HOTEL SECURITY 2

Problem(Trip Advisor)
 “Worst trip ever, felt unsafe, unauthorized people entering the
rooms, very little was done when we told the person in charge
add”
 Reviewed 3 February 2013 via mobile
 17 people found this review helpful
 The person in charge would not take ownership for what happened
implied it was our fault for not locking the door properly and also
seemed to imply we were lying. We did not feel safe or respected. I
would not recommend this resort.
 Stayed January 2013
 Value- 1
 Location- 4
 Rooms- 3
 Cleanliness-2
 Service-1
Response
 Customer Servic... B, Director de Relaciones con Clientes at Grand Bahia Principe Jamaica, responded to
this review
 9 February 2013
 Dear guest,

First of all, we regret that we were not able to fulfill your expectations and we would like to offer our most sincere
apologies for the inconveniences caused.

We would like to acknowledge that we have very strict control of all issues reported and regarding this particular
case, we are not able to find any issue regarding the situation mentioned. We can ensure that all the security
protocols established by the chain are strictly followed. In addition, please kindly note that we allocate all our
effort and measures at our guests disposal to take extra security measures and avoid such situations.

Of course, we would like to add that we are at our guest’s disposal any time to provide them the necessary
assistance to denounce situations or cases as you mention to the relevant authorities of this country.

We deeply sorry if you had the impression that our resort is unsuitable and unsafe, we are working every day to
provide our guest a very pleasant and safe place where you can enjoy your holidays and we further regret that
you felt that we were not able to fulfill your expectations

Yours faithfully,

Helena Gomez
Customer Service Manager
 Report response as inappropriate
 “Once Again A Week In Paradise”
 Reviewed 3 February 2013
 1 person found this review helpful
 My wife and I made a return visit to Gran Bahia Principe Jamaica Jan 26 - Feb 2, 2013. As was
our trip last year to this resort, everything was perfect. The only downfall was due to huuricane
sandy destroying the banana crops, we were unable to indulge in our favourite drink the "dirty
banana."
I had requested that our room be in roughly the same location as last year and they accomodated
with a room four doors down...thank you Helena! The rooms are absolutely beautiful and
spacious. Our housekeeper was fabulous and worked very hard to clean our room.
The resort is very large so you do a lot of walking but everything is so beautiful that the walks are
nice. The grounds are perfectly manicured and the beaches are raked daily. The staff all work
extremely hard and should be congratulated on a job well done.
The beach to the left of the resort is awesome. If you walk all the way to the far end, near the
nude beach fence, the snorkeling is great. Beautiful colourful fish will eat weiners right out of your
hand. We seen a really cool stingray on our second day but unfortunately we couldn't get a
picture of him.
Once again my wife and I did not use our a-la-cart meals because the buffet always had lots of
variety. Again the staff were great, always greeting you and attending to your needs.
Everything about this resort is 5 star. Pay no attention to bad reviews. People who rate the Gran
Bahia Jamaica badly probably will never be satisfied with any kind of resort. I highly recomend it
to anyone who wants a carefree get away to paradise.
The Presence of Unauthorized
Person
 It is not always easy to challenge someone’s
right to be at your property. Many times, the
manager will handle problem visitors.
 Being the staff of the hotel you have the right
as well the responsibility to tactfully approach
a visitor who appears to be lost or out of place.
The Presence of Unauthorized
Person
 A person whom hotel suspects to be undesirable or a
person of ill-repute may be disallowed access into any
part of the hotel premise whether public or private.
 The appropriate authority in the hotel(Security
Director/ Manager or Resident Manager/ General
Manager shall issue the person with a notice of
prohibition of entry after taking a record of the
person’s full particulars, including a photograph.
where possible, and detailed description.
 Every security personnel should be informed of such
person and if the person persists in entering the
premises, legal action can be taken to such persons
for civil trespassing.
The Presence of Unauthorized
Person
 If a guest brings a companion whom the hotel
suspects to be a person of ill repute, the hotel
should insist that this person be properly
registered as a guest.
 Since crimes committed by prostitutes usually
occurs between 2300 and 600 hours.
Steps to deal with Unauthorized
persons
 Ask if the person is the guest of the hotel. If
you have reasons to believe that someone is
not a guest, ask his/her business on the
property.
 Ask to see a room key. If you think someone
may be an intruder, ask to see his or her room
key.
 Explain policy. Tell the visitor your property
policies regarding the use of guest facilities.
 Remain calm. Be polite, but firm, when
speaking with a visitor. Even if the person is
not a guest, you need to treat him or her with
respect.
 Notify the proper authority, or escort the
unwelcome visitor off the property, be sure to
follow your property’s procedure.
 If you feel threatened or intimidated by a
stranger, leave the area immediately and
inform your supervisor or security. Your safety
is important too..
Safety Deposit Box
 A safe deposit box, also called a safety deposit box is
an individually secured container, usually held within a
larger safe or bank vault.

