Category Archives: Maintenance

by | June 20, 2012 · 6:15 am

Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: Virginia Hotel Sued For $250,000 By Guest Who Fell Down Stairwell During Power Outage; No Emergency Lights Above Door To Stairwell

“…(the plaintiff) unknowingly stepped into a stairwell and fell 14 steps, according to the suit. It states there were no emergency lights above the door to the stairwell or on the stairwell itself. Christians claims he received permanent injuries, and continues to have physical pain, mental anguish and lost wages…”

A Loudoun County man is suing The Homestead in Hot Springs after falling down a flight of stairs during a power outage at the luxury hotel and spa. Allan Christian, of 20934 Winola Terrace, Ashburn, filed the $250,000 lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court, according to online court records.

He was in one of the hotels’ restaurants at about 9 p.m. June 19, 2010 when the lights went out, leaving it “pitch black,” according to the complaint. Resort staff told Christian and other guests the lights would be on again soon, and served food to them, the complaint states. However, candles and flashlights weren’t handed out or placed in areas where people may need to walk, it states.

About 40 minutes after the power went out, Christian got up to move in the direction of the bathroom, and used “the furniture and staff to guide his movement,” the lawsuit states.

For more:  http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2012/06/northern-virginia-man-sues-luxury-resort.php

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by | June 18, 2012 · 6:12 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Ohio Restaurant Kitchen Fire Causes $60,000 In Damage; Source Is Cooking Material Buildup In Vent System

“…The cause of the fire, which was contained in about 20 minutes, was blamed on a buildup of cooking material inside the ducts at Boi Na Braza’s cooking range vent system…”

A minor fire that broke out in the ductwork of a restaurant in the Carew Tower Sunday night caused $60,000 in damage, Cincinnati firefighters announced early today. Firefighters responded to the eatery for a similar incident in October.

This time, the fire was contained to the restaurant’s ductwork on the sixth floor of the Carew Tower. No one was injured.

Boi Na Braza and a neighboring restaurant, Morton’s The Steakhouse, were evacuated and closed early on Father’s Day, typically a busy evening for most eateries. The Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza also was partially evacuated while fire crews investigated.

For more:  http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20120618/NEWS/306180012/Carew-Tower-fire-damage-60-000?odyssey=nav%7Chead

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by | June 17, 2012 · 6:59 am

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Thieves Steal Missouri Restaurant's Air Conditioning Unit For Third Time In Five Years; Total Losses Over $15,000

“…how thieves could come and go at ease over a span of about 90 minutes, climb the 8-foot-high jail bars protecting their air conditioning unit…essentially locking themselves inside the bars with no fear of getting caught as they dismantled the unit, stripping it of copper and other valuable metals. It was all caught by the surveillance camera…”

Air conditioner thieves struck a favorite Chinese restaurant in East St. Louis last month, for the third time in five years. The losses have topped $15,000 for the Hong Kong Chop Suey at 60thand State.

With almost no progress in the police investigation, the restaurant owners released the surveillance video to FOX 2, hoping to save their business. Instead of talking about food and customers’ orders, workers were talking about thieves again at the restaurant Monday night.

Thieves also hit the restaurant’s a/c units there in 2007 and 2010. Repair and replacement costs have soared. “First timeabout $8,000. Second time about $5,000. This time about $2,000,” Chiu explained.

For more:  http://fox2now.com/2012/06/11/ac-theft-could-cause-restaurant-to-shutdown/

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by | June 16, 2012 · 6:32 am

Hospitality Industry Wireless Security Risks: Cyber Criminals Setting Up "Mock Wi-Fi Hot Spots" At Hotels To Steal Wireless Device Data

“People will see ‘free Wi-Fi’ and click on it, and when they do that they open themselves up to great exposure…the best approach is to be wary and steer clear of Wi-Fi hotspots that do not seem legitimate — something (that) looks like it’s not quite right, not the proper name they might expect,” 

Gary Davis, McAfee’s director of global consumer marketing, said there was a growing trend of hackers setting up mock Wi-Fi hotspots in public places, which appear at the top of the list of available Wi-Fi connections.

