What is Hotel Security?
Hotel security is the ability of a hotel to maintain the safety and security of guests, staff, and assets against risks such as criminal activity, natural disasters, and hazards that can result in death, injury, or damage to property.
What is a Hotel Security Checklist?
A hotel security checklist is a tool used by hotel security officers to inspect a hotel in order to assess its security measures against risks. Conducting regular hotel security inspections using hotel security checklists will help prevent any breach in hotel security that can lead to repercussions such as litigation, costly penalties, and serious damage to reputation.
The Hotel’s 3 Key Security Aspects
Hotel security aims to secure the safety of the hotel premises, guests, and staff—the very same source of security risks that should be checked. Here are the 3 key security aspects of hotels to focus on during inspections.
Hotel Security Aspect #1: Hotel premises
This includes the outside and inside of the hotel that should be secure round the clock. Ensure that the hotel’s walls or fencing and entry points are able to secure the hotel grounds from unintended access. Parking space ideally should have ample space and lighting to avoid accidents and should be checked for possible suspicious vehicles and activities. Hazardous substances must be kept in appropriate containers and stored in designated places according to regulations.
Hotel Security Aspect #2: Security measures
The hotel’s CCTV, alarms, sensors and sprinklers, communication, restrictions in place for access to information, warning signs, and other hotel security measures should be checked to ensure that they are still effective in helping maintain the security of the hotel and working round the clock. The hotel should also be prudent in handling guest information and be careful with sharing any hotel information or giving access to third parties. The hotel’s premises and security measures should be inspected regularly by hotel loss prevention officers to ensure security and discover possible security risks.
Hotel Security Aspect #3: People
This includes the hotel staff, guests, and anyone within the vicinity of the hotel and those that can have access to customer and hotel information. Staff at the front desk should always be available, have a good view of the premises, and be able to quickly relay information to proper departments that can address emergency situations. Hotel staff should be provided with sufficient training in identifying suspicious activity and handling persons, including hotel guests, who may pose as safety and security risk to other guests and hotel staff.
These 3 security aspects are included in hotel security checklists and ideally looked after regularly.
Tips to Engage Hotel Staff in Maintaining Hotel Security
Maintaining hotel security is a year-round shared responsibility of all hotel staff and not just by hotel security officers or hotel loss prevention officers. Here are tips to engage all hotel employees in maintaining hotel security.
Get employee buy-in
Employees that are aware of the gravity of hotel security can be more wary of possible security risks and more proactive in reporting suspicious activity. Keep hotel staff in the loop of areas of improvement discovered during audits to help inculcate a sense of ownership and responsibility in keeping the hotel safe.
Gather information
Conducting internal audits is a means to not only observe the current status of hotel security but also to gather information that can be used to improve staff competency and highlight best practices.
Give proper training and recognition
Information gathered from audits can be analyzed and included in employee onboarding and staff refresher trainings. Staff that demonstrated best practices in maintaining hotel security can be recognized during employee recognition events to encourage everyone in doing the same.
