Category Archives: Training

by | August 11, 2014 · 10:37 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Atlantic City Hotel Security Caught on Video Beating Guests Bloody”

“…Professional poker player John Binns, along with his wife Renee and daughter Andrea, Atlantic-City-casino-guests-sue-over-security-beatings-caught-on-video-ABC-Newsfiled two separate lawsuits against Harrah’s for their behavior during an August 2012 dispute. The Binns’ suit argues that the hotel computer mistakenly erased their registration two nights into their stay. During an ensuing argument with security, guards surrounded him and took him to the ground…”

An Atlantic City hotel and casino faces separate lawsuits from at least eight guests for excessive use of force by security personnel and local police, ABC News reported on Friday.

The plantiffs suing Harrah’s Atlantic City include a financial analyst and a professional poker player whose 17-year-old daughter suffered a broken nose after hotel security forced her to the ground. The altercations involving both plaintiffs were filmed on the hotel’s in-house security cameras.

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

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

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by | August 8, 2014 · 10:03 am

Hospitliaty Industry Management Update: “Train Businesses on Service-Animal Laws” (With Video)

“…Customers do have a responsibility to ensure their service animals are behaved. service-dog-courseFederal law makes an exception if the dog is out of control and its handler does not control it, or if the dog is not housebroken. However, that only means the pooch can be removed from the premises; the handler still is entitled to full accommodation…”

When it comes to accommodating customers with service animals, some businesses need to be taught new tricks.

As reported Monday by The News-Journal’s Chris Graham, Steve Keene is the latest person with a service dog to have encountered difficulties at a local establishment in recent years. When the Port Orange resident showed up with his dog Kima at the Racing’s North Turn restaurant in Ponce Inlet, staff asked him for documentation proving the black Labrador-Australian shepherd mix is a service animal. When he became irate at the request, he was asked to leave.

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

For a brief video on how to best train your staff for handling guests with ADA service animals, check out the video below:

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/102936915 w=500&h=281]

Petra Risk Solutions’ Risk Management Director, Todd Seiders, offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Report – ‘ADA Service Animals: Do’s and Don’ts’. 

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

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by | August 4, 2014 · 8:40 am

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

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by | August 1, 2014 · 8:38 am

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

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by | July 25, 2014 · 9:00 am

Hospitality Industry Security Update: “How Best to Battle Against Cybercriminals”

“…As part of the plan, properties should be aware of laws pertaining to data breach disclosure,CyberCriminal-620x330 educate staff on protocols, contact law enforcement to see who would have jurisdiction in the case of a breach, and put outside data monitoring and incident response teams on retainer…”

Hotels, the bad guys have their beady eyes on you.

“The more credit cards you have, the more interesting you are to someone,” says Suzanne Widup, senior analyst with Verizon’s RISK team. “You have data that they want.”

The hotel industry has a big target on its back, agrees Chris Pogue, director at Trustwave, an information security technology and services company, specifically because property management systems, food and beverage, and retail all reside under one roof and a central integration server consolidates all this customer data.

For more: http://bit.ly/Uy6szg

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Filed under Crime, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Technology, Training

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by | July 22, 2014 · 9:00 am

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

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by | June 27, 2014 · 9:43 am

Hospitality Industry ADA Update: “Best Western Responds to Property That Refused Family With Service Dog”

“…Under the Americans with Disabilities Act,service dogservice animals can accompany people with disabilities in all areas where members of the public are allowed. Staffers are allowed to only ask two questions: Whether the dog is a service animal and what tasks he has been trained to perform…”

Best Western International has responded to its Baton Rouge property that refused the reservation of a North Carolina family traveling with a service dog by temporarily restricting the hotel from accepting reservations.

For more: http://yhoo.it/1yULoDz

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

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by | June 26, 2014 · 9:09 am

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Hot-Sheets Bronx Motel Kept Bloody Mattress in Room Years After Customer Died of Overdose on Bed”

“…A room attendant who photographed the soiled mattress in room 230 weeksbronx hotel before the inspection told an arbitrator it had been in use up until April, 2014…The firm also found that hotel management had failed to properly train staff on how to handle sheets and towels contaminated with human waste and other substances…”

Working in this Bronx motel is a bloody hell.

The owners of a hot-sheet motel where union laborers have been protesting wage and benefits cuts failed to replace a bloody mattress two years after a dead man was found on the bed, workers claim.

Owner Ankoor Naik has also ignored two independent reports that found inadequate training and protection for employees at the 94-unit flophouse despite hazardous conditions and bedbug infestations, workers and safety experts attest.

For more: http://nydn.us/1qL4QQD 

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Filed under Bed Bugs, Claims, Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Industry, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Training

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by | June 23, 2014 · 9:06 am

Hospitality Industry Security Update: “Navigating Concerns and Identifying Solutions”

“…Hotels are held to extraordinarily high standards with regard to safety and security.hotelkeycard.security It is critically important that all hotel staff be trained on appropriate security procedures for all high traffic areas, including the lobby, front desk, baggage storage area, guest entry points, valet, and parking lot and receiving dock areas..”

A single act of crime on your property could diminish your brand.

Business and recreational travelers demand safe and secure hotel accommodations, as well as responsive and friendly customer service. How can hoteliers ensure that their property provides as secure an environment as possible, while maintaining friendly customer service?

Best practices for protecting sensitive business information while making people productive from

As Warren Buffet said, “it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

With that said, here are nine things to consider when it comes to blending hospitality and security.

For more: http://bit.ly/T3dyv1

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

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by | June 10, 2014 · 8:30 am

Hospitality Industry Safety Update: “Hyper-Vigilance Helps to Keep Guests Safe”

“…If an incident does occur, whether it’s an act of violence or a minor theft,safety responsibility rests with lodging management to respond immediately, Chartier says. That may mean correcting the physical surroundings, barricading an area, having appropriate security personnel respond, or calling the authorities. Situations will be further complicated once an incident spreads via social media or a news crew shows up…”

The autopsy photos still haunt Norm Bates, Esq. “She was stabbed 96 times,” says Bates, president of Liability Consultants Inc., in Bolton, Mass. “I’ve done hundreds of murder cases, but this was the worst one I’ve ever seen.”

Roughly a year prior to the October 2007 murder of 21-year-old Layla Banks, the former Stamford Sheraton Hotel in Connecticut had cut the property’s security staff of 10 to one as a cost-saving measure, says Bates, who served as a security and liability expert for the Banks family in the case against the hotel. The security office became a storeroom, and the director of engineering doubled as the director of security, a position that he was “incompetent” to serve.

For more: http://bit.ly/1ki7zc2

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Filed under Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology, Training

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