 Safe deposit boxes are generally located

in banks, post offices or other institutions.
 Safe deposit boxes are used to store valuable
possessions, such as gemstones, precious
metals, currency, marketable securities, important
documents such as wills, property deeds, and birth
certificates, or computer data storage that need
protection from theft, fire, flood, tampering or other
reasons.
The typical considerations and steps to
consider for safety deposit boxes in the
hotel:
 Below are the typical considerations and steps to
consider for safety deposit boxes in the hotel:
 In the typical arrangement, a renter pays the hotel
fee for the use of the box, which can be opened
only with production of an assigned key, the
bank's own guard key, the proper signature, and
perhaps a code of some sort.
 It is the responsibility of management to develop
and monitor safe deposit procedure for its
property.
 All employees with safe deposit responsibilities
should be thoroughly trained in proper safe
deposit procedures and are aware of the reasons
for the various rules.
 Supervisors should impress upon safe deposit attendants the
importance and seriousness of this responsibility, ask for an
immediate report of any unusual incident, and require
accurate, up to date records and complete compliance with
procedure.
 Safe deposit boxes should be located in an area to which
there is limited access and where it can be visually
monitored at all times.
 If CCTV is used one camera should be turned on the safe
deposit box area.
 Unauthorized persons, whether guests or employees,
should not be permitted in the area. Such a location may
be in the vicinity of the front desk, where the box may be
secured while still visible to the guest.
 In the case of guest valuables with a declared value of
Millions of rupees, hotel may exercise it discretion to accept
the safe custody of the valuables but special security
arrangement (e.g. having 24 hours security guard) or such
Measures to safe guard guest’s
property
 The following measures should be effectively
implemented to safe guard guest’s property:
 Guest should be provided with a safe deposit box
facility to store valuable items, jewelry, etc.
 The availability of safe deposit boxes should be
verbally conveyed to each guest on checking in or
well placed notice be put up to advertise the
service.
 The guest should be provided with a signature
card and requested to complete it correctly.
 The safe deposit attendant shall then obtain a
 A dual-control locking system should be used for all
lobby safe deposit boxes whereby it can only be
opened with two keys- master key to that box and an
individual key is handed out to the guest.
 The guest then should then deposit the items in
the safe deposit box themselves. (Most properties
do not allow employees to have physical contact with
items placed in the boxes by guests).
 The attendant will secure the box and hand the
individual key to the guest. The guest should also be
cautioned to safeguard the key, failing which a
charge may be levied.
 The guest must be asked to sign his/her signature
on each and every occasion that he asks for and
 The staff attending to him ensures his
signature tallies with the specimen
signature on the card before allowing him
access to the box.
 The hotel should then retain the signature card
for a specified period of time as required.
 Where safe deposit boxes are not available,
deposit envelopes are often provided with
a claim tag attached. The envelops may be
stored together in one safe with each depositor
holding his claim ticket.
Lost and Found

 Lost items in the hotel can be a great issue to

the guest as well as the hotel reputation.

 There needs to be a clearly defined rules and

procedures regarding the lost and found item.

 In the case of any miss-placed items from the

guest room or safes, it will be the hotel’s
responsibility to repay the guest.
Procedures for Lost and Found
In a hotel lost and found functions rests with the housekeeping, security or
the concierge, the following procedures should be adopted:

 All articles found by hotel personnel, guests or customers should be

immediately forwarded to the lost and found section.

 A standard note should accompany the article indicating the date, time,
location, and description of the article as well as the name of the finder.

 All found items, which have been logged, bagged and tagged, should be
stored in a secure place.

 Some properties place wallets, jewelry, money, credit cards and other
valuables in a safe deposit box or in the Assistant Manager’s Safe.

 Some hotels write to the guests who have left behind articles found in
guestrooms requesting them to contact the hotel for proper identification
and return of items.
 However, some hotels feel that this is inappropriate,
arguing that the guest may wish to keep his/her stay at the
hotel confidential.

 Telephone operators or any other hotel personnel should

be instructed to direct all inquires about lost and found
articles to the department concerned.

 A note can also be included in the room tent-card to this

effect.

 When checking a claim, the person in charge should verify

(by ask the claimant to describe the article lost) that it is
not a fraudulent claim.
 Articles, which are not claimed by the rightful owner, may
then be disposed off in accordance with the regulation with
regard to “found property”. This regulation could be
presenting it to the police department, or distributing it to
the employee who found it.

 All employees should be warned that misappropriation or the

keeping of articles not belonging to them is an offense
punishable by law.

 It is not a case of “finder being keeper”. An incentive to

cultivate employee honesty in such matters can be insulated
as for example, a regular honest employee award.
Departmental Responsibilities in
Guest and Asset Protection
 A property’s security concern does not only include risks and
dangers to its guests, the staff and its premises. The property’s
assets must also be protected . The assets of the hotel are
vulnerable to loss and damage, which can add up to a lot of money.
 Staffs, guests and outsiders can cause loss and damage to hotel
assets. Assets protection procedures can range from dealing with
theft by employees and guests to avoiding losses through unwise
extension of credit.
 Statistics have shown that majority of lefts of hotel assets are
committed by staff.
 The nature of their work provides staff with many opportunities for
misappropriation hotel assets with good resale value and personal
use value. Popular items lost include linens, silverware, and food
and beverage items
 Every department has a role to play in asset protection. Each
department should think of effective ways to secure its operations
against theft.
Human Resource Department
 Pre-employment screening and employee
background checks are more common these days
than ever before.

 Employers need to know who they are hiring and

they have a duty to their shareholders,
stakeholders and co-workers to keep everyone as
safe as possible.

