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What do hotels need to update to keep their guests safe?

On Behalf of | Oct 26, 2018 | Personal Injury |

Hotels are arguably one of the most crucial parts towards a safe and relaxing vacation or business trip. The owners are responsible for providing a sufficient location for a guest to sleep overnight and keep their valuables in as they do what they need to do in the city.

However, hotels are also common areas for injuries to happen. Someone could slip on the puddle in the lobby, receive a beating outside the entrance circle or find their luggage and passport missing from their room. Most of these instances are preventable with the right security devices and protocols placed by the hotels, but some locations either lack these or use outdated versions. It is important to know if your place has any of these in place to determine if they are liable for certain injuries.

Locks and keys

You never know who is roaming around the hallways where your room is in. While the top hotel chains feature the key-card system to prevent break ins, not all locations want to pay the money to implement this newer system. In the event this happens, Hotel Online recommends the staff of these buildings do the following:

  • Avoid putting the room number of hotel name on the key
  • Try not to say the guest’s room number out loud if there are others near
  • Keep a record of how many keys are for each room and when they were made
  • Rekey areas that could be at risk
  • Keep lost keys out of sight from the other guests

Housekeepers that clean the rooms also need to check to make sure the room is completely locked once they are done cleaning it. If the thief does not have a key, this tends to be a common way they break into rooms.

Proper lighting

While the hotel can provide a wet floor sign to warn you of slippery surfaces, it is still liable as any other building when it comes to inadequate lighting. The hotel must make sure all of the surrounding area around it has proper lighting to help guests properly navigate to help the guest avoid falling or getting robbed.

Crimes that occur near a hotel will often happen in areas that are poorly lit. Given how many hours in the day that the hotel’s staff operates around the premises, having a dim light-bulb in a popular area that has had crime reports is inexcusable.

Security cameras

If a hotel refuses to pay money for security guards to look over the lobby, then they should at least install properly functioning cameras to record any potential suspicious activity on their property. Business service company Cintas recommends hotels to invest in activity-activated cameras to issue alerts or hiring a third-party to monitor the cameras. That way, the staff can respond immediately, or they can help identify a person that attacked the guest using the cameras. However, while a large majority of hotels operate with camera systems, some have blind spots on their property that criminals could easily take advantage of.

Before you book your stay, it might be safe to ask the hotel staff if they have these and more safety protocols in place. It can be frightening to be attacked or robbed in unfamiliar territory, and hotels need to step up their security measures to prevent those instances from occurring. If you believe the hotel was negligent in their approach and liable for your damages, a personal injury attorney can help you prove it and acquire compensation in the courtroom.

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