What Do We Girls Want in Hotel Security?
 

I recently spoke with an ex-VP of Hilton Hotels. He said that women did not really want security items, such as cameras in the hallways of hotels, at least when he worked at Hilton (invasion of privacy, he said, was the reason).

This got me thinking about what we really do want. So ladies, what would you like to see in the way of hotel security (escort to your room,... cameras in the hall, ladies only floor, door jams, covered peepholes, etc.)? And is there anything you would not want to see, such as the hallway cameras?

I want them not to loudly say my room number when checking in and I don't want it mentioned loudly if I'm travelling alone.

Simple security steps some hotels can't manage -but are far more effective than cameras etc.

I have no issue with cameras if they are viewed in an area where the public can't see them! I don't want some shoe salesman to see me walking alone to my room.

What do I want?
 

1. Professionalism at the Front Desk. Never announce one's room but simply write it down on the INSIDE of the card key cover, not the outside.

2. A dead-bolted door, not just some flimsy thing that goes around a lock.

3. Well-lit hallways

4. A room near the elevators

5. Well-lit parking lots

I want:

1. A well maintained property. If hotel management doesn't care about how it looks, I feel it doesn't care about the safety of its customers.
2. A floor assignment off the ground floor. The GM at the Canberra Park Hyatt couldn't understand why I felt unsafe in a ground level room with an area outside the room door that had visual barriers. They had no other room and I was stuck in it.
3. A peephole in the room door big enough to see anyone outside
4. Hotel staff who announce themselves when they come to the room door
5. A secondary lock on the room door that I can visually see has secured it
6. Visual locks on balcony doors

In general, I think that mid to upper tier properties get it these days. I was really quite shocked then to be preblocked onto the ground floor at the Canberra Park Hyatt last year (as a top tier elite, no less). I truly felt edgy in the room because of the outside area that was like an alcove, and almost invisible to anyone else outside.

I don't really care about this stuff. I think it's a hassle when hotels make be go to the front desk to pick up delivery for my safety.

I just want a deadbolt. That's it.

Another vote for a deadbolt. I also prefer rooms that are not on the ground floor.

Carol: For anyone who missed Randy's announcement or doesn't check the blogs in Boarding Area, I'm wondering if you might like to introduce yourself here.

And a welcome to you.

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.

In general, I agree - except for the ground floor issue. As a woman, when I travel alone, I know I feel more vulnerable to rape/assault than my husband.

Being on the groud floor is an issue for me as well. The last time I was alone I ended up on the ground floor. It was the only room left. It was a room on an outside corner with big windows out to a patio when I walked out the door of my room. It freaked me out. I didn't sleep all night.

I like valet parking and give me a dead bolt too and I'm pretty much good to go.

Bobette

Not a girl thing, just a 5'2" thing: I would like a peephole low enough for me to actually use!

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.

I'm torn about the first floor thing. I don't mind the location, but I do hate it when housekeeping opens all the shades so I just have to close them right after I dead bolt. I wish they would leave them shut.

The way I feel about security guards: if you hire a cop to watch the hotel at night I almost wonder about the area of town i'm in. I'd rather stay at a hotel that doesn't need to hire a guard or a cop.

I don't really have an opinion about cameras in hallways. I don't always dress completely to go to the soda machine, but I wear enough that someone in the hall won't see anything they shouldn't.

Ahhh, yet another reason to like being above the ground floor. I hate having to close the curtains because passerbyers can peep right in.