Category Archives: Maintenance

by | March 2, 2013 · 7:23 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Mississippi Hotel Fire Caused By “Lamp Cord Short”; Damage Contained By Room “Designed To Isolate Fires”

“…(the cord) was stuck under the lamp and wore out after a while…friction likely caused the shorted cord to HOTEL FIREignite, and sparks caused the carpet to catch on fire, which then spread to a couch and the wall…”

Starkville Fire Department officials confirmed the cause of a fire Thursday that destroyed the interior of a hotel room at Americas Best Value Inn & Suites on Miss. Highway 12 as electrical. SFD Training Officer Charles Yarbrough said he concluded in his investigation that the fire was started by a short in a lamp cord.

On Thursday, a shift manager at the hotel said  she called 911 after a customer came into the lobby and said he saw smoke emitting from the back of the building. The manager, who refused to be identified, said neither the room where the fire took place nor any nearby rooms were occupied at the time the smoke was first reported and there was no one in the vicinity of the fire.

Yarbrough said everything in the room, from the furnishings to the walls would have to be replaced, but said the hotel’s structural integrity was satisfactory as the rooms were designed to contain and isolate fires.

For more:  http://www.starkvilledailynews.com/node/13339

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by | February 26, 2013 · 7:14 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Florida Hotel Guests Hospitalized With “Flu-Like Symptoms” Were Exposed To High-Levels Of Carbon Monoxide; Broken Exhaust Fans In Boiler Room Caused Gas To Build Up For Days

 “…broken exhaust fans in the building’s boiler room allowed the room to fill with carbon monoxide…a guest staying (next to boiler room) was hospitalized for similar (flu-like) symptoms…but no one made the connection hotel Carbon Monoxide Poisoningto carbon monoxide exposure, and the guest was not tested…firefighters suspect the carbon monoxide level was high since Friday or earlier…”

Guests at a south Fort Myers hotel may have been exposed to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide at least three days before the building was evacuated Monday. Firefighters responded to Crestwood Suites Extended Lodging off U.S. 41 around 12:45 p.m. Monday and discovered high levels of the deadly gas.

Guests were allowed back inside after firefighters shut off the gas and ventilated the building, but two people were hospitalized for exposure. The two hospitalized guests, who were staying near the boiler room, are in good condition and were hospitalized for observation as a precaution, Knudsen said.

Knudsen said firefighters checked carbon monoxide levels after the two guests called Lee County EMS complaining of flu-like symptoms. Responding firefighters noticed the guests’ proximity to the boiler room and suspected their symptoms were caused by an environmental factor.

Firefighters measured the carbon monoxide level in the boiler room at 2,000 parts per million, and in the lobby at 300 parts per million. Exposure to anything above 600 parts per million carries a high risk of death, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry website. Patients can experience symptoms including drowsiness, weakness, nausea, headaches and coma at levels of 160 to 1,000.

For more:  http://www.news-press.com/article/20130226/NEWS0117/302260021/Cause-guests-flu-south-Fort-Myers-hotel-Carbon-monoxide

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by | February 21, 2013 · 6:31 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Colorado Hotel And Restaurant Sued By Woman Who “Drank Bleach In A Water Glass”; Lawsuit Seeks $100,000 For “Negligence And Breach Of Implied Warranties Of Merchantability And Wholesomeness Of Food”

“…(plaintiff) suffered serious and continual medical problems, including the inability to eat effectively, persistent acid reflux syndrome, digestive problems and other symptoms…(her) relationship with her husband Hospitality Industry Injury Lawsuitsand her ability to care for her children have been affected…among the claims in the lawsuit are negligence, breach of implied warranties of “merchantability and wholesomeness of food,” loss of consortium and a violation of Colorado’s premises liability statute…”

A Basalt woman is suing the owner and operator of the Viceroy Snowmass, alleging that she was served and drank out of a glass that had bleach in it at the hotel’s Eight K restaurant. The incident happened during brunch in February 2011, according to the lawsuit by Janine and John Reichert. The suit, filed Tuesday in Pitkin County District Court, seeks more than $100,000. It lists Base Village Owner, the hotel’s owner, and Viceroy operator KHM Snowmass as the defendants.

