We recently had two separate stays at the Manila Marriott, and were indeed initially surprised at the intense security upon arrival... barricaded entrance, sniffing dogs, mirrors on posts to look under our taxi, as well as guards with automatic weapons. And all luggage gets X-rayed before entering the hotel and people through metal detectors.
I have no objection to this heightened security, and I assume that the there is a good reason to have it. I was wondering what other properties have this heavy security... I assume that most middle eastern destinations will have this. I have stayed at several Hong Kong Marriott properties, and there was no security at those locations.
We recently had two separate stays at the Manila Marriott, and were indeed initially surprised at the intense security upon arrival... barricaded entrance, sniffing dogs, mirrors on posts to look under our taxi, as well as guards with automatic weapons. And all luggage gets X-rayed before entering the hotel and people through metal detectors.
I have no objection to this heightened security, and I assume that the there is a good reason to have it. I was wondering what other properties have this heavy security... I assume that most middle eastern destinations will have this. I have stayed at several Hong Kong Marriott properties, and there was no security at those locations.
I made 2 or 3 trips to Manila in the late 1980s, right after Marcos was desposed. The hotels had that type of security back then. So did some restaurants, particularly in the Makati area.
When I was updating the exec lounge sticky I went to a lot of int'l properties websites & I think the Mexico City Reforma had the security listed on their homepage.
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Both the Marriotts in Cairo had some hefty security. They had armed security with dogs checking all cars driving up (and even had mirrors to check the underside of the cars as well. There were also armed security guards throughout the hotel public areas and they had metal detectors and baggage x-ray machines for anyone entering the building.
Note that this wasn't just a Marriott thing. We also stayed at the CityStar InterContinental. It had similar security before you could drive a car up to the main hotel building.
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FS Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) & the JW in Mumbai both have this style of security, where they search under the vehicle, make you pop the trunk, and then make the guest walk through a metal detector. Many other hotels in both those cities have something similar. Mumbai hotels especially have been on edge since the 2008 terrorist attacks in hotels there.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertS975
We recently had two separate stays at the Manila Marriott, and were indeed initially surprised at the intense security upon arrival... barricaded entrance, sniffing dogs, mirrors on posts to look under our taxi, as well as guards with automatic weapons. And all luggage gets X-rayed before entering the hotel and people through metal detectors.
I have no objection to this heightened security, and I assume that the there is a good reason to have it. I was wondering what other properties have this heavy security... I assume that most middle eastern destinations will have this. I have stayed at several Hong Kong Marriott properties, and there was no security at those locations.
A Filipino friend explained all of the heightened security checks at hotels, malls, restaurants, etc in Manila. He say there's really no need for it, but the industry employs tens of thousands of workers. It's all about the jobs...
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JW Bogota has a ton of bomb dogs, private security, and police in front. Fun hotel and wonderful city. IMHO level of security matches situation in Bogota from years ago...not today's city.
