Hilton Birmingham Metropole {GBR}
Jul 29, 2010, 2:18 pm
#61
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Why does it matter if it was 4am on the dot? You think the hotel deliberately triggered an alarm cuz they get their jollies having folk exit & then decided to come up w/ something wrong in one of the rooms to cover their tracks? Would it have mattered if it had been 3am on the dot?
Well, lesson learnt for sure... but if it is a real alarm no way you can spend time around with anything. I took it too serious for sure but you never know.
Jul 29, 2010, 2:40 pm
#62
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I think the cause of the alarm is worth following up with the hotel. If it was a 'real' alarm there's no come back. If their alarm had a fault there is. The arrival of just one Fire Engine indicates the latter.
bmifly
bmifly
Jul 29, 2010, 2:41 pm
#63
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Second, ALWAYS take the 10-30 seconds to put your shoes on. Besides your footsies being cold outside in this instance (although not as bad as winter), you could step on something in hallway or fire stairs & cut your feet, burn them, etc, etc, which would then slow you down in evacuating, the opposite of what you want to achieve especially w/ babies.
If anything, the lesson is to have your shoes (and wallet & cell phone) close to the bed so you can grab them, spouse/better half, the babies & hightail it out of there faster (walking, not running).
While the hotel & fire dept doesn't want you dwadling, most times the 30 seoncs to 1.5 minutes to put on shoes, a coat, grab the wallet won't matter. Doesn't mean you should pack up or get fully dressed, but unless the fire is next door you've got a few seconds.
Some FTers as noted in the thread I linked to put everything they'd need in one spot in the hotel room before they go to bed. I've not done that, but it's probably not a bad idea.
BTW - the sharp timing was probably just coincidence. The one thing that isn't is that Murphy's Law says the alarms will always go off in the middle of the night.
Now - on to important things. It's rather a rule of thumb that the firemen are always goodlooking, at least in the US. Does that hold true for the UK? I realize you might have been more concerned about the babies, but thought I'd check
Cheers.
Jul 29, 2010, 3:52 pm
#64
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First, there is no such thing as taking it too serious. You never know.
Second, ALWAYS take the 10-30 seconds to put your shoes on. Besides your footsies being cold outside in this instance (although not as bad as winter), you could step on something in hallway or fire stairs & cut your feet, burn them, etc, etc, which would then slow you down in evacuating, the opposite of what you want to achieve especially w/ babies.
If anything, the lesson is to have your shoes (and wallet & cell phone) close to the bed so you can grab them, spouse/better half, the babies & hightail it out of there faster (walking, not running).
While the hotel & fire dept doesn't want you dwadling, most times the 30 seoncs to 1.5 minutes to put on shoes, a coat, grab the wallet won't matter. Doesn't mean you should pack up or get fully dressed, but unless the fire is next door you've got a few seconds.
Some FTers as noted in the thread I linked to put everything they'd need in one spot in the hotel room before they go to bed. I've not done that, but it's probably not a bad idea.
BTW - the sharp timing was probably just coincidence. The one thing that isn't is that Murphy's Law says the alarms will always go off in the middle of the night.
Now - on to important things. It's rather a rule of thumb that the firemen are always goodlooking, at least in the US. Does that hold true for the UK? I realize you might have been more concerned about the babies, but thought I'd check
Cheers.
Second, ALWAYS take the 10-30 seconds to put your shoes on. Besides your footsies being cold outside in this instance (although not as bad as winter), you could step on something in hallway or fire stairs & cut your feet, burn them, etc, etc, which would then slow you down in evacuating, the opposite of what you want to achieve especially w/ babies.
If anything, the lesson is to have your shoes (and wallet & cell phone) close to the bed so you can grab them, spouse/better half, the babies & hightail it out of there faster (walking, not running).
While the hotel & fire dept doesn't want you dwadling, most times the 30 seoncs to 1.5 minutes to put on shoes, a coat, grab the wallet won't matter. Doesn't mean you should pack up or get fully dressed, but unless the fire is next door you've got a few seconds.
Some FTers as noted in the thread I linked to put everything they'd need in one spot in the hotel room before they go to bed. I've not done that, but it's probably not a bad idea.
BTW - the sharp timing was probably just coincidence. The one thing that isn't is that Murphy's Law says the alarms will always go off in the middle of the night.
Now - on to important things. It's rather a rule of thumb that the firemen are always goodlooking, at least in the US. Does that hold true for the UK? I realize you might have been more concerned about the babies, but thought I'd check
Cheers.
Unless your life is in immediate danger, ALWAYS take 60 seconds to put on shoes, a jacket (if it's cold), grab your wallet/purse/passport, and bundle up your children. In fact, it's a good idea to be prepared in advance for this. This is the same advice given in college dorms/residences to the college students.
