Originally Posted by
Busman6124
My wife and I were staying at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country the night of the fire and we're fortunate to have escaped with the clothes on our backs. None of the emergency equipment worked and the only way were alerted was by a person knocking on doors yelling get out the hotel is on fire. The Hilton has contacted us by email twice, in each message we were told how our safety was their number one priority which our experience seemed to say otherwise. The emails to me reeked of a legal disclaimer angle and just shows how a corporation looks out for their customers.
It's a tough call. What does every single person say about a fire or emergency? LEAVE! Don't sit there and pack up your belongings. Just get out.
There's been numerous stories in the past about people on airlines grabbing their carryons prior to going down the emergency slide, with many people reminding them that something like that is the worst thing they could've done. It slows down the evacuation process and luggage could possibly rip or tear the slides.
Without being there at the hotel, it's tough to say exactly what happened. I had considered a possibly was that the power grid was out for an entire area, which means that there was no power getting to the Hilton in the first place, which would explain the lack of lights and alarms.
Being that everyone got out without injury, with hotel employees probably verifying everyone got out, that does seem to indicate that they cared about your safety. What else did you want them to do?