Hilton has updated its Do Not Disturb (more widely just referred as DND) policy that governs its hotels worldwide. If guest has the room not serviced for period of 24 hours, member of hotel management will check on the guest room.
Hotel employees are also encouraged to record any “suspicious” behavior (more of that later) to guest file and alert appropriate authorities if any illegal activity or suspicious indicators are witnessed.
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New wording on Hilton guest directories under Guest Privacy:
“We understand and respect your need for privacy. The hotel reserves the right to visually inspect all guest rooms every 24 hours to ensure the well-being of our guests and confirm the condition of the room.”
Unable to service rooms cards contain the following language:
“We understand and respect your need for privacy. The hotel reserves the right to visually inspect all guest rooms every 24 hours to ensure the well-being of our guests and confirm the condition of the room. If service is refused for this length of time, a member of hotel management will check on the guest room.”
There is a difference between “reserves the right” that is printed on the Guest Directory and “will check” that is on the unable to service room cards.
What Hilton considers suspicious behavior?
Hilton has collected a long laundry list of issues that one could consider suspicious but some perhaps are not such as:
– Guests overly concerned about privacy
– Guests refusing room cleaning for extended period of time
– Those taking photos and notes about the hotel
– Switching rooms number of times
– Requesting specific rooms
– Extended use of DND sign
– Using cash for payment
– Guest doesn’t leave the room for extended period
– Guest leaves the room for extended period
Do Not Disturb – Occupied
Housekeeping staff needs to slide the Unable to service note if the DND sign has been hanging through 2PM in the afternoon and are supposed to report guests to the management that have had the sign on the door for 24 hours continuously and refused two service attempts.
Security or Manager on Duty then needs to “investigate” and possibly to enter the room unless the guest is deemed to be low risk such as part of the flight crew or law enforcement member.
Do Not Disturb – Departure
Housekeeping staff can knock the door if it past the standard check out time and the guest has not requested late check out but the DND is hanging outside of the door.
Then there are basically three scenarios; someone is inside the room, room is occupied but nobody is there or room is vacant.
Conclusion
These policy changes seem to be an overreaction after the Las Vegas shooting that is referenced multiple times on the Hilton document that I have had access to.
Sometimes I leave the DND on for an extended period of time if I simply do not want to be disturbed and do not need the room or suite to be serviced. Although I don’t work for an airline, my sleep pattern is sometimes off and I end up sleeping when tired regardless of the time of the day.
Not sure how qualified some of these hotel employees are to do “investigations” or deem what possibly is illegal activity that should be reported to law enforcement? I don’t think that we need rent-a-cops working for hotels?
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– Guests overly concerned about privacy
I could care less about privacy…
– Guests refusing room cleaning for extended period of time
I need clean towels and the trash emptied; otherwise, no need for room cleaning.
– Those taking photos and notes about the hotel
The photos and notes are for the reviews…
– Switching rooms number of times
I want a quieter room.
– Requesting specific rooms
I want a quieter room.
– Extended use of DND sign
No need for room cleaning.
– Using cash for payment
Wouldn’t think of using cash for payment.
– Guest doesn’t leave the room for extended period
I am sleeping.
– Guest leaves the room for extended period
I am not sleeping.
Quite a difference between security and room service.
This is an example of the correct measures to be introduced all round the world in Hilton Hotels just to prevent abusive behavior of some guests that may have resulted in serious damage to the positive image of the entire hotel chain. I would recognise this new policy as reasonable, grounded and, besides, well explained.
Not sure how this will address damage to the image of a chain? If you mean the Vegas shooting, one can just stay in the room and answer when maid arrives. Accept fresh towels and that is the end of it. That will easily thwart this stupid new approach to “investigations.”
This is a joke!. If I trashed the room, will find out soon enough and can charge my cc for the damage. Big brother run amuck!
And , in many states, this ignores the law, which is that the occupant has the same rights as if he were in his home. For example, law enforcement needs a warrant to force the guest to open the door for the purpose of a search
Hilton, etc.,…..why don’t you just do a background check of every customer ? How about metal detectors and full-body x-ray machines at every entrance and exit to your hotels ? Might as well add in TSA inspectors while you’re at it. Why does EVERY traveler have to be treated like a terrorist or a sniper or serial killer because of the nut-jobs that will always be around us and can’t be stopped ???? Why ?????????
