From balancing access control with an inviting visitor atmosphere, to keeping assets secure in one of the most transient industries in the world, hotel security has their hands full juggling challenges that many industries don’t normally face. Below we discuss ways your hotel can maintain its welcoming customer service while ensuring guests, staff, and property are secure.
Access control may be one of the most important elements in hotel security. Your entire business model revolves around a transient population that demands the comfort and safety of home away from home to hundreds of guests all under one roof. Room keys have long been relegated to swipe cards that can be easily misplaced or deactivated, resulting in frustrated guests queuing up at the front desk for replacements. Since the advent of mobile access, hotels are now acknowledging the convenience of using guests’ smart phones as access keys and upgrading locks with technology that render key cards unnecessary. Smart phones and smart watches are among the devices most compatible with this new technology that offers a more personalized and fluid guest experience. With systems like this installed on hotel room doors, access to guest-only areas like fitness facilities and recreational areas (as well as solutions for employee-only zones), this form of access control is encouraging hotels to eliminate the waste and issues experienced with outdated access control methods.
While video surveillance is a wise investment in any hotel, many properties are still missing the mark in knowing what areas require it most. Focusing on the front desk, entry points, and lobby of the hotel, many are not investing in securing guest hallways, retail areas, service corridors, and dining areas. While maintaining guest privacy is important, hotel security departments should be getting an outside assessment of all public guest areas before calling their security integrator to ensure that theft, vandalism, or intruders posing as guests are spotted immediately and dealt with before they pose a threat to staff and other guests. With smart video analytic solutions available on the market today, hotels can have an added layer of security knowing that the system is identifying events and patterns as they occur, providing them with a better idea of areas that need attention.
While technology is advancing and new methods of securing your property are becoming more and more advanced, keep in mind some of the more basic methods that can be helpful in securing your property. Checking the perimeter fences of your property and making sure there are not any weak areas or places where intruders can easily climb over the fence can help prevent anyone from wandering onto the property. Securing any doors from the exterior that are not intended for guest use may be another way of blocking access and making sure the locks are tamper-proof.
Perhaps the most basic form of security, and one of the most intuitive, is enabling the people in your hotel to look for any potential threats. Front Desk agents can look out for guests trying to obtain a key card without any identification, passersby in the hall that look out of place or suspicious, and forming relationships between your hotel and local law enforcement will all benefit your property and offer additional security. Offer your staff efficient ways to communicate with one another while in public guest areas such as radios so they can easily relay information between each other and the security department in the event they see a threat.
The more secure your guest population feels, the more likely they will be to return to your hotel and recommend it to others. With travelers becoming more wary of their safety today, offering a safe haven where guests can enjoy themselves without worrying about their safety and the security of their belongings will benefit your safety and your business.