retreat emailed 10,000 people about the “malicious software attack,” which started on December 28, 2013 and continued until June 20, information technology director Jason Love said.

For more: http://bit.ly/1rbrDDl

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Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Liability, Management And Ownership, Technology, Theft

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Greenwood Village to Take Final Vote on Hotel-Motel Stay Limit”

“…The law would give long-term hotel and motel patrons in Greenwood Village until Nov. 1 to find a new place to live. Greenwood Village City Council meeting they will have first reading  on an ordinance amending the Greenwood Village land development code regarding length of stay in hotels and motelsA daily fine of $499 could be levied against the hotel operator, or the occupant, for violations beyond the stay limit…The hotel operator would be responsible for moving out long-term residents on a voluntary basis. But because Colorado law gives tenancy rights to anyone residing at one location for 30 days or more, those who refuse to leave could face eviction.…”

Dozens of families living in Greenwood Village hotels and motels will have to start looking for new homes if the City Council on Monday passes a measure limiting a hotel stay to no more than 30 days.

The city claims the ordinance is needed because hotels, which lack residential zoning, are not equipped to operate as long-term living facilities.

For more: http://dpo.st/1pUIf50  

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Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Technology Update: “The Hotel TV Gets Smarter”

“…Travelers, in general, have grown accustomed to hotel rooms with really bad content and as a result they have grown used to bringing their own devicesHotel TV and bringing their own subscriptions…Access my own content’ is something that growing segments of travelers want, and we know it will continue to get both more pervasive and more elegant from a process standpoint…”

The hotel room TV is now starting to look like your mobile device.

A number of hotel TV manufacturers have developed the capability to let travelers stream content from their devices to the hotel TV. Some are even making it possible for the hotel TV to mirror exactly what is on your smartphone screen.

It’s just one way that manufacturers and content providers are trying to keep the hotel TV relevant at a time when people are used to watching anything they want when they want to on their iPads and smartphones

For more: http://usat.ly/1j0ordJ

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Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Social Media, Technology