Once compromised, hackers can take total control of a device, including removing all the data contained on it. Android devices are currently the devices most targeted by hackers, Davis said.

“We saw a 1,200% increase in malware targeting Android devices just in the first quarter of this year,” he said.

John said the best approach for business travelers when using public Wi-Fi is to remotely log into their employer’s virtual private network, or VPN, which ensures all data received and sent from a device is encrypted.

For more:  http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/12/business/cyber-hackers-data-security-travel/index.html

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by | June 15, 2012 · 6:20 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: New York Hotel Electrical Transformer Explodes Causing Power Outage; Two Guests Injured, Hotel Partly Evacuated

All hotel guests were not required to evacuate, but  the incident did cause a headache for some of the 3,000 guests staying there, especially due to the power outage. Some guests on upper floors chose to exit the building and had to walk down several flights of stairs.

On Wednesday afternoon, guests at the New York Hilton Hotel got an unexpected jolt as a transformer exploded in the electrical room. The explosion in the Midtown Manhattan hotel caused electricity to go out and injured two people.

Firefighters arrived at the scene around 1p.m. to find smoky conditions, injured workers, and people trapped in elevators.  Several took to the basement to put out the basement electrical fire.

Two workers were injured as they got caught in the blast while tending to an electrical panel in the basement. One man suffered from a head injury and was treated at the scene. The other was taken to NY Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center and treated for minor burns on his hands, the New York Daily News reported.

For more:  http://www.travelerstoday.com/articles/1930/20120614/electrical-explosion-nyc-hotel-knocks-out-power.htm

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by | June 14, 2012 · 6:27 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Washington Hotel Guests "Break Off Two Fire Sprinklers" Causing Over $100,000 In Water Damage To Three Floors

 “…the newlyweds had some type of disagreement throughout the evening which led to Peters breaking off two fire sprinklers inside the room as well as damaging nearly all the furniture and appliances inside the room.  This caused nearly three floors of the hotel to flood and, according to the general manager, will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix…”

A couple celebrating their one year anniversary at a Spokane Valley hotel caused hundreds of thousands of damages during a fight.  On Wednesday, around 6:00 a.m., Spokane Valley Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a trouble unknown call at the Pheasant Hill Inn located at 12415 East Mission Avenue in Spokane Valley.

The hotel had just completed six months of renovation. Both Peters and Wozniak were booked into the Spokane County Jail on the felony charge of Malicious Mischief 1st Degree.

For more:  http://www.nwcn.com/home/?fId=158943025&fPath=/news/local&fDomain=10222

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by | June 12, 2012 · 6:30 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Texas Hotel Files $10,000 Lawsuit For Damages To Pool And Spa From Bottles Dropped From 29th-Floor Condo

“…The pool and hot tub filters needed repairs…a portion of the Hilton’s ninth-floor roof also was damaged, along with a 10th-floor window. The suit seeks reimbursement for repairs, as well as interest and attorney’s fees. Cano was unsure when the case could head to trial…”

Beer bottles allegedly tossed from a privately owned 29th-floor condo atop the Hilton Austin reportedly caused more than $10,000 in damage to the hotel’s pool and hot tub, according to a lawsuit. Attorney Matthew Cano said he filed the lawsuit in Travis County Court-at-Law No. 1 on behalf of Austin Convention Enterprises Inc., a nonprofit city entity that owns the Hilton, after almost a year’s worth of negotiations with the condo’s owner.

According to the suit, several beer bottles were dropped from the 29th-floor condo’s balcony on July 31, 2011. Some landed in the Hilton’s pool and hot tub, while others shattered nearby.

The incident forced the hotel to close the pool and hot tub so they could be drained and cleaned before being refilled, Cano said.