 Finding out the truth about someone using a

background check is quick, inexpensive and
allows an employer or H.R. Department to take
the guess work out of hiring.
Criminal Conviction Check

 Although a conviction(s) may be listed or disclosed

during the recruitment process, it is important that the
conviction(s) only be considered based on job
relatedness. Convictions related to drugs, violence, or
sexual behaviors are generally considered job related
due to the nature of the environment.
 The following are additional factors to consider:
 •Timeframe of the conviction;
 • Age of the person when the offense/conviction
occurred;
 • Severity of the crime;
 • Position type and location; and
Check by Professional
Investigator
 These are checks that are performed usually for very special job
positions or top level job positions within the organization.
 They involve in private investigator or private investigating agencies
specializing in detailed investigation which the internet cannot
provide.
 Applicants from all walks of life now know and expect that a
background check will be performed on them when they seek new
employment so they try to remove all the unwanted information from
the internet as that the main source of information for the
employers.
 There are a growing number of websites that cheat people and
most of these companies are run by computer “experts” who are
looking to sell information gathered from computer databases rather
than investigating an applicant’s background at the source.
 These same pre-employment screening firms are big on disclaimers
and short on results.
 The private investigators or their agencies deploy employee
screening processes which are completely legal, confidential and
conducted by an independent agency specializing in pre
Medical Screening

 Pre-employment medical screenings can contribute to reducing

instances of injuries on the job, which occur as a result of physical
unpreparedness and can lead to costly workers' compensation
claims.
 They can also help companies to send the message to candidates
that they are serious about their employees' health.
 Hotel can have many challenging jobs requiring large amount of
physical endurance and sound health is the key to success of
employees as well as the organization.
 The procedure will include the following process:
 Physical screening by an external medical examiner.
 Submission of Medical History Report
 Required vaccination as per the hotel rule. In case not fulfilled, the
applicant will have to be vaccinated- Hepatitis, Measles, Malaria
etc.
 Required medical tests as per the hotel law- AIDS, Hepatitis, TB or
other communicable diseases.
Credit Check
 Companies are running credit checks on job applicants more
often and are using that credit information as part of the
process when making hiring decisions.
 A Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) survey
reported that 60% of employers check the credit of at least
some job applicants.
 A job applicant credit report will show details about you and
your finances, including your name, address, previous
addresses, and social security number.
 It also shows the debt you have incurred including credit card
debt, mortgage, car payment, student loans, and other loans
and your payment history, including late payments and
defaulted loans.
 Such checks are specially performed for the cash handling
employees but a written consent from the applicants is
required to run such credit checks as they could be very
embarrassing or provocative or invasion to privacy to the
applicants and could be a sue able case.
Bonding

 Companies bond employees to protect against

employee theft and dishonesty.


 Bonding provides the company with compensation in

cases of property loss due to the acts of an employee.


 When employees have access to money or valuable

property, bonding protects the organization.
Companies also bond employees to protect
customers in the event of property damage.

Bonding during Hiring
 Employers can begin bonding during the hiring
process. The company conducts preliminary
background investigations to determine if a job
candidate is bondable. Employers can choose not to
hire candidates that cannot meet the requirements of
bonding.
 Self-employed workers can also obtain a bond to
cover damage they cause while working for a
customer. For example, a self-employed house
cleaner can obtain coverage to protect against
damage to the customer's home.
 Businesses and self-employed workers use bonding
in advertising when listing the attributes of the
company.
Background Investigation for
Bonding
 The employer must submit information to the
bonding company, which is necessary to
conduct a background investigation
 The bonding organization will search the
applicant's background for prior criminal
records and verify references to determine the
honesty of the employee.
 Applicants who meet the bonding company's
requirements are covered while working for
the employer.
Warning on application form
 Application should include a clear warning
stating that fraud data, fraud certificates or any
attempt to defraud the fraud claims and
applying will be an act of deceive and could be
punishable by crime on identification and the
employee will be terminated even if he/ she is
employed by the organization.

 This will help filter the fraud or deceiving

candidates to some extent and back ground
check will help further filter it.
Check significant gaps in
employment record
 Many candidates could be hiding a number of problems in
their past. Job seekers routinely lie on their applications and
resumes, concealing details that would make them a bad
hire.
 On the other hand, employers may be confronted with gaps
in employment on a resume or application.
 While the reasons behind the gaps may be completely
innocent, verifying what the candidate was doing during the
lapse is essential.
 If neglected, employers may expose themselves to
potentially disastrous consequences.
 Although gaps could be for a better cause such as education
or training or due to family obligations, there could be a dark
past that the candidates may be hiding.
 There could be two reasons why gaps in employment should
raise a massive red flag.
Reasons for Gaps
Possible Criminal History

 A potential hire may have spent a 2-year lapse by traveling

through Europe and exploring the world. But, what if he
didn’t? It’s entirely possible that he actually spent that time in
prison. If an employer fails to check the gap in history, they
might never uncover the details. Hiring that person could lead
to employee theft, harm to the staff and a number of other
outcomes.

 Ineffective Background Checks

 There’s no way for an employer to conduct an effective
background check when a job candidate has an unexplained
gap in history. The reason why is because criminal records
are typically kept at the county level. If the employer doesn’t
know where the candidate was during the lapse, it’s
impossible to know which county, or counties, to search for a
criminal history
Other Personal functions
pertaining to security

 Apart from the careful considerations while

hiring the right employee for the company, HR
is also responsible for training on security
matters, continuous rapport between the
employees as well as conducting interviews
during exit.
Training Employees on Security
Matters
 The HR department is responsible to plan and
help execute training regarding the hotel in
cooperation with the security department.

