Safety Should be a First Concern...

Given the past news that there was another attack in New York against a housekeeper in The Pierre Hotel (now a Taj Hotel,) again the maid a 44-year-old woman reported the incident and police were not notified immediately. I have spent time in both Housekeeping and Security in management positions with a luxury chain. This bothers me on two levels one as a Housekeeper; back when I was in Housekeeping I don’t believe we really had the issues we have today. Yes, there were some and we treated them as isolated incidents. From a Security perspective, even with a roving patrol it’s hard to be everywhere. Issues such as distance being traveled and use of elevators to get to the correct area could hamper the response time.



Are the panic buttons a good idea, will they work, who will monitor them, What if it gets bumped by accident, or worse yet, malfunctions. I think that Supervisors should inspect C/O rooms first, and be summoned immediately. This works if they have a pager, and roam their halls and not return to the office. The Executive Housekeeper and Rooms Division Director, Operations Manager, and General Manager need to take a more proactive approach to Housekeeping.


I recall when there was a disagreement over Weekend MOD duties, (I was a supervisor at the time) and it got so heated that the VP/GM took the weekend MOD duties himself to prove a point, and the Director of Operations released him from the meeting and kept all Managers behind. He made sure that no one had the weekend off, and on Mondays they had a meeting to review the Weekend notes, and address any shortcomings. Needless to say, I never saw so many Managers on a weekend before. He inspected rooms and was brutal, direct, and observant. Perhaps if “Executive Manager’s” took the time to walk the floors everyday, and inspect 1 or 2 rooms themselves, it will bolster the spirit of the back of the house. These are crucial times, and Managers need to be on the floor more than ever before. as a Owner of a Premier Luxury Brand once told me, “Nothing good ever happens in your office.”