Aug 3, 2010, 7:42 am
#65
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Unfortunately I had no chance to check how good looking the firemen were...
In the meantime the hotel got back to me saying the alarm went off due to refurbisment in one of their meeting rooms. The dust accumulated so much it triggered the alarm so they had to evacuate and check.
Is it acceptable for vis-major? It is obviously not an alarm from a "bedroom" as the front desk lady earlier indicated so they cant blame it on a third party. Also as one of you mentioned before, it could be isolated by sections to alarm parts of bigger buildings and officer on duty to check quickly which sensor indicated the event and for what reason before they call the whole fire department and evacuate the whole building.
In the meantime the hotel got back to me saying the alarm went off due to refurbisment in one of their meeting rooms. The dust accumulated so much it triggered the alarm so they had to evacuate and check.
Is it acceptable for vis-major? It is obviously not an alarm from a "bedroom" as the front desk lady earlier indicated so they cant blame it on a third party. Also as one of you mentioned before, it could be isolated by sections to alarm parts of bigger buildings and officer on duty to check quickly which sensor indicated the event and for what reason before they call the whole fire department and evacuate the whole building.
Aug 3, 2010, 9:37 am
#66
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Unfortunately I had no chance to check how good looking the firemen were...
In the meantime the hotel got back to me saying the alarm went off due to refurbisment in one of their meeting rooms. The dust accumulated so much it triggered the alarm so they had to evacuate and check.
Is it acceptable for vis-major? It is obviously not an alarm from a "bedroom" as the front desk lady earlier indicated so they cant blame it on a third party. Also as one of you mentioned before, it could be isolated by sections to alarm parts of bigger buildings and officer on duty to check quickly which sensor indicated the event and for what reason before they call the whole fire department and evacuate the whole building.
In the meantime the hotel got back to me saying the alarm went off due to refurbisment in one of their meeting rooms. The dust accumulated so much it triggered the alarm so they had to evacuate and check.
Is it acceptable for vis-major? It is obviously not an alarm from a "bedroom" as the front desk lady earlier indicated so they cant blame it on a third party. Also as one of you mentioned before, it could be isolated by sections to alarm parts of bigger buildings and officer on duty to check quickly which sensor indicated the event and for what reason before they call the whole fire department and evacuate the whole building.
The front desk clerk might have been told it was a bedroom, and it was only after you checked out that she might have been told it was a conference room, which you found out when the hotel got back to you at a later date. I'm still boggled by you actually contacting them to find out what happened. I'm in the who cares camp. If it was a fire I'd obviously know; if it wasn't, then I don't care what caused it, just let me get back to sleep. I'm sure neither the contractor nor the hotel anticipated the accumulating dust to an extent that it would trigger an alarm, and yes it would be a 3rd party - ie, the refurbishment contractor.
In the case of a fire alarm, a hotel is always (properly IMO) going to err on the side of caution re: its guests & evacuation. Sorry you were inconvenienced, but would you really want to be in a hotel that decided to check things out before contacting the fire dept while possibly a real fire is happening & spreading? And btw, they can spread pretty quickly.
As far as I know, most hotel alarm systems are tied into the closest fire station when alarms are tripped. I don't think it requires a manual call, although that might be a back-up. Also, when a fire alarm goes off it goes off because the sensor thinks a fire IS occurring & something, regardless of what it was - real or dust, triggered the sensor. Once the fire dept is involved they have to do the sign-off on folk back into a building.
I'm now waiting for a thread that says the fire alarm went off & the hotel didn't evacuate the guests, putting us in potential jeopardy, should I ask for compensation or sue them
Again, be glad it wasn't a real fire, be glad it wasn't winter, and just move on.
Cheers.
Aug 3, 2010, 2:52 pm
#67
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Thanks Sharon and everyone for the useful advices.
It was not the first time it happened to me, I had a similar case at Fairmont in Vancouver when someone smashed in the fire alarm glass outside on the street, but usually it happens when I am on business trip. This time with little kids it was not so funny and was a bit upset obviously.
Will take all the good recommendations and will be prepared better in the future.
Thank you
It was not the first time it happened to me, I had a similar case at Fairmont in Vancouver when someone smashed in the fire alarm glass outside on the street, but usually it happens when I am on business trip. This time with little kids it was not so funny and was a bit upset obviously.
Will take all the good recommendations and will be prepared better in the future.
Thank you
Sep 19, 2010, 3:31 pm
#68
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 2
Hi All.