After being seated, a waiter poured water for the Reicherts’ party from a pitcher, wrote their attorney, Alan Feldman of Aspen, in the lawsuit. “Immediately after Janine drank from the glass, she jumped up out of her seat, stating that she had drank chemicals and needed to get to the bathroom as she was going to throw up,” the lawsuit says. “Janine’s throat began to burn and swell up. … [She] raced to the restroom, where she became violently ill.”

John Reichert dipped his finger in her glass and allegedly tasted a bleach solution. The wait staff then cleared all of the glasses from the table and disposed of their contents, Feldman wrote. One Eight K employee allegedly told John Reichert that “it is typical for the water pitchers to be soaked in a solution of bleach for sterilization and that the waiter could have picked up a water jug soaking in this bleach solution, believing it to be drinking water,” Feldman wrote.

However, as Janine Reichert was talking to a poison-control operator, a manager allegedly told her that she had ingested merely the residue from the bleach left on the jug.

For more:  http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/156795

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by | February 18, 2013 · 7:09 am

Hospitality Industry Information Security Risks: Hotels, Restaurants And Retailers Accounted For 78% Of “Data Breaches By Cyber-Criminals” In 2012; “Weak Or Guessable Passwords” Is Most Common Vulnerability

“…Almost one-third of all victims had critical systems administered by a third party…Attackers had no trouble exploiting that weakness, with vulnerable remote-access systems accounting for the method of entry in 47 cybercrime in hotelspercent of the cases…in most cases, users – not software vulnerabilities – were to blame. Almost 90 percent of systems had weak or easily guessable passwords, with “Password1″ continuing to be the most common, according to Trustwave’s report…”

An analysis of breach data for 2012 found that retailers and the hospitality industry continued to command the most interest from cyber-criminals, accounting for 78 percent of the breaches documented by security services firm Trustwave.

The businesses are typically easy targets, having outsourced the administration of important servers and business data to firms that focus more on keeping the systems functioning than on security, says Christopher Pogue, director of digital forensics and incident response for Trustwave’s SpiderLabs.

“An integrator may have 1,000 customers and may do remote administration for all of them using, not 1,000 passwords, but maybe two or three,” Pogue said. “That leaves a vulnerability that can be exploited by attackers.”

For more:  http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/retailer-hotel-crime-107589

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by | February 14, 2013 · 6:34 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Tennessee Hotel Sued By Guest Who Lacerated Leg On Bed Frame; $400,000 Sought For “Lost Wages, Suffering And Disfigurement”

“…a cap on the horizontal support bar of the bed frame extended out several inches from the box spring, and the cap, made of a stone-like material, was chipped, creating a sharp edge. The sharp edge was hidden by a bed Hospitality Industry Injury Lawsuitsskirt draped over the box spring, “concealing the sharp edge from plaintiff’s view…(she had to be) treated for infection and other complications from the laceration (resulting in) medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, and scarring and disfigurement…”

A Florida widow and freelance author and illustrator has sued the Red Roof Inn in Clinton for up to $400,000 over a leg laceration she says she received while staying at the hotel in August. Lauretta J. Evans, 76, said she was on her way home to Florida on Aug. 7 when she stopped at the Red Roof Inn on Buffalo Road, according to a lawsuit filed in Anderson County Circuit Court on Feb. 8.

As she prepared to go to sleep, Evans said, she sat on a bed in the room and “immediately felt a sharp and intense pain in her lower left leg. Plaintiff looked down to see that she had sustained a severe laceration to her lower left leg, and perceived that she was bleeding profusely,” the lawsuit said.

It said emergency medical personnel were called to the scene, and Evans was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.

“This concealed sharp edge constituted a dangerous condition that represented a latent defect undiscoverable by the plaintiff,” the lawsuit said.

The Red Roof Inn, also referred to in the lawsuit as Sant Partnership, had a duty to keep its place of business, including rooms assigned to patrons such as Evans, free of “latent defects and dangerous conditions,” the suit said.

For more:  http://oakridgetoday.com/2013/02/13/florida-widow-sues-clinton-hotel-over-leg-laceration/

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by | February 13, 2013 · 7:30 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Bedbug Infestations Rise In 2012 With Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles And Denver Reporting Most Treatments

“…bedbugs continue to be a problem throughout the U.S…(there is a) need to be very cautious when we travel – Bed Bugs in Hotel Roomswhether it is business or pleasure, or to visit family, friends or vacation.”

