ust how safe and secure are U.S.
hotels? According to a new study by the Center for Hospitality
Research (CHR) at Cornell University, which looked at 2,123
properties, the level of safety and security is uneven at best. Its
report reveals differences across property size, age, price segment
and property type.
The CHR's study defines safety as hotel considerations that
protect people. Security factors embrace the protection of hotel
property and the possessions of guests.
Safety equipment includes such items as sprinklers and smoke
detectors, while security includes the presence of electronic locks
and cameras. As part of the study, the higher the hotel's score on
each measured index, the greater its level of safety and
security.
When examining price segment, luxury hotels receive the safest
rating (82) and tie with upscale hotels for the highest security
rating (79).
Midprice, full-service hotels perform the worst in safety (65)
and economy hotels perform the worst in security (66).
Further, the study revealed there is a direct correlation
between the age of a hotel and its safety/security ratings. For
example, hotels that were constructed less than seven years ago are
the safest and most secure, (79/76) while those constructed 29 or
more years ago are by far the least safe and secure (57/47).
It might surprise you to learn that hotels at airport locations
get higher safety/security ratings (77/78) than any other location
-- including resorts, which have extraordinarily low ratings
(61/46). The study cited the lack of security cameras and
electronic locks at some resorts among the reasons for these low
scores.
All-suite hotels, conference or convention lodging,
extended-stay and standard hotels all score well on safety issues
(76, 73, 68, 73), while bed-and-breakfasts or small inns; motels;
and villas and condominiums do not (58, 57, 55). It should be noted
that the villa and condo category scores very poorly on security
issues, as well (28).
Perhaps contrary to conventional wisdom, it's the largest hotels
(those with 250 of more rooms) that are the most safe and secure
(79/76). Smaller, boutique hotels or bed-and-breakfasts score the
lowest (48/25).
It should be noted that there is an important flaw in this
research: The indexes that were constructed focus on the presence
-- or lack thereof -- of various features, and not on the
effectiveness of use.
Nor does the research measure safety or security in terms of the
number of individuals who might fall victim to safety and security
breaches.
Therefore, it is possible that, on a per-person basis, the
"safest" hotels described in this study could actually have the
greatest per-capita number of safety or security breaches.
That notwithstanding, it is of interest to report that all of
the hotels scoring well in this study were properties where
managers were most active in re-evaluating procedures following
last year's terrorist attacks.
For all hotels, the challenge lies in making careful choices
that provide appropriate standards for safety and security, while
not interfering with the hospitality and service levels customers
have come to expect.