“…In New Orleans, Mike E. Cahn III, president of the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association security network, says he sends surveillance tapes showing criminal activity to other area hotels, and to the police,
who sometimes put them on YouTube. Recently a man stole a laptop from a conference room, Mr. Cahn said, and within 24 hours, he was recognized from the distributed video footage and apprehended…”
At a poker tournament in Barcelona last September, Jens Kyllönen, a professional player, said that his room at Hotel Arts was broken into and malware was installed on his computer to transmit anything he saw on his screen as he played. Despite video camera systems and electronic key card entry logs, no one was caught.
Although he said he discovered the malware in time, he says he is much more careful now about where he stores his belongings and secures his computer. Hotel Arts declined to comment, saying it was a private event.
His case is just one in what has become a technological cat-and-mouse game between hotels and criminals.
For more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/business/with-better-security-technology-hotels-shore-up-blind-spots.html?_r=0
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Security Risk: “With Better Security Technology, Hotels Shore Up Blind Spots”
Filed under Crime, Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Privacy, Technology, Theft, Training
“…Harder to explain is the trauma affecting travel for me now. I travel a lot for work, and every time I stay at a hotel I just get filled with anxiety…”
“…Brumfield claims that on the second day of her stay at the hotel in Oct. 2012 a manager said an inspection of her room was needed after the bloodsucking Cimex Lectularius insects were found next door…”
A tennis coach was forced to cut off her waist-length dreadlocks after finding bedbugs in her suburban Chicago hotel room, a lawsuit claims.
Donna Brumfield alleges she had to hack off the cherished mane she’d been growing for 13 years after the creepy critters set up home on her head.
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Legal Risk: “Woman Forced to Cut Dreadlocks After Bedbugs Found in Suburban Chicago Hotel Room: Lawsuit”
Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership
“…Guests at these properties will receive a message on a Starwood app containing a virtual key, which will unlock the door with a tap or twist of their phone through the use of Bluetooth technology.
The company says the iPhone 4s or newer models and the Android phones running 4.3 or newer will be compatible…”
“…Nevertheless, many hotel operators have been searching for ways to eliminate the bottlenecks that can form at a hotel’s front desk. The delays are the bane of many a road warrior’s travel experience…”
Guests arriving at the Aloft Hotel in Manhattan or one in Silicon Valley will soon be able to do something hotels have dreamed about offering for years: walk past the check-in desk and enter their rooms by using a smart phone as a room key.
The boutique hotel brand from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. plans to offer this feature at two hotels, in the Harlem neighborhood and in Cupertino, Calif., before the end of the quarter.
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Technology Update: “Smartphones to Open Doors at Some Hotels”
Filed under Guest Issues, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Privacy, Technology
“…Fireplaces, boilers, water heaters, pool-heating equipment, gas-powered tools, barbecues and cooking equipment are the most common types of fossil-fuel-burning equipment found in hotels,†said Todd Seiders, director of risk management at Petra Risk Solutions….” 
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Property Risks: “Slaying the Silent Killer, Carbon Monoxide”
Filed under Claims, Guest Issues, Health, Liability, Maintenance, Pool And Spa, Training
“…When the couple tried to check into the Best Western Brighton Inn, 15151 Brighton Road near U.S. 85, an employee recognized them from the photos and immediately called the Brighton Police Department…”
“…Montiel and Ureste — who also go by Destiny Lucero and Danny Montiel, respectively — were wanted in Weld County for multiple cases of identity theft, criminal mischief and failure to appear for court dates…”
Police on Wednesday arrested two of Weld County’s most wanted after a vigilant hotel employee recognized the pair from a news broadcast earlier in the evening.
Bianca Montiel, 24, and Christopher Ureste, 25, were arrested on suspicion of entering unlocked vehicles that were parked at day care facilities, stealing credit cards and racking up thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges, said Longmont Police Cmdr. Jeff Satur.
The pair would wait in the parking lot of the centers early in the morning while parents dropped their children off. When parents took the kids inside, the suspects would enter the unlocked vehicles, steal purses and then use credit cards at local retailers.
For more:Â http://www.greeleytribune.com/news/9875062-113/police-satur-weld-arrest
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Employee Update: “Police Arrest Two of Weld County’s Most Wanted After Hotel Employee Recognized Duo From Photos Aired on News”
Filed under Crime, Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Management And Ownership, Theft
“…This lack of oversight means no one is keeping tabs on parasailing operators to make sure ropes that are damaged by sun and saltwater are replaced,” said Chalik who has spent years pushing for reform.