Bedbugs are on the rise again in the U.S., which means business is booming for pest control companies like Orkin. With increased travel, both internationally and domestically, and higher bedbug resistance to existing pesticides, Orkin has seen an almost 33 percent boost in bedbug business compared to 2011.

The company has just released its rankings of U.S. cities in order of the number of bedbug treatments from January to December 2012. The “Windy City” of Chicago tops the list, followed by Detroit, Los Angeles, Denver and Cincinnati.

Here are the top 50 U.S. cities, ranked in order of the number of bedbug treatments.  The number in parenthesis is the shift in ranking compared to January to December 2011:

  1.     Chicago (+1)
  2.     Detroit (+1)
  3.     Los Angeles (+2)
  4.     Denver
  5.     Cincinnati (-4)
  6.     Columbus, Ohio
  7.     Washington, D.C. (+1)
  8.     Cleveland/Akron/Canton (+5)
  9.     Dallas/Ft. Worth (-2)
  10.     New York (-1)
  11.     Dayton, Ohio (+4)
  12.     Richmond/Petersburg, Va. (-2)
  13.     Seattle/Tacoma (+14)
  14.     San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose (-2)
  15.     Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville, N.C. (+4)
  16.     Indianapolis (+15)
  17.     Omaha, Neb. (+11)
  18.     Houston (-7)
  19.     Milwaukee (+13)
  20.     Baltimore (-2)
  21.     Syracuse, N.Y. (+2)
  22.     Boston (-8)
  23.     Colorado Springs/Pueblo, Colo. (+2)
  24.     Lexington, Ky. (-2)
  25.     Miami/Ft. Lauderdale (-1)
  26.     Hartford/New Haven, Conn. (+10)
  27.     Knoxville, Tenn. (+11)
  28.     Buffalo, N.Y. (+1)
  29.     Atlanta (-8)
  30.     Louisville, Ky. (+5)
  31.     Charleston/Huntington, W. Va. (+18)
  32.     San Diego, Calif. (-6)
  33.     Cedar Rapids/Waterloo, Iowa (+12)
  34.     Minneapolis/St. Paul (+12)
  35.     Phoenix (-1)
  36.     Pittsburgh (-6)
  37.     Honolulu (-19)
  38.     Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo, Mich. (+1)
  39.     Grand Junction/Montrose, Colo. (-1)
  40.     Nashville, Tenn.
  41.     Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney, Neb. (+7)
  42.     Albany/Schenectady/Troy, N.Y. (+2)
  43.     Charlotte (-10)
  44.     Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla.
  45.     Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, Calif. (-4)
  46.     Las Vegas (-30)
  47.     Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville, S.C.
  48.     Champaign/Springfield, Ill.
  49.     Portland, Or.
  50.     Sioux City, Iowa

For more: http://ehotelier.com/hospitality-news/item.php?id=A24912_0_11_0_M

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by | February 11, 2013 · 7:15 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Hawaii Restaurant Kitchen Fire Caused By Gas Leak In Deep Fat Fryer; Flames Spread Through Ventilation System Resulting In $2.5 Million In Damage

“…the cause of the fire was an accidental gas leak to a deep fat fryer.  The cause of the leak is undetermined.  A pilot light in the appliance was the source of ignition for the leaking gas…the flames spread quickly through Restaurant Firethe ventilation system, creating a challenge for firefighters…”

Honolulu Fire Department investigators said the fire started in the kitchen of The Cheesecake Factory at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center just before 3:30am Friday.

Damage is estimated at $2,500,000.  This includes damage to the restaurant’s kitchen, exhaust duct and smoke damage to adjacent businesses in the shopping center.

A restaurant cleaning employee described hearing an explosion and tried putting out the fire with an extinguisher.

“The ducting system is designed to move cooking grease and smoke up to the roof where there’s penetration,” said Capt. Terry Seelig, HFD spokesman. Shocked employees watched helplessly as crews worked to contain the fire.