Ok let me start by saying i work for the Hilton and at that hotel in particular
and ill just explain the situation. im a manager so at times i am in charge of the hotel and in such cases am in charge of the fire alarms.
if one of the sensors goes off a quiet alarm sounds to just staff in which case we go and check the area and the panel and are alerted if it is a real fire, if it is we go into full evacuation, if not we say false alarm and nobody gets woken up or anything. if its is checked and there is a fire, we press a big red button and whole hotel has to evacuate cause then the threat is real and even if it is secluded the law (and our common sense) tells us that this is a threat to our guests safety which is the the top priority at the hotel. however, if it is more than one sensor which is activated it means that the smoke/heat area is not contained which means that more than likely it is either a real fire which is spreading or that the area at risk is larger than just one sensor,
once the hotel is in full evac we HAVE to have fire men come and check it in case it is a invisible issue such as a electrical fault etc.
although fire alarms can be an inconvenience we never ever take them lightly, i would always rather evacuate the whole hotel for a false alarm than call of the fire brigade or treat an alarm lightly and have any one of my guests in danger.
that would have been the reason even though one fire engine turned up they still had to evacuate the whole building. it was just coincidence that it was 4am sharp.
i hope this clears up things a little more and also explains why the hotel system works as it does, the hotel never does anything to inconvenience the guest unless it is absolutely necessary
i hope that other than the VERY early wake up call the rest of your stay was satisfactory
Anna
Ok let me start by saying i work for the Hilton and at that hotel in particular
and ill just explain the situation. im a manager so at times i am in charge of the hotel and in such cases am in charge of the fire alarms.
if one of the sensors goes off a quiet alarm sounds to just staff in which case we go and check the area and the panel and are alerted if it is a real fire, if it is we go into full evacuation, if not we say false alarm and nobody gets woken up or anything. if its is checked and there is a fire, we press a big red button and whole hotel has to evacuate cause then the threat is real and even if it is secluded the law (and our common sense) tells us that this is a threat to our guests safety which is the the top priority at the hotel. however, if it is more than one sensor which is activated it means that the smoke/heat area is not contained which means that more than likely it is either a real fire which is spreading or that the area at risk is larger than just one sensor,
once the hotel is in full evac we HAVE to have fire men come and check it in case it is a invisible issue such as a electrical fault etc.
although fire alarms can be an inconvenience we never ever take them lightly, i would always rather evacuate the whole hotel for a false alarm than call of the fire brigade or treat an alarm lightly and have any one of my guests in danger.
that would have been the reason even though one fire engine turned up they still had to evacuate the whole building. it was just coincidence that it was 4am sharp.
i hope this clears up things a little more and also explains why the hotel system works as it does, the hotel never does anything to inconvenience the guest unless it is absolutely necessary
i hope that other than the VERY early wake up call the rest of your stay was satisfactory
Anna
Sep 19, 2010, 3:36 pm
#69
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 2
Also can i just say that when an alarm goes off we all react very quickly, between the first alarm activating,us getting to the cause, calling the fire brigade and knowing if we have to full evac OR shut the alarm off we are given 90seconds, that how much time we have between the quiet alarm and the hotel automatically evacuating so we work very quickly and always try and minimise the impact to our guests
Sep 19, 2010, 4:56 pm
#70
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Also can i just say that when an alarm goes off we all react very quickly, between the first alarm activating,us getting to the cause, calling the fire brigade and knowing if we have to full evac OR shut the alarm off we are given 90seconds, that how much time we have between the quiet alarm and the hotel automatically evacuating so we work very quickly and always try and minimise the impact to our guests
David
Sep 19, 2010, 5:12 pm
#71
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AND check for smoke under the door, and by feeling the door for heat before opening. Nobody wants to run out into a raging inferno - it can spoil the rest of your stay, unless you love burn units and are lucky.
(Not to mention, for safety, don't stay on the first floor, and for fire safety in some less than developed locations, not higher than sixth or seventh floor, not higher, where ordinary fire ladders can not reach.)
bongalina, welcome to FlyerTalk, and thanks for your contribution to this discussion. I'd rather be inconvenienced than dead.
(Not to mention, for safety, don't stay on the first floor, and for fire safety in some less than developed locations, not higher than sixth or seventh floor, not higher, where ordinary fire ladders can not reach.)
bongalina, welcome to FlyerTalk, and thanks for your contribution to this discussion. I'd rather be inconvenienced than dead.
+1
Unless your life is in immediate danger, ALWAYS take 60 seconds to put on shoes, a jacket (if it's cold), grab your wallet/purse/passport, and bundle up your children. In fact, it's a good idea to be prepared in advance for this. This is the same advice given in college dorms/residences to the college students.
Unless your life is in immediate danger, ALWAYS take 60 seconds to put on shoes, a jacket (if it's cold), grab your wallet/purse/passport, and bundle up your children. In fact, it's a good idea to be prepared in advance for this. This is the same advice given in college dorms/residences to the college students.
