Tag Archives: Hotel Guest

by | February 10, 2014 · 8:45 am

Hospitality Industry Guest Safety Update: “Florida Police Ask for Tourist Tax Dollars to Fight Crime”

“…The move is likely to face resistance from Florida’s influential tourism industry which has fought similar plans in the past Imageto use tourism tax dollars for anything other than marketing expenses in driving more business to the Sunshine State…”

“…Jim Preston, president of the Fraternal Order of Police in Florida said police, fire and ambulance services invest lots of money and resources protecting tourist areas. ‘I think it’s reasonable that some of those tourist-tax dollars should be going to those agencies to help offset those costs,’ he said…”

Following a spate of robberies in hotels in Orlando’s tourist district in recent weeks, a law-enforcement group proposed extra spending on public safety, directly financed by the local hotel tax.

The Fraternal Order of Police wants the Florida Legislature to let local councils use some of their tourist tax dollars to fund public safety improvements in tourist areas.

There has been over a dozen robberies targeting hotels and restaurants in the Orlando area, thought to have been carried out by the same armed gang.

For more: http://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?news_id=2010156&c=setreg&region=3

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by | February 7, 2014 · 8:12 am

Hospitality Industry Guest Issues: “Can You Legally Smoke Marijuana in a Seattle Hotel Room?”

“…According to the Washington Lodging Association, there are no universally enforced protocols within the hospitality industry as to smoking marijuana inside the hotels for medical or recreational purposes. Image Because of this, it is completely up to the hotel owners whether to allow marijuana use in the designated smoking rooms or not…”

With legal recreational pot shops set to open for business at some point in the spring, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes and others have been pushing the state to okay places where marijuana tourists in Seattle can smoke up. (So far to no avail.)

Their fear is that our streets will be crowded with tourists smoking in public and annoying everyone, as well as breaking the law against public “display” of weed. The fine is only $27, but the backlash could be bigger with too many puffers wandering around.

But in a state where it is illegal to smoke anything inside or around public places, things can get tricky for these tourists wanting to exercise their newfound freedom in hotel rooms.

For more: http://blog.seattlepi.com/marijuana/2014/02/05/answered-can-you-legally-smoke-marijuana-in-a-seattle-hotel-room/#14194103=0&20036105=0&20340101=0

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by | February 6, 2014 · 8:33 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Plaza Hotel Using Noise as Legal Reason to Remove Bike-Share Rake”

“…Steven Sladkus, attorney for the luxury hotel and condos, told The Post when he first filed the case last fall, Image “The public should enjoy unobstructed or unblemished landmarks. This isn’t just for the ‘wealthy’ in The Plaza. This is for the benefit of everyone. Don’t mar it.” He declined to comment on the city’s response…”

A city attorney blasted The Plaza hotel for using “red herrings” such as traffic, noise and historical import in its legal quest to remove a bulky bike-share rack near its entrance.

“It is clear that this proceeding is motivated instead purely by The Plaza hotel’s aesthetic concerns,” Nicholas Ciappetta, a lawyer for the city, said in a Jan. 28 court filing revealed Tuesday. “In other words, The Plaza hotel does not want the station anywhere in its vicinity,” Ciappetta added, asking a judge to toss the “meritless” case.

Ciappetta called the high-priced hotel “self-serving” for trying to oust one of the city’s most popular kiosks.

For more: http://nypost.com/2014/02/05/plaza-hotel-using-noise-as-legal-reason-to-remove-bike-share-rake/

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by | February 5, 2014 · 8:30 am

Hospitality Industry Security Update: “Mission Valley Travelodge Owners Agree to Increase Security Measures to Thwart Prostitution”

“…Tourism is one of San Diego’s largest industries, guests to our city should feel safe and secure during their stay,” said City Attorney Jan Goldsmith.Image “Our office will continue to combat illegal activity such as prostitution and will work diligently to hold business owners accountable and clean up neighborhoods…” 

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – The owners of the Travelodge motel in Mission Valley have agreed to increase security measures to thwart prostitution activity, the San Diego City Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Mission Valley Travelodge Joint Venture and WW Lodging Ltd. are to hire onsite security guards and reimburse the city of San Diego more than $18,000 in investigative costs, according to the deal reached last week.

