Tag Archives: Hotel Risk

by | September 14, 2015 · 9:16 am

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “5 Ways to Pummel Pests at Your Hotel”

“(Hoteliers) really should have an independent inspection of their vendors,” Rivard said. “The prime food producers throughout the country already do that. They’re checking them out,20150911_pest control whether they’re buying some ingredient or working with a pallet manufacturer.”

A hidden danger of record high demand is more guests walking through the door means a higher chance anything from bed bugs to cockroaches to rats and ants are following right behind.

One of the few things more disconcerting than the pests themselves is the effect they can have on your bottom line.

A recent survey conducted by researchers at the University of Kentucky showed a single online review mentioning a bed bug sighting caused many to immediately write off a hotel. The first reaction of 56% of potential guests will be to no longer consider staying at that property, 7% will shorten their stay and 12% will seek to avoid that hotel’s brand in the future.

The same survey, results of which have not yet been published, showed 60% of guests who spot a bed bug would immediately leave the hotel, which is almost three times as many as those who would leave after finding someone else’s blood somewhere in a guest room.

“It’s a maddeningly difficult problem to deal with,” said Michael Potter, an entomologist at the University of Kentucky and one of the authors of the study. “Everybody is dealing with bed bugs … but hospitality is especially vulnerable because people rely so much on social media when making decisions.”

The potential damage to your hotel’s reputation is only worsened when considering the fact that less than a third of those surveyed could identify successfully a bed bug, with many confusing other pests like lice, ants, termites and ticks for bed bugs.

The harsh reality is there are no 100% infallible methods to keep pests from darkening your doorways, but there are some things to make sure they’re less welcome after arrival.

Here are five ways experts seek to prevent pests.

For more: http://bit.ly/1gmpxiM

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Filed under Bed Bugs, Claims, Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Insurance, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

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by | April 2, 2015 · 9:08 am

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “L.A. Hotel Fire Kills 1, Injures 15; Some Jump From Windows to Escape”

“Of the 29 people who were staying at the hotel, 15, including a child, were hurt and suffered minor to serious injuries, fire officials said. Most of the injured suffered broken bones from jumping,LA hotel fire fire officials said. Alejandro Lopez, 40, said he was trapped inside his room and the intense flames left him with only one option: Jump out of the window.”

A man was killed and 15 were injured when flames overtook a hotel early Thursday in Wilmington, forcing some people to jump out of windows.

People were trapped by flames inside the two-story Wilmington Hotel at 111 E. C St. shortly after 3 a.m. as firefighters arrived, said Erik Scott, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Other hotel residents jumped out of windows to escape the flames.

For more: http://lat.ms/1G7cf4F

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by | April 1, 2015 · 10:20 am

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “The Threat Most Hoteliers are Ignoring”

“That’s particularly true when hoteliers begin marking their competitive differentiation on price20150327_AirbnbNYC—the average price of an Airbnb listing in NYC hovers slightly above $200/night and is well below the average cost of a hotel room in, say, Manhattan.”

“Is anyone worried about Airbnb?”

Nary a hand was raised when Mark Woodworth asked that question from the main stage at the Hunter Hotel Conference. The head of PKF Hospitality Research had to peer into the sea of some 1,200 attendees, hand above his squinted eyes like a sailor gazing into a foggy horizon, to find any. There were maybe five in all.

“Well, I’m going to talk about it anyway,” Woodworth said.

He was right to do so. The peer-to-peer accommodations platform is a threat to both demand and rate. We’ve documented that fact time and time again. Hoteliers just don’t want to hear it.

This dismissive attitude is based on the fact that it takes a lot of Airbnb supply to truly steal share. To reach that mass, Airbnb needs a strong concentration of willing hosts in high-demand markets such as New York City and San Francisco.

For more: http://bit.ly/1CNEnao

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by | January 8, 2015 · 8:45 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “House Passes Terrorism Insurance Bill”

“Already, companies are having trouble getting terrorism insurance, and many companies that had terrorism insurance have now lost it because thereJ_Mq7AKo were clauses written into their policies that said if TRIA is not there, they do not have the insurance coverage,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).

The House voted to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) on Wednesday, sending the legislation to the Senate.

The measure passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 416-5, with one lawmaker voting present.

Lawmakers failed to reauthorize the program during the last Congress, and it expired on Dec. 31, leading to uncertainty in the business community.

For more: http://bit.ly/142RaaB

 

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by | November 4, 2014 · 8:47 am

Hospitality Industry Health Update: “Maintaining a Healthy Workforce, Workplace Keys to Hotels’ Ebola Response”

So far, it appears that the Ebola outbreak is not holding back companies’ road warriors. According to a poll of corporate travel managers released by the Global Business Travel Association Foundation,Ebola-620x330 nearly 80 percent of the managers said international business travel has either not been impacted at all or has not been impacted much during the past month. Likewise, more than 90 percent of managers said that domestic business travel has either not been impacted at all or has not been impacted much during the past month.

Travelers aren’t immune to the fear of Ebola generated by top headlines, so even though the dangers of a serious outbreak in the United States remain extraordinarily low, hotels must be prepared to respond to guests’ and employees’ concerns. And with flu season upon us, they should be ready to take responsible action no matter what the serious health care scenario.

“The health, safety, and security of our guests and team members is paramount,” stated Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA) in a press release. “In these kinds of rapidly evolving situations, it is imperative that we stay informed, dispel fact from fiction, and follow official guidelines.”