For more:  http://www.statesman.com/business/hilton-lawsuit-dropped-beer-bottles-did-10-000-2397825.html

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by | June 11, 2012 · 6:30 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Texas Hotel Still Replacing Glass Panels One-Year After Falling Glass Injured Guests In Pool; "Negligence Lawsuit" Still Pending

“…they have been traumatized by the incident and seek recovery for damages, assert negligence on the part of the hotel, and ask for reasonable compensation for their pain, disfigurement, loss of earnings, loss of earning capacity, physical impairment, medical care and expenses and mental anguish…”

Crews are currently still replacing the more than 1,000 glass panels on the hotel.

Two people who were in the swimming pool at the W Hotel on June 10 when panels of glass fell from the building, shattered and then rained down on them have  filed a lawsuit against the W and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Susan Davis and Prashanth Magadi  filed the complaint , represented by attorney Sean Breen, in Travis District Court. The two were injured and are still removing glass from their bodies when they filed the lawsuit in late June 2011. Davis said she still doesn’t know the extent of her injuries yet but remembers clearly that day at the pool on June 10.

The plaintiffs are asking that safety measures be put in place to prevent more falling glass, along with asking that covered walkways be built at the affected parts of the building.

The lawsuit alleges that the hotel had been warned of the problem before the June 10 incident, but failed to respond. In May, a similar incident happened at a  W Hotel in Atlanta where two women fell out of the hotel when glass failed and fell out of their hotel room, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed the day after a second incident of falling glass happened at the W,  when three panels fell to the street below on June 27. No one was injured, though cars were damaged.

For more:  http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/austin/one-year-later-few-answers-at-w-hotel

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by | June 9, 2012 · 1:13 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Texas Hotel Temporarily Closed After Legionnaires' Disease Diagnosis

The SuperMedia Hotel and Conference Center, a hotel near the Dallas airport, closed temporarily this week after a guest was diagnosed with Legionnaires’ Disease. It is not yet known if the guest contracted the disease at the hotel or elsewhere, but the hotel closed temporarily while tests are being conducted.

“A guest at the hotel attached to SuperMedia’s offices was treated for Legionnaires’ disease and released from a nearby hospital. After the one case was initially reported to us, we took the precautionary step of asking our employees to work from alternate locations while the appropriate tests were being conducted. No other cases have been reported and we don’t know that this case originated from the hotel,” Andrew Shane, a  SuperMedia spokesperson, told Food Poisoning Bulletin.

Legionnaires’ Disease is a lung infection caused by Legionella bacteria which got its name when a number of people attending a 1976 American Legion convention in Philadelphia came down with the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

For more:  http://foodpoisoningbulletin.com/2012/legionnaires-case-shuts-down-dallas-hotel/

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by | June 7, 2012 · 6:25 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Wisconsin Restaurant Kitchen Fire Spreads To Second Floor Storage Area; Significant Water And Smoke Damage

“…some employees at closing time discovered a fire in the kitchen and attempted to put it out with extinguishers…the fire extended into the second floor that was mostly used for storage and contained a lot of combustibles…there was water damage to the basement and smoke and fire damage throughout the two-story structure….”

Firefighters arrived at Carvetti’s, 642 W. Main St. at 1 a.m., “they encountered heavy smoke and a heavy fire load on the second floor. The fire was pretty heavily involved,” said Capt. Mark Moller-Gunderson. The cause and origin of the fire is under investigation.

Lake Geneva Police Department Detective Ed Gritzner said the task force continues to investigate the fire, but “we don’t think any criminal activity is involved. We just need to talk to a few more employees to see what they have to say since the kitchen appears to be where the fire originated,” he said.

In fighting the blaze, fire crews made an aggressive interior attack while the ladder company opened the roof. Other firefighters chased down fire pockets before fire crews conducted overhaul and salvage work.

“They had the bulk of the fire knocked down in 15 to 20 minutes and prevented more serious damage from the fire that had a pretty good start,” Moller-Gunderson said.

For more:  http://gazettextra.com/news/2012/jun/06/fire-damages-lake-geneva-eatery/

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