In an article that may soon appear in the newspaper you deliver to your guests, the USA Today is reporting that Hotel Crime Rises In Recession. The article can be found on USA Today’s website.  The article says that tough times cause people to do desperate things.  The article also blames hotels for reducing security staff during the recession or having them do other things such as deliver room service or help with housekeeping requests.  The article provides some good recommendations to improve security such as:

1. Require all employees to politely confront non-guests in hallways and ask them if they need assistance.
2. Keep room number private (the article mentions breakfast servers asking for guest’s room numbers).
3. Limiting access to guest floors to only guests.

In addition, we recommend:

1. Have a consistent policy on how GSAs handle lost or non-working guest room keys.
2. Inspect all guest room doors to make sure they automatically close and lock from a 45-degree angle.
3. Do a complete background check on every employee before you hire them.  Conduct safety and security training before new employee’s first day on the job.
4. Do a quarterly security training at your all-employee meeting.  Be sure to include employees from areas that you outsource such as parking and security.
5. Make sure guest areas such as guest room elevators and floors, swimming pools, and fitness centers can only be accessed by guest room keys.