European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 8, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Travel tips the practical trave Lerdon to forget to pack your a warning sense by Betsy Wade the new York times when it comes to safety in a hotel Many travellers have a Gap in their psychological Outlook they Are on vacation possibly someplace they know where they fee / comfortable but in any Case away from the familiar hurly Burly. Therefore nothing terrible can happen to them. This Quot vacation vacancy As one expert called it blows the fuse of travellers self protective devices and can be More dangerous than losing a hotel key leaving Luggage on the sidewalk or wearing lots of jewelry. What happened to a colleague and her husband is nearly a casebook example. The couple Are Well travelled new yorkers with antennae attuned to hazards ahead. They took the night flight to Manchester England and drove into Yorkshire. Unable to get into the hotel they had picked there they accepted a reference to a sister establishment also in the Michelin red Book a a Large older hotel solid looking but a bit worn around the edges and not air conditioned. They took a second floor room. Before going to bed Jet lagged and eager for Steep they opened one of three double Hung windows the one farthest from the bed. My colleague was feeling ill and could not sleep luckily As it turned out. Her husband thought he heard voices outside in any Case both sprang wide awake about Midnight when a hand holding a flashlight came through the window and curtains and swept the room with a Strong Light they shouted at the top of their lungs and switched on the Light. The hand vanished. A a /. The Cou pie looked out and saw a Flat rooftop extending just below their window. There was no sign of the intruder. After they called the desk the night manager and a Security guard appeared and the manager said the police were checking downstairs. An a examination outdoors revealed that a scaffold and a fire escape gave easy Access. The couple decided against changing rooms but there was no sleep that night and the vacation was marred by jitters. In telling the Story the colleague said it bad never occurred to them to Check window Access or worry part l of 2 about Security As they would have done in Rio Rome or new York. A a a a . Anthony g. Marshall a lawyer who is Dean of the school of hospitality management at Florida International University in Miami Points up the Impact of such an attitude Quot you re in England and you re at some grand old hotel and they give you a quaint old brass key. All part of the hotel s Charm you think. Well you would not tolerate that key at Home. You would want an electronic key card one without a number preferably one that is changed for every single guest. A Quot enjoying the quaint key is part of forgetting to pack your sixth sense your warning in the Case of my colleague s scare room selection and inspection were the issues. Most people reject a hotel s first floor if there Are rooms there As too unprotected. Second floor rooms with balconies or terraces Are often bypassed As Well. Other second floor rooms might prove unsecured if a thief could drive a car under the window and gain Access by stepping onto the car s roof. In Yorkshire the couple did not look out the window because their internal warning Bells had been muted. Quot on the third floor or higher Quot Marshall said Quot you feel pretty Safe and you probably Are but you should look out to the left and the right particularly for a nearby hallway that could give Access to your if the couple in Yorkshire had observed the unsecured window before unpacking the bes solution would have been to move to another room. Some travellers to Europe have described being hesitant to open windows without Grilles or barriers. Chad Callaghan head prof the Security committee of the american hotel Ana Motel association urges guests to ask for a room change if anything makes them uneasy Lack of proper ventilation too Long a walk from the elevator too High a floor. If there is no other room and the air is stifling then the window should be opened from the top not the Bottom. The $1.5 million lawsuit travellers Are aware of the dangers presented by a sliding door that gives onto a Balcony atrium or parking lot. The Long Metal removable bar that can keep the door from being opened became Standard in motels soon after Singer Connie Francis won $1.5 million from the Motel where she was raped in 1974. Many motels even those with no balconies now have windows that can be Slid / open Only wide enough for ventilation. Callaghan who is senior director of loss prevention for All Marriott lodgings said that the new Standard for Marriott is a window that opens Only 4 inches too narrow for a child s head. Older properties May allow wider openings so if the room seems unsecured another should be requested. Marshall cautioned travellers not to assume that overseas hotels bearing names familiar in the United states had the same criteria for safety and Security As those at Home. When you Book a room abroad ask if the room has air conditioning or How the windows Are made secure. A. A. / a a Small hotel the Security experts agreed is More secure than a Large one. Quot you can know All your guests and Are aware when you Don t recognize someone going to guest floors Quot said Callaghan. Quot also there Are fewer entrances to some of the Security values of a Small hotel can be sought in a big one by registering on a concierge floor. This May not be staffed 24 hours a Day but it s usually necessary to have a key card for that floor to get the elevator to open there. Callaghan recommended that anyone who feels uneasy in a Large hotel ask to be escorted to the room not just on registering but any time. He said that he considered this to be part of Standard services to guests and that tipping was not necessary but acknowledged that it might be appropriate if a Bellhop rather than a Security employee was the escort. Next increasing hotel Security ecologically responsible hotel it Means by Mim Swartz scrupps Howard news service i Don t change my sheets and towels every Day at Home so Why should i expect that to be done when i m on the Road in a hotel Ai suppose because i feel that i m spending Good Money for a room and if i Don t get clean sheets and towels daily what am i paying for perhaps i be been spoiled by that mentality As we All have which is Why i was a Little surprised initially when i walked into my room at the Canadian Pacific waterfront Centre hotel in i Vancouver British Columbia. A sign in the bathroom instructed us to throw to Frels we desired to be changed into the Bathtub otherwise those hanging would remain. Less laundry Means less water and Energy used. It it makes sense. So does the Blue wastebasket in the room with separate compartments for Glass tins paper and plastic. This is what is called Green Quot hotel. Canadian Pacific hotels and resorts has won numerous awards for its Success in Quot greening Quot each of its 26 hotels across Canada to make them More Quot Earth the hotel Chain even has a h hotels corporate manual for employees that lists practical measures the employees can implement. Up s program is believed to be the most ambitious of its kind in the hotel Industry. Most of what the Hotelier does to be Quot Green Quot is behind the scenes. For instance at various up hotels a wire hangers from dry cleaning Are re used. A leftover soap from guest rooms is redistributed to Charity. A ladybugs Are used in controlling aphids on Rose Bushes instead of commercial pesticide. A reusable Wicker laundry Valet baskets Are used for returning guest laundry instead of cardboard packing. A old Tow Els and face cloths Are used As rags old sheets Are sold to staff and old tablecloths Are Cut Down and made into napkins. Other hotels Are beginning to get into so Don t be surprised on your next trip if the hotel guest towels Are changed Only when they re really dirty. Just like at Home Mim Swartz is travel editor of the Rocky Mountain nows in Denver pocket change of a and when a the european Community uses its ecu currency Ali this Loose change will become obsolete to the meantime it s easy to accumulate these Quot mementos Quot from different european coun tries buy an inexpensive souvenir purse in each country to keep currency separate. You la also have a Keepsake from each country. A amps Michael Abrama september 8, 1994 stripes mjg sine 2 7