 HR is responsible not only for training security

related training to all the staffs but also train the
security personnel for motivation and other ethical
basics such as handling a situation in a hospitable
manner and using brains than effort as most
security guards come from an army or police
background and they are not courteous or polite.
Trainings
 Motivational Training
 Groups Dynamics
 Fire Drills
 Fire Safety equipments use and procedures
 Natural Calamities emergency procedure.
 Terrorist Situation Procedures
 Hospitality Culture Trainings
 Interdepartmental Training
 Public Speaking
 Guest Safety
 Unusual Events Procedures
Record of Issued items and their
collection on Departure
 HR also has the function of issuing and keeping a record of
all the items issued to the employees on their selections.
Items such as Name Tags, identity Card, Room Keys, Floor
or Room Keys, Uniforms etc.

 These may be misused by unauthorized person so a clear

issue and record of such items in necessary.
 The lost of such items should be reported and sometimes
may be compensated from the employee as it happens due
to their negligence.


 Such its are to be submitted at the time of exit or resignation

from the company as they are the private property of the
hotel and can be an issue to the security as anyone could
disguise themselves as the hotel employee and could access
to rooms without authorization.
Conducting Exit Interviews
 An exit interview is a meeting with a terminating employee that is generally
conducted by Human Resources staff. The exit interview provides your
organization with the opportunity to obtain frank, honest feedback from the
employee who is leaving your employment.
 Sometimes in an organization, it is necessary to know why the staffs are
willing to move to another organization.
 Many times it is because of the basic facts- money, facilities or sometimes
personal reasons but what if there is a dark reason which he/she is not able
to cope with and is leaving the hotel. In such case, exit interview helps a lot.
 May be there is a manger who molests lady or even men. This could be a
great threat to the hotel as the manager may also molest hotel guests. A
manager or supervisor has serious anger management issues and may
harm the employee or even the hotel guest and due to the fear of getting
into unnecessary trouble the employee may simply want to quit.
During the exit interviews, most of the time, departing staffs will tell the truth
about the things they didn’t like and what was the reason for their departure
which would they not have expressed during their working tenure.
 This helps the HR to point out the areas that they or the organization has
to develop as turnover is said that hiring new staffs is 60% more expensive
than retaining the staff.
The Engineering Department

 The Engineering Department plays an

important role in the security of a property. The
department maintains the security devices and
systems on the property.
High priority to security/ life-
safety system/device
 The engineering department has the responsibility of
maintaining the equipments within the hotel and
rooms.

 The rooms and the hotel will have many security

related equipments such as surveillance equipments,
physical barrier equipments, communication systems,
guest room security equipments which are utmost
priority to all engineering department as they are life
saving equipments and can save the hotel from a lot
of damage and loss of innocent lives.

 It is the priority of the engineering department to look

after the work orders (maintenance request) of such
equipments than other functional equipments.
Key Role During Emergency
 Emergency situations can come when you are least
prepared. The engineering department with its
coordination with the security department helps to
plan and get ready for emergency situations.

 Although during an emergency situation, security

personnel help the victims, the engineering
department will be working towards reducing the
cause or communicating the emergency situation.
Informing the local emergency authority- fire
department, bomb squad, police authority, SWAT, etc
 Other functions would be helping people vacate the
emergency premise, help with power break downs,
operation of generators, helping people out of stuck
lifts, etc.
Key Control procedures


 Nowadays all hotels have electrical door systems. Although

they are expensive to install, they are the most effective
system in guest room security proving to be most efficient in
the long run.


 Engineering department is responsible for maintaining the

efficiency of these locking systems periodically changing the
codes and some times changing the keys as well. A key can
be changed only for 5 times then the whole lock configuration
has to be changed.


 The police authority will ask to change the lock configuration

every 2 years even if the key has not been changed for 5
times.
Optimization and control of
equipment Usage
 The engineering department helps not only maintain the
equipments, tools and materials but also helps to control their use in
order to minimize the cost as well as ensure their proper use only at
the right time.

 Tools, Material or Equipments may be elementary , personal

protection or defense equipment with all the equipments used for
functioning the operation falling under the elementary and arms and
hazard relieving or preventing equipment under the personal
protection or defense equipments.

 The Engineering department ensures that these equipments are

readily available but control its unnecessary usage by putting it in
safety covering which could be accessed only during emergency
situations and procedures with regulations. For e.g fire blanket
inside proper covering but readily available, fire extinguishers with
safety pins, fire hose in breakable glass boxes with fire axe ready to
break it, etc. But access to these without an emergency situation
will be a breach in the code of conducts and will be punishable.
The Rooms Division
 Rooms Division is the name of the department
within a hotel that includes housekeeping,
concierge, porters and front office as well. It has
been shown that the majority of hotel revenues
are generated from Rooms Division Department
under the form of room sales.

 Hotel and other accommodation facilities are the

most vulnerable establishments and an easy
target to terrorists and other dangers as it is a
public friendly establishments with no trespassing
restriction apart from the few restricted areas and
guest rooms.
Front Office
 Front office personnel are important allies of
the security staff.
 The door attendants, bellhops, car valets and
front desk staff continuously observe whoever
arrives at or departs from the premises.
 Any suspicious activities or circumstances
involving the guests or any member of the
public entering the premises can be reported
to security.
Key Control
 Guestroom Security locks can be a critical aspect of guest
protection. The guestroom doors and windows must be
fortified to prevent forced entry. Installation of burglar proof
door locking system and effective Key and key control
procedure is to be followed by the hotel to ensure guestroom
safety against theft.

 Effective Key control in hotel is essential to the security of a

lodging property. All keys whether metal or electronic should
be adequately controlled.