For more: http://bit.ly/1x3lCeB

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by | October 21, 2014 · 8:27 am

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Hotel Housekeepers Are at Great Risk for Sexual Assault From Guests”

“Women described men who insisted they close the door while cleaning, grabbed their hands as they handed over change and asked where they could “find a girl.”housekeeper-387x580 Kensbock and her colleagues identified a few factors that put women in the hotel industry at a heightened risk for sexual harassment, including the “gendered” nature of their work as housekeepers and their lack of power relative to the guests…Most of the women in Kensbock’s study coped with harassment using passive strategies, like humor or deflection. Though the hotel management had protocols they could follow to report inappropriate behavior, women—fearing guests would retaliate by leaving negative surveys—rarely complained.”

When Dominique Strauss-Kahn was accused of assaulting Nafissatou Diallo, the maid who was sent to clean his hotel room, hospitality workers thought the story seemed all-too-plausible. In a New York Times op-ed, Jacob Tomsky, a veteran of the hotel industry, wrote that housekeepers are assaulted by guests “more often than you’d think,” and that their employers don’t offer much protection. In a recent account on xoJane, an anonymous woman describes a decade’s worth of sexual harassment in different parts of the hotel industry—from working the front desk to cleaning rooms. It’s so systemic, she says, that the women developed coordinated strategies to cope with it—like enlisting other housekeepers to stay with them when they’re assigned to clean the room of a “known pervert.”

For more: http://bit.ly/124uEO7

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by | September 11, 2014 · 10:16 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Update: “The Apple Watch Will Help You Unlock Hotel Rooms Without a Key. But is That a Good Idea?”

“But moving systems to a smartphone or other mobile device that has built-in computing power that could be used to run algorithms to break that security could ‘open up a big can of worms,’ Apple Watchhe said. Although he assumes Hilton and other companies considering this move have taken ‘great care’ to reduce risk, he still worries that the additional attack surface and communication abilities of mobile devices might make them more difficult to secure.”

At least one app for the Apple Watch will allow the wearer to unlock a hotel room with the wave of a wrist. But using mobile devices to provide keyless entry to hotel rooms isn’t a novel concept — and could come with added security risks.

Hotels have been experimenting with mobile apps to unlock hotel rooms for some time. The Starwood Hotel group, which is reportedly working on an Apple Watch app, had been testing a similar feature for smartphone users at least since earlier this year. And in July, Hilton Hotels announced guests would be able to use digital check-in and room selection at more than 4,000 properties around the world by the end of this year.

For more: http://wapo.st/1lYgLda

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by | September 10, 2014 · 9:13 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Arizona Lawmakers Want Background Checks for Hotel Workers”

“…The attorneys say less than nine months later, in June 2012, the same night clerk raped another woman who was a guest at the hotel, again using the master key to gain access.Arizona They say there is an additional police report from Illinois that claims the man, again working as a night clerk, used the master key to enter her room and attempt to sexually assault her. Neither attorney knew of the man’s current location…”

Hobbs said the existing sex-offender laws — those that dictate where an offender can live and work — are in place to keep the public safe and aware.

“It is unthinkable that this registered offender has exploited loopholes in the law to gain access to sleeping hotel guests and to reoffend,” she said.

Friday’s press conference was the first time the prospect of legislative efforts on the issue had been brought to the attention of the Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association, and officials were unaware of what a proposal would entail, said Kristen Jarnagin, senior vice president of the trade group.

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

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by | September 4, 2014 · 9:14 am

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “Carbon Monoxide: Protecting Your Guests, Safeguarding Your Property”

Equipment options run from simple alarms to more complex system-style detection, said Byron Briese, SVP of Rolf Jensen & Associates.Carbon-Monoxide-620x330 The simplest arrangement is single- or multiple-station alarms, which include battery-operated, plug-in, and hardwired with battery backup, or combination smoke alarm/CO, which have become a lot more popular in the last few years.

While carbon monoxide poisoning at hotels is extremely rare, hotel owners and operators should practice regular maintenance and checks on equipment and systems to ensure the highest standards of guest and employee safety. During the AH&LA webinar “Carbon Monoxide: Protecting Your Guests, Safeguarding Your Property” last Thursday, experts discussed new code requirements that impact hotels, as well as tips for installing CO alarms and detectors and implementing a response plan.

For more: http://bit.ly/1waR5ux

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by | September 2, 2014 · 9:51 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Kari’s Law Pushed After Murder, Failed 911 Call”

“Kari’s Law has received support from nearly 500,000 online signatures and would require that all who dial the three digits 911 would be connected to an emergency dispatcher regardless of the multi-line telephone system (MTLS).hotel-phone Right now, dialing 911 at an office building, school, or hotel MLTS may or may not get the caller they help they are seeking. As Hunt travels the country to speak about Kari’s Law, he takes notice in each hotel room where he stays.”

One of the most well-known and obvious lessons taught to children and remembered through adulthood makes Hank Hunt feel angry, yet guilty.

“We all teach our children to dial 911,” said Hunt about the three digits ingrained in everyone’s head in case of an emergency. But it took tragedy for Hunt to realize those three digits do not always work.

In December of 2013, Hunt’s daughter Kari Dunn was stabbed to death inside a Marshall, Texas hotel room. Her estranged husband is now charged with her murder. Dunn’s 9-year-old daughter was inside the hotel room and dialed 911 four times.

Each time, the call failed.

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

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