[vimeo https://vimeo.com/105983681Â w=500&h=281]
Petra Risk Solutions’ Loss Control Manager, Marco Johnson, offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Report – ‘Legionnaires’ Disease: Awareness and Prevention’.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.
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Filed under Claims, Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Pool And Spa, Risk Management
“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,’ 
he 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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Filed under Crime, Hotel Industry, Risk Management, Technology
“…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.
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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Filed under Crime, Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Equipment options run from simple alarms to more complex system-style detection, said Byron Briese, SVP of Rolf Jensen & Associates.
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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“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).
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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Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Industry, Liability, Management And Ownership, Technology
“Also, unlike most apps, Roomlia has no ties to a user’s credit card information. It passes the credit card data on to the hotel securely,
which means that the user can handle booking changes directly with his or her hotel of choice, making it much easier on the traveler and the hotel.”
I am an avid hotel-booking-app user. I regularly toggle between Hotel Tonight, Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz to hunt for rooms and deals when I travel. Sometimes I use them even when I don’t have travel plans as a way to decide where I want to go. I’m cheap!
I like to search Gogobot to browse by destination. I think Hipmunk offers a stellar user experience. I am not altogether unhappy with the app landscape right now, so I’m not necessarily in the market for a new hotel booking app, but I am always willing to try something new.
For more:Â http://yhoo.it/1qKUGuJ
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Filed under Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Technology
“Twenty-four people were taken to Geisinger Community Medical Center. By 5 p.m. all but one had been released, according to hospital spokeswoman Westyn Hinchey.
The last patient was transferred to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for treatment of carbon monoxide exposure, Hinchey said. She said she could not release that person’s name and did not know his/her condition.”
At least one person remained hospitalized Sunday night and a Dunmore hotel is closed today after over 200 guests were evacuated Sunday morning. More than two dozen were taken to area hospitals to be evaluated for possible carbon monoxide inhalation.
Those staying at the Best Western Plus Hotel on Tigue Street with symptoms were removed in buses and ambulances after a carbon monoxide leak “stemming from a furnace†was discovered just before 9 a.m., Dunmore Fire Chief Christopher DeNaples said.
For more:Â http://bit.ly/XPDbme
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Click image to play video
London-based MGA, CFC Underwriting, has brought a new cyber product to market for large companies that goes beyond the traditional cyber product, says Graeme Newman, director of marketing for the company. In this video with MyNewMarkets.com, Newman discusses how the increased knowledge of cyber risks has led large companies to demand a more complete product that includes business interruption coverage and how CFC’s coverage addresses these exposures.
For more: http://bit.ly/1whB8GL
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Filed under Business Interruption Insurance, Hotel Industry, Insurance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
“In one scheme, Koger had been hired by Host, the country’s largest hotel owner, to sell two properties. Instead of selling to the highest bidders,
Koger allegedly sold the properties to straw buyers, who then immediately resold them to the interested buyers for a profit. Koger allegedly orchestrated a similar deal in which a straw buyer purchased promissory notes backing European hotels that Host was interested in and then resold them to Host at a higher price, pocketing the difference.”
Former hotel broker Robert T. Koger was sentenced Tuesday to 11 years in prison for orchestrating a series of fraudulent schemes resulting in more than $55 million in losses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia.
Koger, 48, served as president and sole owner of Molinaro Koger, a hotel real estate brokerage firm in Vienna. According to court records, charges against the 48-year-old were tied to various schemes, including a pair that cost Host Hotels & Resorts more than $22 million.
For more: http://wapo.st/1pNSO7V
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“…The Wheat and Renta families, in the area for a local softball tournament, were among at least 14 people who became sick with flu-like symptoms including difficulty breathing, elevated temperature,
body aches, dizziness, headaches, and chills, according to the suit…Legionnaires disease is typically contracted by inhaling or ingesting Legionella bacteria. The bacteria can also cause related illness, such as Pontiac fever, pneumonia, and other serious and sometimes permanent health conditions…”
Montgomery law firm Beasley-Allen has filed a personal injury lawsuit on behalf of two Jefferson County families, who the suit contends contracted Legionnaires disease while staying at the Sleep Inn & Suites in Millbrook.
Clayton Wheat and Tony Renta, along with several members of a girls’ softball team, became ill and several tested positive for Legionnaires disease after a weekend stay at the Sleep Inn & Suites, according to the suit filed by the Beasley Allen Law Firm in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.
For more: http://on.mgmadv.com/1mR4GRC
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