A friend of mine who works for the Hilton chain says that the policy change is in response to the Las Vegas shooting.
Just had a meeting today with the GM at Holiday Inn & Suites—Clearwater Beach, FL where I spent the last week. She told me that all rooms at IHG hotels are inspected on the 3rd day if the Do Not Disturb sign is on for 3 consecutive days without housekeeping service.
This issue affects personal privacy and I don’t think we have heard the last about it. After all, we also have access to cash-back rewards cards that could be used to “send a message” re desire for personal privacy in US hotels. Some guests have different sleep patterns, and have expensive tech equipment and multiple internet devices, cash and/or other valuables that do not need “inspection” by hotel personnel. Perhaps phone calls or messages left under doors (like the checkout bills) could suffice.
This is over-the-top reaction to questionable “terrorism” at a Las Vegas Hotel & Concert when there was evidence of multiple gunmen and several firearms heard simultaneously. This is more loss of privacy that Americans will be forced to tolerate unless they resort to using cash-back cards at multiple different hotels instead of reward programs that do not employ the above policy.
While I am not sure that entering the room is appropriate in the first instance, it would seem reasonable for the hotel to make contact with the occupants at least every few days if a DND sign stays up.
a lot of hotels do this. It’s annoying to do a 12 hour time change and get somer hyper fussy hand wringer calling you in the middle of your sleep cycle to find out if you’re a terrorist.
When I go to the other side of the planet and I’m severely jet lagged, one of the things I like to do is take a few days and just rest. I may not leave the room, just stay in there and work. I’ll order room service and otherwise leave DND on and expect that DND does what it’s supposed to do. There are a few rather uppity hotels that constantly call and nag and want to get in there, in spite of me being Diamond/Platinum level status with the chains I stay in. It is annoying to no end for me.
I think that it’s very funny that they are going to zero in on guests who want privacy and are picky about what room they want. Anyone who stays in hotels enough will reject a room right beside the elevator if they don’t want to listen to people having loud conversations all day and all night. -or- they may pick right beside the elevator for convenience especially for short stays in hotels with mile long corridors.
If I visit friends and clients it is not uncommon for me to arrive at a center hotel, and then go visit them at their house, eat and drink and be kept there late until the evening and then have an invitation to stay in the guest room. Returning a day later.
Hilton, in so many words, has fallen into this “security fallacy” mode of thinking where obviously someone at the top has equated all of these habits with guys like the Las Vegas shooter. So you get paranoid policies that get set in the USA because of the problems in this country and then being exported worldwide because of corporate boardroom people. And it won’t do one lick of good to help anything for anyone any more than taking off our shoes and shuffling around in socks in airports has defeated terrorism.
It’s just one more bit of freedom and respect checked off the list. Go stay in a hotel and have to have them come in and check the room for bombs and guns once a day. Next thing you know we’ll have to get frisked and have our crotches grabbed by the TSA in the privacy of our hotel rooms.
Once that fails to defeat terrorism we’ll just have to read everyone’s mail and put cameras up in our bedrooms. Because, SECURITY (the illusion of it) ahead of everything else.
Being alive means taking some risks because your fellow humans have mental and political and religious issues. It’s not worth it to give up all our dignity for this kind of thing.
If Hilton pulled this crap with me with a diamond membership, I would be checking out and moving down the street. I won’t support this mentality with my money.
‘We understand and respect your need for privacy.’ Um, why do companies say stuff that is so blatantly false? Do they think people are stupid? If they understood and respected privacy then they wouldn’t be introducing these changes. This sentence is completely unnecessary. Why don’t they just come out and say the truth: that they think security is more important than privacy. Instead they try and sugar coat the changes and end up lying to their customers.
As for reserving ‘the right to visually inspect all guest rooms every 24 hours to ensure the well-being of our guests’… why not a phone call? OIr a note under the door that the guest can respond to? And this raises the question when exactly will they enter the room? Exactly 24 hours after check-in? What if you are in the shower or bathroom and they enter the room? That could be seriously embarrassing. Theoretically they could enter the room at any moment which would mean that I would find it difficult to relax. It also begs the question why even bother having a DND sign? What next, will they introduce DND signs which have a countdown clock which expires after 24 hours?