Vigilant staff: an ‘essential’

By their very “Provincial hotels generally have poor or average security precautions in place”
nature, Bill Fairweather
hotels have
to be open to
the public. That doesn’t mean they should be open to everyone, however, including those
intent on abusing the services on offer.

A resident is someone who has contracted a room for payment. They are a needed person in
the hotel. Non-residents cannot be served alcohol outside of licensing hours [local laws do
apply], and there’s a potential for conflict when someone has either consumed too much or
too little alcohol and demands more.

Hotel staff can refuse to serve alcohol to anyone who is – or appears to be – either under the
legal age limit or intoxicated. Bar staff have a duty not to allow unruly, offensive or drunken
behaviour. A good habit for security managers to instil in hotel bar staff is that the latter are
not permitted to serve alcohol without checking a person’s hotel registration card, not their
door key. This ‘rule’ doesn’t always apply in hotel restaurants, where alcohol may be served
with food under a ‘supper’ licence.

‘Undesirables’ in a hotel would be the individuals who decide to host an impromptu party in
their room, waking up the entire landing in the process while rearranging the furniture to
mirror the latest exhibition at the Tate Modern. Also classed as ‘undesirable’ would be those
who attempt to obtain services without paying, and anyone who’s abusive, threatening or
intimidatory.

How can security staff deal with these individuals? Diplomacy is the answer, most certainly
in the first instance. Ask them if they’re a resident, and for their name. Begin with the
calming voice and, if necessary, escalate to: “Stop what you are doing. If you don’t, I’ll have
to ask you to leave the premises.” Once this stage is reached, security personnel need to bear
two facts in mind.

First, as the employees of a private establishment, security staff have every right to use
reasonable force in removing someone from the building (provided that course of action is
communicated to the person on the receiving end). As soon as someone verbally or
physically threatens a member of staff they should call for assistance. The member of staff –
be they part of the security team or otherwise – must only act in self defence.