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by | February 9, 2013 · 7:39 am

Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: Wisconsin Hotel Guest Files “Personal Injury Lawsuit” After Being Hit By Rider On Hotel’s Waterslide

“…(plaintiff) was at the hotel waterpark and went down the “Cyclone” waterslide. When he stood up in the pool below the slide’s trough, the complaint states, he was hit by another rider. The collision caused him to fall Hospitality Industry Injury Lawsuitsbackward and sideways, striking his head and neck on the slide’s trough…”

A Waukesha man has filed suit against Country Springs Hotel, saying it was negligent when it allowed a rider to travel down a waterslide after him, resulting in a collision. Robert and Dale Flowers, a married couple residing in Avalon Square Senior Housing in downtown Waukesha, filed a personal injury lawsuit Wednesday in Waukesha County Circuit Court against Country Springs Hotel. The couple is seeking unspecified damages from the incident that occurred nearly three years ago, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit claims Country Springs Hotel did not have a video feed available to employees to tell them when a rider cleared the slide. Instead, they have one employee at the top of the waterslide telling riders when to go and another at the bottom of the slide.

Robert Flowers received “pain, suffering and disability, hospital expense, medical expense, loss of earnings and earning capacity,” according to the lawsuit. His wife, Dale, “sustained the loss of services, society and companionship of her husband,” according to the complaint.

For more:  http://waukesha.patch.com/articles/waterslide-collision-at-country-springs-hotel-results-in-personal-injury-lawsuit

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by | February 3, 2013 · 7:24 am

Hospitality Industry Security Risks: Hotels Should Employ “Motherboard Fix” To Make Electronic Door Locks Secure From Hacking And Break-In

“It’s the older Onity locks that are subject to hacking,” Seiders said. “With the old locks, which were the best at the time, the encryption code that authorizes the lock to open has been installed on all of those individual Onity Electronic Locklocks. The hacking device, when it’s plugged into the lock, fools the lock into thinking it’s an authorized programmer. The newer locks don’t have the encryption code in each one; the code is issued at the front desk.”

Following a robbery at a Houston hotel in which thieves exploited security flaws in Onity locks first revealed at the Black Hat conference in July, Hotel Management spoke with Todd Seiders, director of risk management at Petra Risk Solutions and former director of loss prevention at Marriott, for tips on how hoteliers can keep their rooms secure.

“[Onity] immediately started offering the caps and screens to block the port that causes the vulnerability, but I don’t think that’s a very valuable option, because if you block these terminal ports and you have an emergency in the room and the lock has failed, you have to be able to plug in the portable programmer or you’ll have liability issues,” Seiders said. “The thing to take advantage of now is the motherboard switch out. If you mail it in within a reasonable amount of time they’ll replace it for free. The motherboard fix, that’s what these hotels should be doing.”

While Seiders noted that the recession has meant less money available for full-time security staff and new equipment like cameras, he emphasized the importance of staff training in hotel security. “My advice is to go walk the halls and if you see a person standing in the hallway go and look at him for 60 seconds. He’ll either go to a room, or, if not, approach him and say ‘what’s up,’ find out if you can help him. Customer service is the best security.”

Seiders also pointed out that the newer models are not as vulnerable to hacking.

In a statement from Onity, the company said, “Over the next several weeks, we will ensure all hotel properties in our database receive the mechanical solution. These mechanical caps and security screws block physical access to the lock ports that hackers use to illegally break into hotel rooms. The mechanical solution remains free of charge to customers. Technical solutions vary depending on the age, model and deployment of locks at properties.”

For more: http://www.hotelmanagement.net/operations-management/keep-your-rooms-secure-from-door-lock-hackers

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by | February 2, 2013 · 7:50 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: California Hotel Fire Caused By “Guest Throwing Towel Over Candle”; $30,000 In Structural And Smoke Damage

“… a man staying in the second floor room, a worker in town on business regarding the Chevron refinery HOTEL FIREshutdown, reportedly threw the towel over a lit candle in his room before he left just after 5 a.m., in attempts to put it out…hotel employees discovered the fire about five minutes later, and tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher…”

Fire crews knocked down a two-alarm fire at the Courtyard Marriott early Friday morning after a hotel occupant tried to put out a candle by throwing a towel over it, officials said.

Firefighters arrived at the hotel at 3150 Garrity Way at 5:11 a.m., to find the room had gone up in flames, billowing smoke throughout the hotel. The fire was knocked down within 10 minutes, but not before causing $30,000 in damage, Turner said.

All hotel occupants were evacuated from their rooms, Turner said. Nobody was injured, but some hotel guests were disturbed by the morning’s events.

“The Marriott did a good job of getting everyone out, giving everyone breakfast and making sure all of the guests were safe,” Turner said. “Most people were very happy.”

Fire crews were able to keep the damage to the one room, and the rest of guests were able to return to their rooms early Friday morning,

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