 The Front office staff or personnel should have detailed

information regarding the issuance of the key and the receipt
of the key. Apart from that any changed keys, discarded keys
or keys that have their code changed should be properly
recorded in log books and informed to the engineering and
security departments.
Things to keep in mind while
handling keys
 Keys should be stored separately and
securely.
 No unauthorised person should be allowed
access to any key, either to examine or handle
it, since a photograph or impression can be
taken in few seconds and duplicate
subsequently made.
 Keep a log book of all keys signed out.
 Establish protocol for distribution of keys.
 Use keys that do not identify the property’s
name, address, logo, or room number.
 When keys are lost or stolen, the locks should
be changed or rotated to another part of the
property.
 Authorised employees should remind guests
to return keys at check-out.
 The loss or suspected compromise of a key
should be reported immediately and, after due
investigation, a decision be made as to
whether or not the lock should be changed.
 Place well-secured key return boxes in the
lobby, at exit points of the property, and in
Information Handling
 The front office department, specially the reception and the
telephone operator, receives a lot of information regarding the
guest and it is very crucial to respect the guest’s privacy and
confidentiality. The front office checks in alot of guest and keeps
record of personal data regarding the guest in their information
system.

 Hotels are obvious targets for identity and financial theft for
many reasons. Hotels transact business through credit cards, and
those credit cards are kept on file and can be accessed multiple
times during a guest’s stay. The possibility that a credit card charge
will be recorded occurs with each night’s room charge, room
service, bar or restaurant bill, spa charge, and so on.

 Every charge is another opportunity for an identity thief to access

the information using sophisticated computer hacks and other
malicious software, generally without the hotel’s knowledge.
Following procedures are to be
followed for securing information:
 Hotels operators should inventory potentially
sensitive information and document on which
computers, servers and laptops it’s stored.
 Operators and owners should keep sensitive
information on the fewest number of computers or
servers, and be sure to segregate it — the fewer
copies of data you have, the easier it is to protect.
 Utilize encryption for storing, and secure connections
for receiving or transmitting, credit card information
and other sensitive data.
 Firms should design, institute and follow an effective
privacy policy, including policies for using social
media, and should be careful not to overstate the
effectiveness of their measures. Remember – no
 When implementing a wireless system, use a
good firewall and a secure wireless connection.
 For internal communications and information,
protect sensitive data with strong passwords and
change passwords on a regular basis.
 Since much, if not most, of computer systems and
services are handled by vendors, check their
security practices.
 Apart from computer information, telephone
conversation should be recorded only for the
guest purpose and discussion of guest cases
should not be practiced within the staffs and
proper training for handling guest information will
help achieve this target.
Control Centre for elevator and
entrance
 The Front office department will have lift or elevator operators who will
monitor the lifts.
 Keeping a vigilant eye and suspecting any unusual behavior in customers
are the keys to its safety.
 Lifts and elevators are situated in such a way that it is easily visible to the
front desk and normally at the side of the bell desk which helps the staffs to
monitor the use of elevator and identify unauthorized guest using the
elevator to guest rooms as they are the ones who check in the guests.
 The Door man also a part of the front office is the first contact to the guest
and will immediately notice any unusual event with the guest. Scanty
baggage guests, or unusually large baggage are suspicious guest and
proper security checks on them is a must. Equipments such as metal
detectors, scanners could be used in vulnerable public areas to ensure
safety in entrances.
 Elevators have a emergency calling equipment build inside which is
attached to the engineering and the telephone operator department which
will handle panic calls received by guest stuck in the elevator helping front
office and the engineering department to identify the lift as well as carryout
quick action simultaneously with comforting the guest through the
emergency telephone line.
 Assets Protection


 Front Office is also responsible towards protecting valuable

guest assets of the hotel guests. Assets protection is a great
facility provided by the hotel which not only increases the
level of satisfaction and safety of the in-house guest but also
business of the hotel itself as the guest prefer hotels
providing these kinds of services to others not providing it.


 It gives the hotel that extra income with the competitive edge.


 The Front Office provides the following protections:

Valet Parking
 Vehicle parking is an issue to any guest while visiting or staying at a hotel. The front
office department has a separate division called the Valet parking working for this
issue.
 Valet parking is a parking service offered by some restaurants, stores, and hotels.
In contrast to "self-parking", where customers find a parking space on their own,
customers' vehicles are parked for them by a person called a valet.


 This service either requires a fee to be paid by the customer or is offered free of
charge by the establishment.


 Car jacks or car theft are seen every where as well as the problem of car blocking
the way of another resulting to damage like scratch, dent, broken windows and
mirrors of the car blocking the way are common.


 Sometimes, a guest will have to walk a long distance where he has parked with a
hand full of personal belongings making it very difficult for him.


 All these issues are addressed by the valet parking as the key is with the valet and
he will safely park and on request will safely deliver the car to the hotel or restaurant
door step saving the car as well as the car driver from unwanted hassle, loss or
inconvenience.

 Guest Luggage Security


 The Doorman or the bell boys will attend to the guests

luggage and are responsible for their safety and proper
delivery to the guest rooms.


 In case of scanty baggage, the information will be passed on

to the reception and all point of sale for extra precaution of
skippers.


 The hotel also has a service called the Left Luggage where
the departure guest leaves his/ her belongings for a certain
time before leaving for the airport.
 Safety Information and Instructions In Guest
Room


 The duty of the bell boy or bell person is not only to

safely transport the luggage to the guest rooms but
also to provide valuable information regarding the
access devices- keys and key card, use of the
security devices in the room such as the safe deposit
box and emergency hotlines; other policies regarding
laundry, AC, TV, Room Service, Mini Bar etc which are
also mentioned in the information cards along with
hotel policies and safety procedures.



 Prevent Losses and Bad Debts


 Front Office has the responsibility to protect the hotel from

skippers who run away without paying their dues and fraud
by the guests.


 Scanty Baggage guests should be billed clearly and advance

payment should be taken which could range from 150% to
250% depending upon the hotel.


 Procedures should be established which ensures that all

charges made by guests are promptly posted and proper
procedures for the handling of cash, cheques and credit
requests to prevent loss from bad debts.

Housekeeping
 The Housekeeping Department also has a
special responsibility for security since its
employees have direct access to the
guestrooms and the guests' property.
Consequently, careful screening of
housekeeping personnel should be conducted
during the hiring process:
Housekeeping personnel should be
trained in:
 How to react to suspicious persons or reactions?

 Housekeeping attendants encounter many guests and their

rooms. While cleaning the rooms, the room attendant may
come across many suspicious room guests with suspicious
items found in the guest rooms.

 They may also encounter guests in the room which they have
not seen before or guest in guest room corridors whom they
have not seen before.

 In this case they must know how to tackle the situations, ask
questions to suspicious persons and immediately report to
their supervisors and security department if they find anything
suspicious about the guest, their room or any visitor in the
unauthorized areas.
Key Control
 The housekeeping department has access to all
rooms of a section or floor. So the room
attendants should give special care to their keys
so that they do not misplace or pass it to any
unauthorized person.


 The house keeping supervisors should keep a

record of the daily duty allocation to the room
attendants and the floor or section they are
suppose to work and the keys should be coded in
such a way that only the designated floor should
open the doors.
 Responding to Requests to
enter guestroom
 People may come up to the room attendants requesting to
enter the room.


 Unauthorized persons cannot enter the room without a proper

authorization- key or employee pass (maintenance or
engineering).


 When an unauthorized person asks to enter a room then the

attendant will have to ask the person to show the room key or
any form of identification leading them to the room or else
politely withdraw and decline and inform that they do not
have the authority to do so and tell them to kindly get the
authorization.


 In case of suspicious guest, inform the supervisor and the

security department.
Checking the security
equipments
 House keeping staff are continuously cleaning and
are continuously in contact to the hotel equipments,
guest room equipments and other equipments.

 Checking the room equipments, lights, AC is a regular

job but the housekeeping staffs should also look out
for security equipments in the room such as the locks,
door snatch, telephones, safety deposit lockers,
emergency indications as well as other security
equipments outside the guest rooms such as CCTVs.
 In case of any damages or any malfunctioning should
be reported as they are there for security and they are
life saving equipments and should be the first priority
everybody.
Checking Security Notices
 There are security notices on how to use the
equipments, the emergency dial numbers etc
in the room.
 The housekeeping should check if all the
notices in the room are available.
Securing locks in different
areas
 The housekeeping departments has many
areas such as the linen room, storerooms,
equipments room and the maids pantry have
to be locked.
 Hotel normally don’t put CCTV’s or other
security equipments and could be an easy
target for terrorist for installing bombs as these
section go without being checked. It could be a
place to hide as well.
 Help reduce losses


 The housekeeping department can help clearing room

service tray and equipments from the room. It could
be very difficult for the guest to move around and may
be injured when they collide against these tables or
equipments as well as damage the equipments.

 Inventory Control


 Inventory helps to maintain the record of the guest

room supplies as well as help maintain a steady
supply of materials. It also protect the hotel from guest
room thefts by guests by keeping a record of these
items and immediately know if these items are
Laundry and Dry Cleaning
 . Written policies should make it clear that
cleaning and laundry services are provided
only for uniforms required for the job
assignment.
 Any violation of this policy may be considered
theft of the property's services.
Hotel procedures should
include:
 Unofficial Use of laundry and dry cleaning services and protection of
guest laundry


 Unofficial use of laundry such as using office laundry for home use should
not be allowed. This will not only mix the laundry with the guest but also
misplace guest’s laundry with personal laundry.


 Guest laundry are very valuable to the guest as they have invested a lot of
time and effort in buying them and in case of lost or theft, it will be the
hotel’s liability to pay them back. Hence proper laundry receiving and
delivery system should be developed.


 Proper code of clothes with laundry forms filled by the guests indicating the
material, quantity, color and style of clothing should be attached in the
laundry bags while receiving and proper cleaning and checking of the
cloths before delivering them to the guest rooms.

Purchasing and Receiving

 Since hotels must purchase a wide variety of

products, supplies, and services in the course
of daily operations it is necessary to closely
monitor the activities within the department
and be on a lookout for potential problems.
Common problems include:
 Kickbacks in receiving

 There are several common type of kickbacks, each involve

purchaser working in collusion with someone from the
suppliers company.
 In one kickback scheme F & B products are purchased at a
higher than the necessary prices and thieves split the
difference between the real and the inflated price, the
payment can be in money or gifts, either way the owner is the
loser.
 This type is best controlled by the routine examination of the
invoices and by soliciting price quotations on a random basis
to ensure that the best price is paid for the product required.
 Another kickback procedure involves ‘padding’ the invoice
(adding items that were not received and or adding
unreasonable handling or other charges). This scheme works
well when the employee who purchases also does the
receiving. This should prompt the manager to design a
Identifying and tackling
Kickbacks
 Hotels and restaurant must have a ‘right to
check accounts’ clause in their contract with
the suppliers so that they can check their
delivery items, quantity and product’s details
when they feel any fraudulent activity has
taken place.
 Proper audit techniques and data base
analysis can help detect kickbacks.
 Another way could be personal interviews of
key witnesses or suspects to find out if they
have been involved or viewed any suspicious
Use of Fictitious Companies
 When fraudulent activities such as payment to suppliers
whose existence is fake can be quiet an easy task for fraud
employees to get away with payment for goods that haven’t
been received.