The partnership that owns and manages the motel at 1201 Hotel Circle S. already have installed more security cameras, posted signs to deter criminal activity and improved registration policies to include the photocopying of all guest and visitor identification cards and registering of all guest and visitor vehicles, the City Attorney’s Office said.

For more: http://www.sandiego6.com/story/owners-of-mission-valley-travelodge-agree-to-increase-security-measures-to-thwart-prostitution-activity-20140203

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by | February 4, 2014 · 9:00 am

Hospitality Industry Liability Risk: “Legally Speaking: Avoiding Bath Fall Liability”

“…But knowing that shower areas present risks is not a trade secret shared only among guests. Hoteliers are also in the know. That fact imposes on inns a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable bathroom mishaps. bathThose steps include installation and ongoing maintenance of any of the following: non-skid strips on the tub or shower floor, a bathmat, handrails along the walls of the tub for gripping and/or like devices designed to reduce the dangers. Failure to provide, and keep in good form, these simple apparatus deprives the guest of protection against falling, and in many states opens the door, to a founded lawsuit…”

Some issues in hotel law come and go. Falls in slippery bathtubs have a sticking quality. Liability in this type of lawsuit can be avoided but it takes some attention to those porcelain bastions of cleanliness.

In the typical case a guest is showering, loses his balance and falls. Because floors and walls surrounding showers are customarily rock-hard, injuries are likely to occur and be substantial.

So, who’s at fault? The answer is: it depends. Yes, guests should know that tubs and shower stalls are, by their very nature, slippery and potentially dangerous. And, yes, guests should therefore use caution to protect themselves from injury.

For more: http://hlconverge.com/index.php/component/k2/item/781-legally-speaking-avoiding-bath-fall-liability

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by | February 3, 2014 · 8:10 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Update: “Z-Wave Technology: Offering Hotels a Wireless Energy Management Solution”

“…As someone in the hospitality industry you probably recognize that it isn’t all about costs, you have to keep your guests happy too. Image This system allows guests to have various room functions to suit their needs, with settings that are easily adjusted – this helps to make sure that your guests check-out of their room nothing less than happy…”

“…You can easily install back-office software which allows you to monitor and control your energy consumption. This allows you to always know where you stand and know where you might be able to make small changes. Of course you also have the added benefit that this is great for the environment…”

If you’re in charge of a hotel, then of course running costs are going to be one of your priorities. With any business you’ll want to keep outgoings to a minimum, but in the hospitality industry this can be tough.

The problem with this type of industry is that you aren’t always in charge of your outgoings – after all, you don’t know how long a guest will leave the hot water running or how much electricity they’ll use on an overnight stay.

For more: http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article76195.html

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by | January 31, 2014 · 9:00 am

Hospitality Industry Guest Health Risk: “The Bed Bugs Rise Again”

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For the full size image: http://visual.ly/bed-bugs-rise-again

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by | January 30, 2014 · 8:32 am

P3 Hospitality Industry Risk Report: “Regulating the Use of Electronic Cigarettes by Hotel Guests” Presented by Loss Control Manager Marco Johnson of Petra Risk Solutions (Video)

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/85264426 w=500&h=281]

Petra Risk Solutions’ Loss Control Manager, Marco Johnson, offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Report – ‘Regulating the Use of Electronic Cigarettes by Hotel Guests’. 

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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by | January 29, 2014 · 8:30 am

Hospitality Industry Security Risk: “With Better Security Technology, Hotels Shore Up Blind Spots”

“…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,Image 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

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by | January 28, 2014 · 8:38 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risk: “Woman Forced to Cut Dreadlocks After Bedbugs Found in Suburban Chicago Hotel Room: Lawsuit”

“…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…”453857859

“…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.

For more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/woman-forced-cut-dreadlocks-bedbugs-found-hotel-room-lawsuit-article-1.1590046

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