Sep 20, 2010, 1:52 am
#72
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Also can i just say that when an alarm goes off we all react very quickly, between the first alarm activating,us getting to the cause, calling the fire brigade and knowing if we have to full evac OR shut the alarm off we are given 90seconds, that how much time we have between the quiet alarm and the hotel automatically evacuating so we work very quickly and always try and minimise the impact to our guests
As stated earlier, fire alarms happened before to me as well but this is Murphy's law, things go wrong on holiday. I, myself, was stpd to ran down in pyjama on barefoot and being with very little kids made it even more upsetting and just the fact it was at 4am sharp made it a bit suspicious for me... that's it.
I learnt a lot of stuff from the replies, thank you very much again. No idea why I didnt figure these out before, some sound really obvious.
Stay in the hotel was excellent, thank you, Drayton Manor package rulez!!!
Sep 20, 2010, 3:49 am
#73
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Anna,
You said you send someone to the area of the alarm to determine if there is a fire, and if not, there is no evacuation. So, why was there an evacuation in the OP's case?
You said you send someone to the area of the alarm to determine if there is a fire, and if not, there is no evacuation. So, why was there an evacuation in the OP's case?
Sep 21, 2010, 12:39 am
#74
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Thank you mvoight, it is a very good point actually... so there was or was not a fire in the hotel? At the end it may turn out it was an unneccessary drill indeed and could have been avoided.
Dec 7, 2010, 3:58 pm
#75
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...
stayed there this past weekend, 12/4-12/5.
THIS IS A TYPICAL CONVENTION TYPE HOTEL PROPERTY.
That said, expect people running by your door at all hours of the night, expect makeout sessions in the elevators and expect, for lack of a better word, "blah" service from the front desk staff.
Checked in at 4pm. No upgraded rooms available - which I think wasn't truthful - i think they do not upgrade reward stays (just my opinion though - i base this on the expressions from the clerk and that she talked to other clerks before telling me "no").
Diamond benefit due to non-upgrade was a choice of a cheese platter, fruit platter, or something else - which, when I finally got room service to understand, was a bowl of 4 strawberries, an apple and a banana.
Rooms are typical YUK. Small, but tidy and clean.
Internet speed was about 90kbps, and free (diamond/gold benefit i'm sure).
went to concert (Gatecrasher) got back at 4am. Tons of drunks throughout the hotel - didn't bother me, I was drunk too. Cab fare into town, one-way, 40 pounds (ouch).
Executive lounge is quite nice. Top shelf booze - and free. Snacks in the lounge were also quite good - had smoked salmon bites and chicken wings, both were very tasty.
Staff in the Exec Lounge was friendly and cordial. Not stuffy at all. Probably seating for about 25 or so in the lounge.
I was to get free B'fast at one of the places downstairs - but we had an early flight out... so can't review it for you.
We did have dinner in one of the pubs - Millers I think..55 pounds for 2 fish and chips and 4 beers... ouch!... but tasty. I think the ketchup adds 1 pound per order, so be advised.
Ferry Corsten rocked Gatecrasher btw... so I will definitely stay here again, but only for another trance show at GC.
THIS IS A TYPICAL CONVENTION TYPE HOTEL PROPERTY.
That said, expect people running by your door at all hours of the night, expect makeout sessions in the elevators and expect, for lack of a better word, "blah" service from the front desk staff.
Checked in at 4pm. No upgraded rooms available - which I think wasn't truthful - i think they do not upgrade reward stays (just my opinion though - i base this on the expressions from the clerk and that she talked to other clerks before telling me "no").
Diamond benefit due to non-upgrade was a choice of a cheese platter, fruit platter, or something else - which, when I finally got room service to understand, was a bowl of 4 strawberries, an apple and a banana.
Rooms are typical YUK. Small, but tidy and clean.
Internet speed was about 90kbps, and free (diamond/gold benefit i'm sure).
went to concert (Gatecrasher) got back at 4am. Tons of drunks throughout the hotel - didn't bother me, I was drunk too. Cab fare into town, one-way, 40 pounds (ouch).
Executive lounge is quite nice. Top shelf booze - and free. Snacks in the lounge were also quite good - had smoked salmon bites and chicken wings, both were very tasty.
Staff in the Exec Lounge was friendly and cordial. Not stuffy at all. Probably seating for about 25 or so in the lounge.
I was to get free B'fast at one of the places downstairs - but we had an early flight out... so can't review it for you.
We did have dinner in one of the pubs - Millers I think..55 pounds for 2 fish and chips and 4 beers... ouch!... but tasty. I think the ketchup adds 1 pound per order, so be advised.
Ferry Corsten rocked Gatecrasher btw... so I will definitely stay here again, but only for another trance show at GC.