 Many times goods which are perishable in nature with a high

turnover can easily can be tempered with a small liaison
between the receiver and the storekeeper. Meat, Dairy
products etc could be some examples.


 In order to tackle this problem the hotel should arrange a

proper receiving technique and a list of permit able vendors
or suppliers through whom only, the goods can be bought
eradicating the chance of any fictitious company selling their
products and a continuous check in the inventory system is a
must to detect such frauds.
 Processing Threats:
 Supplier may send an invoice through a second time if the
operation does not have an internal system to verify that invoices
have not been paid.
 All the paid invoices should be marked paid with the accountant
sign to verify that these items have been paid so as to avoid double
paying for the same amount.

 Credit Memo Problems:

 Theft can occur when products are not delivered short, and when
no credit memo is used to reduce the original delivery invoices for
the value of the items not delivered.
 Managers or receiving personnel should never accept an oral
assurance from the truck driver. A credit memo should be made
immediately and attached to the delivery invoice.
 The manager should also call the supplier to ensure that proper
processing of the credit to the operation account has been under
taken.
CONTROL DURING CENTRAL
STORAGE
 Security concerns at time of storage involve.
1) Knowing how much product should be
available at all times.
2) Knowing how much product is available (to
determine if any product is missing)
3) Preventing physical access by persons who
do not need to be present in storage area.
There are a few steps that are to
be applied in stores. They are:
 Restricted entry into stores


 There should be limited access. Only authorized

personnel should enter storage areas. This policy
is best met by locking all storage areas except
during times of issue.


 In all hotel stores there is an issuing time,

generally during the start of shifts in the morning
and in the afternoon will help reduce unnecessary
issues, theft as well as adhere to a strict issuing
policy restricting unauthorized entry in the store at
all times.
Secured locking systems
 Storage area should be securely lockable; it
should be possible to lock the freezer [whether
walk in or reach-in] as well as the dry storage and
liquor storerooms.
 In addition a locking shelving unit in a walk in
refrigerator can protect wines and other expensive
items.


 One or more compartments of reach in

refrigerator should be lockable, expensive fresh
meat; seafood and other valuable products should
be kept in these units.
Effective Inventory Systems


 Inventory control practices must be adhered

to items judged expensive and theft prone
should be controlled through use of a
perpetual inventory system.
 Items kept in the workstations, broken cases
or other storage areas in small operations that
are not under perpetual inventory may well be
prime targets for theft.
Proper Requisition Procedure


 The hotel relies on proper requisitions procedure to

run the store efficiently.
 Proper requisition forms for different sections or
departments of the hotel should be made.
 A strictly regulated time for the issuing of stores
should be adhered.


 All the requisition should be duly signed by the

department head or the acting supervisor.
 Continuous issue will set a normal level of issue which
helps in controlling the over issues.
Food and Beverage
 This department is particularly vulnerable to
internal theft because food and beverage
items are very easily resold or used after they
are brought out of the property.
It is important to have proper
procedure to control:
 Purchase


 Food and beverage items have a very large varieties and types
available and purchasing the items can be a little confusing.


 Food purchase could be charged more than they are actually so

before purchase at least three quotations should be considered and
the best should be purchased but quality should be also considered.


 While buying meats and fish, freshness and right quantity should be
kept in mind as over purchase could be waste or misused by the
kitchen staffs.


 During cash purchase, purchaser could tamper with the price and
charge higher. This should be checked with the invoice presented
and cross checked whenever possible.
Receipt
 Hotel receives a lot of supplies and material which is sometimes
monotonous for the receiving and are neglected sometimes which is
when suppliers may cheat the hotel.


 Following things should be considered while receiving different

materials:


 Receiving the wrong items [such as inexpensive foreign wines

instead higher quality wines or 70% instead of 80% fat content
ground beef] and paying higher prices for them.
 Short weight of count by which the food & beverage operation pays
for more products than received.
 Receiving thawed product, which is represented as fresh & for
which a higher price is charged.
 Grounding ice into ground meat product adding fillers in applicable
products or selling meat with excess trim.
 Including weight of ice and / or packaging in amount of product for
which price is charges.
 Combining expensive steaks and inexpensive
meat items into one container, weighing the
entire container and billing the operation for
the same.
 Including one empty bottle in a case of, for
example 12 liters.
 Checking every pack and every receipt with
appropriate supporting invoice and weighing
for the right weight is crucial in reducing frauds
or carelessness.
Storage
 It is critical to ensure that storage areas are kept physically secure. The following
measures should be adopted for this purpose.


 There should be limited access. Only authorized personnel should enter storage
areas. This policy is best met by locking all storage areas except during times of
issue.


 Storage area should be securely lockable; IT should be possible to lock the freezer
[whether walk in or reach-in] as well as the dry storage and liquor storerooms. In
addition a locking shelving unit in a walk in refrigerator can protect wines and other
expensive items. One or more compartments of reach in refrigerator should be
lockable, expensive fresh meat; seafoods and other valuable products should be
kept in these units.


 Inventory control practices must be adhered to items judged expensive and theft
prone should be controlled through use of a perpetual inventory system. Item kept in
the workstations, broken cases or other storage areas in small operations that are
not under perpetual inventory may well be prime targets for theft.


