Petra’s Director of Risk Management, Todd Seiders, and Loss Control Manager, Marco Johnson, will be in attendance and giving presentations on “Current Hotel Security Issues & Updates” and “Best Housekeeping Practices”
For more information, or to register for the event, check out the conference website here: http://bit.ly/V8Mco5
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Conference Update: “2014 Northern California Hotel & Lodging Conference”
Filed under Conferences, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
“…Professional poker player John Binns, along with his wife Renee and daughter Andrea, 
filed 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
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Atlantic City Hotel Security Caught on Video Beating Guests Bloody”
Filed under Claims, Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Injuries, Management And Ownership, Training
“…Customers do have a responsibility to ensure their service animals are behaved. 
Federal 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’.Â
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.
Comments Off on Hospitliaty Industry Management Update: “Train Businesses on Service-Animal Laws” (With Video)
Filed under Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Training
“…The callers are very convincing. According to hotel guests targeted by this scam,
the caller sounds very professional. However, hotels generally handle any questions about billing at the front desk, not over the phone. And they certainly wouldn’t be calling you in the middle of the night…”
Many travelers are trying to squeeze in last-minute vacations before schools are back in full swing. Unfortunately, scammers know this and may try to trick you into divulging your credit card information by posing as hotel employees. The Better Business Bureau warns travelers to beware of a telephone phishing scam designed to steal credit card numbers.
Hotel guests across the nation are alerting local BBBs of the increased popularity of this scam. Since travel and hotel stays tend to increase during the summer, the scammers ramp up their efforts during this time.
For more: http://bit.ly/1ou7mUV
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Security Update: “Word to the Wise: Phone Scam Targets Hotel Guests”
Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Risk Management, Technology
“…San Francisco Magazine ran a long-form piece last week on the complex relationship between businesses and Yelp,
with San Francisco chef Jeff Mason summarizing the Yelp game like this: ‘You’re in it whether you want to be or not, and that’s what’s so frustrating.’ Even a minuscule number of negative reviews can have a disproportionately large detrimental effect on a business’s margins…”
Apparently recognizing that restaurants and hotels can live and die by their online ratings, the Union Street Guest House in Hudson, NY included a table-turning clause in their reservation policies: if you book an event at the hotel and a member of your party posts a negative review, the hotel will fine you $500.
For more: http://bit.ly/1kDwLkk
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Amid Backlash, Hotel Rescinds $500 Fines For “Negative†Online Reviews”
Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Social Media, Technology
“…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. 
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
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Liability Update: “If a Hotel Loses Your Bags Are They Responsible?”
Filed under Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
“…Whether for the purpose of industry excellence or humanitarian interest, properties must sharpen their skills at preventing and dealing with tragic events on site.
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
“…For example, he would be welcomed to a property he had visited 20 times before and asked by the front desk if this was his first visit.
The hotels had no knowledge of who he was or how often he had visited. Habbel believes this is due in large part to the impact of online booking, which has taken the customer relationship away from the hotel and given it to the third-party booking engines. Voyat is an attempt to return control of the customer experience to hotels…”
Voyat, a social CRM tool aimed at the hotel industry, came out of stealth today and announced $1.8M in seed funding from Metamorphic Ventures, Eniac Ventures, BoxGroup and several angel investors, including Brett Crosby, who was co-founder of Google Analytics.
Metamorpic Ventures is led by David Hirsch, who worked out of Google’s New York office for 8 years.
These Google connections should come as little surprise given one of Voyat’s co-founders, Benjamin Habbel, worked for Google from 2010-2012, serving for a time as Marissa Mayer’s chief of staff.
The product aims to bring the hotel industry into the 21st century by giving them more insight into hotel customer behavior both online and on-site. Habbel says the idea for the company was born out of his own frustration as a frequent traveler.
For more: http://bit.ly/1koFcQs
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Technology Update: “Voyat Launches With $1.8M In Seed Funding For Social CRM Tool Aimed At Hotels”
Filed under Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Social Media, Technology
“…The days are gone, Craig said, when travelers respond to “fantasy photos and fairy-tale descriptions on a website.
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
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Management Update: “8 Ways to Improve Guest Satisfaction”
Filed under Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology
“…Ensuring that the technology can be used safely may not be that easy. In September 2012, according to a report published two months later by Forbes, an IT services consultant for Dell returned to her Hyatt room in Houston,
Texas, to find her laptop stolen. The hotel concluded that the thief had entered the room by exploiting a vulnerability in a digital lock made by Onity. The vulnerability had been disclosed at the Black Hat security conference in July, 2012, and Onity said it shipped a fix to customers the following month…”
Hilton Worldwide plans to allow guests to check-in and choose their rooms using mobile devices, and even to unlock their hotel rooms.
By the end of the year, Hilton says it will offer digital check-in and room selection at 11 of its brands, across more 4,000 properties. The service will be available to Hilton HHonors members in more than 80 countries, the company said.
“We analyzed data and feedback from more than 40 million HHonors members, as well as guest surveys, social media posts, and review sites, and it’s clear that guests want greater choice and control,” said Geraldine Calpin, SVP and global head of digital at Hilton Worldwide, in a statement.
For more: http://ubm.io/1la55xX
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Security Update: “Hilton Turns Smartphones Into Room Keys”
Filed under Crime, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology
