Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Travel&Dining > Special Interest Travel > Women Travelers
Reload this Page >

What Do We Girls Want in Hotel Security?

What Do We Girls Want in Hotel Security?

Old Jan 8, 2010, 5:19 pm
  #16  
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: OKC/DFW
Programs: AA EXP/2 MM
Posts: 9,999
Originally Posted by Katja
but I have trouble with the idea that "Girls" (how many girls are really out there staying in hotels without their parents?) have different hotel security preferences than men.
Agreed. Preferences aside, I see no appreciable difference between the safety/security needs of men and women.

Originally Posted by Analise
Women are typically targetted more than men are so I don't think that one's feminism should be called into question when one wants to know what our preferences are.
It's hard to quantify since separate hotel crime statistics aren't kept by police departments, but I think it is naive to presume that men aren't also frequently targetted by criminals. It seems to me the underlying needs for a safe and secure property are the same for all travelers.
oklAAhoma is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2010, 5:30 pm
  #17  
Suspended
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: NYC
Programs: United 1K, HHonors Gold, MR Gold
Posts: 1,628
In addition to what others have mentioned I'd like key card access in the elevators for non-public floors - i.e. the only way you can get onto the 9th floor is if you're staying on the 9th floor. Maybe not essential everywhere but I think the practice should be more widespread than it is.
Kate_Canuck is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2010, 5:46 pm
  #18  
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: OKC/DFW
Programs: AA EXP/2 MM
Posts: 9,999
Originally Posted by Kate_Canuck
In addition to what others have mentioned I'd like key card access in the elevators for non-public floors - i.e. the only way you can get onto the 9th floor is if you're staying on the 9th floor. Maybe not essential everywhere but I think the practice should be more widespread than it is.
I wouldn't be opposed to non-public floors being restricted to keycard access by guests only, but I think limiting access by floor would be extremely inconvenient for many reasons.

Here's just one example. I often find myself on the floor with the out-of-order ice machine and/or no vending machines. Under your proposal I wouldn't be able to just pop up (or down) a level to get what I need.
oklAAhoma is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2010, 9:18 pm
  #19  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,103
The primary crime at hotels is theft, which seems pretty indiscriminate in terms of gender. But another crime that happens at hotels is sexual assault up to and including rape. Outside of prison, that crime would have women as the victims more frequently than men.
GUWonder is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2010, 9:22 pm
  #20  
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: DAY
Programs: AAdvantage
Posts: 18
Originally Posted by Analise
Why even use the word "men" when women are referred to as "girls"?

Women are typically targetted more than men are so I don't think that one's feminism should be called into question when one wants to know what our preferences are.

The avoidance of the ground floor is also upon which I request and always get. I would think that males would want that too if not for security than for the fact that the ground floor is often louder than upper floors.
Interesting. I usually prefer the ground floor and I'm a 'girl' (isn't that like saying guy for men? ). I consider the risk of fire at a hotel to be as great or greater than other security problems, and a ground floor room would allow you to go out the window without breaking a leg (or worse). I stayed at the Hilton in Austin a couple of years ago and was on the 25th floor. I kept wondering the whole week how I would get out if there was a major fire, whether the fire department had ladders that would reach that high, and how they would get me out onto said ladder (given I have a pronounced fear of heights they would probably have to hogtie me first).

allenfane
allenfane is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2010, 1:39 am
  #21  
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,967
Originally Posted by Katja
Maybe it's my US feminist upbringing, but I have trouble with the idea that "Girls" (how many girls are really out there staying in hotels without their parents?) have different hotel security preferences than men.
Maybe it's my German feminist upbringing, but I stopped being a 'girl' at the time that one began to address me as 'Sie'.

(yes, the thread title irked me and drew me in)

And I prefer not to have a ground floor room, but I know many men who feel the same way. Often those rooms are noisier due to passing foot traffic, proximity to public areas, and/or have car lights shining into them.
exbayern is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2010, 9:12 am
  #22  
Senior Moderator; Moderator, Eco-Conscious Travel, United and Flyertalk Cares
 
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Fulltime travel/mostly Europe
Programs: UA 1.7 MM;; Accor & Marriott Pt; Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 17,823
Originally Posted by allenfane
I'm a 'girl' (isn't that like saying guy for men? ).
I think it would be like saying 'boys' for men.

Word choice aside, I do appreciate a phone call when I have a package being delivered so I know someone will be coming up who is part of the hotel staff. I also like to stay on keyed-floors. I often select smaller hotels where I know the staff will come to know/recognize patrons after a day and ask to see room keys from those they don't recognize.

Cameras in the hall I see as a positive, not a negative. And whether I can see them or not, I assume they are always there.
l etoile is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2010, 12:13 pm
  #23  
Community Director Emerita
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,681
OK, I thought of one more thing. I'm not fond of hotels with super long corridors and turns in them. I feel more secure when I can see the entire corridor and if anything was untoward, simply return to the elevator.

Having said that, I've spent most of my adult career traveling for business and pleasure, averaging perhaps two weeks a month on the road over those years. The quality of property I stay in has risen substantially over the years. I can still remember a wretched property I stayed at in Dayton, Ohio, while on business, with room doors opening to the parking lot and the motel filled with rough and tumble truckers. That kind of property still exists, but without me as a customer.

Today, I really don't think much about personal security because it is obvious thru hotel design that hotel management IS thinking about that. My experience at the Canberra Hyatt last year and the dismissive attitude by the GM of my safety concerns is fortunately an anomoly.
SanDiego1K is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2010, 6:58 pm
  #24  
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: LAX
Posts: 209
Originally Posted by allenfane
Interesting. I usually prefer the ground floor and I'm a 'girl' (isn't that like saying guy for men? ).
Originally Posted by l'etoile
I think it would be like saying 'boys' for men.
The feminine of "guy" would be "gal." But you don't hear that much outside the deep south.
OffToOz is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2010, 8:58 pm
  #25  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Greater DC
Programs: UA plus
Posts: 12,943
What I look for (not saying the room # is generic and should be basic policy, not gender specific)

- Room doors on the inside
- Not a ground floor room when there is access from the outside, e.g. if the ground drops outside the window, that's fine but if its a walk out - no good
- Well lit parking lot, hallways, etc
- Responsiveness on the part of hotel security/staff should something get reported (suspicious people hanging out in the hallways; unlocked doors to the outside that should be locked, etc)
- Deadbolt on the door
- Locks and the bar for a sliding glass door if I have one.
- No connecting rooms

Oh and nice fluffy towels and decent shampoo

Last edited by GoingAway; Jan 10, 2010 at 8:38 am Reason: b/c MichaelCharlie reminded me that I hate connecting rooms
GoingAway is offline  
Old Jan 10, 2010, 8:03 am
  #26  
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: somewhere under the rainbow
Posts: 295
My security-related preferences:

  • Do not give me a room on a ground floor that can be accessed through an easily-broken window
  • Do not put me in a room that connects with another room (such as the companion room next to the handicap room)
  • Don't tell me my room number
  • Don't ask me if there is 'just one?' especially if there isn't a charge based on number of people in the room
  • Provide me with an in-room safe that is big enough to hold something, and let me set the security code for it
MichaelCharlie is offline  
Old Jan 10, 2010, 11:56 am
  #27  
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: LAX
Posts: 209
Originally Posted by MichaelCharlie
My security-related preferences:

  • Don't ask me if there is 'just one?' especially if there isn't a charge based on number of people in the room
Along these lines, whenever I'm asked "How many keys?" I always ask for two.
OffToOz is offline  
Old Jan 10, 2010, 11:57 am
  #28  
Senior Moderator; Moderator, Eco-Conscious Travel, United and Flyertalk Cares
 
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Fulltime travel/mostly Europe
Programs: UA 1.7 MM;; Accor & Marriott Pt; Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 17,823
Ditto on disliking the adjoining rooms.


Originally Posted by OffToOz
The feminine of "guy" would be "gal." But you don't hear that much outside the deep south.
Yes, I think in most parts "guys" has come to be inclusive of both genders ... like saying, "Hi guys" to a mixed crowd.

Last edited by l etoile; Jan 10, 2010 at 12:05 pm
l etoile is offline  
Old Jan 11, 2010, 9:27 am
  #29  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Okanagan, BC (usually YLW)
Programs: WS Platinum 18K so far this year
Posts: 418
I dislike adjoining rooms, but more for noise than security. The two are related though, because I know I feel far more self conscious raising noise issues when I'm travelling on my own.

I would pay extra for a hotel with a "quiet floor", where there were penalties (financial, like the smoking in non-smoking room penalties) for noise. I seem to always get put beside the convention/corporate function groups (or once, in a high end hotel, a juvenile hockey team ).
tlvancouver is offline  
Old Jan 11, 2010, 12:10 pm
  #30  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 55,189
Originally Posted by oklAAhoma
I think it is naive to presume that men aren't also frequently targetted by criminals. It seems to me the underlying needs for a safe and secure property are the same for all travelers.
Responding to a question here in this forum about what our safety preferences are somehow presumes to you that men are not concerned with safety? That conclusion seems as bizarre as wondering if one's feminism should be called into question by responding to that same question. My concern about safety is only about my concern for safety. No other weight attached.

Originally Posted by allenfane
Interesting. I usually prefer the ground floor and I'm a 'girl'.
You're not a 'woman' but merely a 'girl'?

I consider the risk of fire at a hotel to be as great or greater than other security problems, and a ground floor room would allow you to go out the window without breaking a leg (or worse).
Makes sense to me if that is what is important to you. Who said women are supposed to be in lockstep with what we prefer for safety?

I don't live on the ground floor of my building nor would I stay in a hotel's ground floor for the exact same reason. Your concern about fire is as important to you as mine is about privacy in being high up.

Originally Posted by OffToOz
Along these lines, whenever I'm asked "How many keys?" I always ask for two.
That's interesting. I like that.
Analise is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.