 “Parasailing should be a fun and safe activity, but parasailing companies that cut corners or disregard the safety of their customers can turn the popular beachside pastime into a dangerous and even deadly trip…”
PANAMA CITY, FL and ROANOKE, IN–(Marketwired – January 23, 2014) -Â The family of an Indiana teenage girl critically injured in a horrific parasailing accident last summer in Panama City, Fla. has filed a negligence lawsuit against the parasailing company, its owner and the hotel that operated the excursions.
On July 1, 2013, 17-year-old Alexis Fairchild of Huntington, Ind., and her friend Sidney Good of Roanoke, Ind., went up in tandem when strong winds snapped their parasail free from its boat below. Witnesses watched in horror as the girls were flung across the shoreline, smashed into a nearby condo rooftop and were dragged into a power line, before plunging into cars parked below.
“Aquatic Adventures Management Group, which operated Why Knot Parasail, not only ignored the fact that weather conditions had deteriorated, but failed to operate the boat a safe distance from shore,” said attorney Deborah Chalik, partner at The Law Offices of Chalik and Chalik, who filed the suit on in Bay County, Fla. on behalf of Alexis’ parents Michael and Angelia Fairchild. Chalik and Chalik has successfully represented a number of cases regarding parasailing accidents.
For the original article:Â http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/florida-parasailing-victim-sidney-good-breaks-silence-article-1.1587594
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Legal Risk: “Parents File Lawsuit on Behalf of Teenage Girl Critically Injured in Panama City Parasailing Accident”
January 23, 2014 · 8:41 am
To see full size infographic: http://visual.ly/hotel-building-maintenance-tips
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Maintenance Update: “Hotel & Building Maintenance Tips”
Filed under Guest Issues, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
“…There is less of an attachment of what’s in it for me when you’re primarily focused on making somebody feel good about themselves, versus trying to please them. 
The motivation and incentives have to be on a much higher level when you are positioning people in your organization to attempt to please your customers, versus when you have your organization focus on making their customers feel good about themselves through their interactions with the guests…”
If they truly want their customers to be pleased by their hotels’ brand experience.
As I just talked about in my recent three-part article series, which focused on creating a new strategy for enhancing the hotels’ business model performance by decoding the hotel guest experience, I wrote about this crazy notion in part three of the series. (It’s really not about trying to please customers, per se. It’s really more about making them feel good about themselves while they are experiencing your hotel’s brand of hospitality offerings.)
You are really not there to please your customers, as crazy as that may sound. Businesses that make their customers feel good about themselves as a result of their business experience offering don’t have to play that inauthentic game of trying to please people, or try to inspire and motivate their organization to do so either. They are more focused on strategically creating and managing a business experience that generates a strong emotional connection with their customers that fosters positive memories from all the different attributes and qualities of the business experience.
For more: http://www.fivestarcustomerexperiencedesign.com/blog/2013/10/hotel-industry-needs-stop-trying-please-customers/?utm_content=buffer4b0ee&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Employment Practices Update: “The Hotel Industry Needs To Stop Trying To Please Their Customers!”
January 20, 2014 · 9:43 am“When we do this we want to do it right so people can feel comfortable when they have to dial 911 and they get an emergency dispatcher,” 
Gohmert told local TV station KETK. “Even adults when they’re witnessing something terribly traumatic will not be thinking about ‘what do I dial to get an outside line?’ They’d be running and dialing 911.”
“We are attempting to ensure that any person needing police, EMS or the Fire Department at any hotel or motel location may be able to dial the numbers 911 and receive emergency response,â€
It was Dec. 1, 2013, and Kari Rene Hunt lie on the brink of death in a hotel room in East Texas. The eldest of her three children, a 9-year-old daughter, attempted to call 911 for help, but because she had no idea that she would have to dial 9 first to get an outside line, the call never went through and her mother succumbed to her wounds. Now, Hunt’s father Hank is out to ensure that hotels across the nation do away with systems that require dialing anything before 911 to make certain that the same scenario doesn’t happen again.
“We are attempting to ensure that any person needing police, EMS or the Fire Department at any hotel or motel location may be able to dial the numbers 911 and receive emergency response,†Hank said in a petition on Change.org. “In a panic, any underage child — or for that matter, anyone in an emergency situation — should be able to depend on dialing 911 from any phone in the United States and receiving assistance.â€
For more: http://www.ibtimes.com/karis-law-murder-victims-family-campaigns-change-hotel-policy-1536166
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: “Kari’s Law: Murder Victim’s Family Campaigns To Change Hotel Policy”
Filed under Guest Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Uncategorized