 If items kept in locked storage are needed during the shift a management official with
access to storage area keys should retrieve the products.
 Requisition for use
 Every department will have their own requisition form
designed in such a way that it will be very easy for
them to use and don’t have to write for a long time.


 The requisition will have two copies with one going to

the store and one with the requisitioning department.


 Without proper requisition and proper authorization or

signature from the head of department, no item will be
issued.

Preparation

 Several basic principles of food production relate directly to security and theft prevention.


 These include the following.



 The manager must have an idea of the quantity of food to be produced. This estimation is made
from sales forecasts based on the amount of past sales under similar conditions.


 Over production, which leads to waste and leftovers, must be, minimized often foods in process
are inadequately controlled and can be more easily stolen.


 One type of employee pilferage occurs when employees eat on the job. A policy regarding
employee eating should be established and consistently enforced.


 Only the amount of ingredients actually needed for food production should be withdrawn from
storage.


 Close employee supervision is needed to assure that security control systems are not violated.

 Garbage cans, employee packages, and similar places where stolen property can be
hidden should be routinely checked.


 Utensils, service ware etc. which are disposed of by careless employee can also be
discovered by checking waste containers.


 Items withdrawn from storage and not used should be returned to the security of the
storage area as soon as possible.


 No item should be discarded, either because of alleged spoilage of improper

preparation without prior approval of management.


 Employees should not be allowed to take home leftovers or scrapes for pets, since
this promotes over production and encourage wastefulness.


 Personnel such as cooks & stewards should not be permitted easy access to storage
areas, and should not be allowed to wander around the property. They should be
questioned.


 No food should be produced on the line for presentation to a food server without
submittal of a duplicate copy of the guest check (or use of a similar procedure to
 Burns returns and other food problems should
not be discarded without management
approval.


 Supervisors should be alert to the possibility of

cooks giving food to their employees for
personal consumption. This practice should
not be permitted.



Service


 Service of food and beverage can determine whether the

guest will have a great time or not.


 Served food and beverage should be prepared in a very

hygienic conditions and any case of food poising can have
serious consequences.


 Proper food handling, food holding and food serving

temperature ensures quality hygienic food.
 While opening wine bottles or Champagne a special care
should be taken so that the mouth of the bottle doesn’t break
and mixes with the wine. Champagne has a lot of pressure
within it, so proper care while opening should be taken care.
Guest Payment


 Proper care while making bills should be taken

care so that the outlet doesn’t over charge or
undercharge the bill.


 If credit facilities are provided, proper identification

with letter of credit should be presented to the
accounts section before hand and failure to do so
will result in payment by the server.
 A regular check on the table is necessary to
ensure there are no skippers.

Marketing, Sales and public
Relation Function
 . There is a growing recognition of the need for consideration between the marketing,
sales and public relations functions of a property and its security function.
 Security implications for the following should be considered:
 Politically important persons/ Events


 Politically important person(PIP) relates to a powerful government position where the

person will have political influence in the country. Often the head of a political party,
member of the parliament, political dignitaries, ministers, head of states or the head
of country fall under this category.


 Generally there are people from the secret service, army or police to safe guard
these important people but special care should be taken as their arrival is not
discrete but more announced. Hence, the hotel should provide special arrangements
for these important people as their impact will be directly on the whole hotel
establishment.


 Hotels normally host meetings and seminars in a country level with chief guests and
participants belonging to different parties. The hotel should increase the number of
security guards, restrict the meeting area to public, scan every person entering the
meetings and work in coordination with body guards or special force team for high
level of security.
Guest/ Events with high public
profiles


 Hotel generally have a very good public relations with high profile
guests who have a certain charm or impact on public. Movie Stars,
Sportsmen, Businessmen, Entrepreneurs, Public Speakers,
Comedians etc fall under this category.


 While catering to these guests and their events, hotel should not
only provide great service but also extra security service including
valet parking, verifying invitations and special care to security as
provided for PIP guests.


 Although most of the time it is announced, these guest sometimes

want to get out of the daily hassle and have a peaceful time for
themselves or with their family to which hotel must make it sure that
no one knows about their stay and hotel staffs should be trained to
maintain a secrecy to their stay at the hotel and respect their right to
privacy.
Controversial Guests/ Events


 The guests who are surrounded by controversies or rumors

regarding their personal life or their work or any crimes committed
by them are called Controversial Guests. They could be from an
entertainment background, political, business or professional
background with very unusual event that not only changed their life
but the life of others around them. Examples could be celebrity
breakups, politicians caught in crime or suspected, release of a
highly criticized movie etc.


 Although convicted of the crimes or the allegations, such guest are

valuable to the hotel as they bring in more crowd and free marketing
it also pull unnecessary headache and lots of media attention which
could be a great question in the privacy and rights of the guest.
Hence, hotel should think carefully and act tactfully while dealing
with such guests.

Losses Affecting All
Departments


 In a hotel, as in all organizations, all of the department

function as one. They are all interrelated and one department
will significantly affect the performance of other department.


 If only a single person will create any loss in the organization,

the whole organization may suffer the consequences, hence
such events should be monitored and prevented for
organizational efficiency and affectivity. At times, employees
cheat their organization and even steal form the organization
which is a serious offence to the ethics and codes of the
organization.


 Such losses that affects all the departments are as follows:


Stealing Company time
 Going longer breaks, arriving late to work, leaving early from
work, unnecessary leaves, taking too long to complete a
small job can all be stealing or cheating time.


 There are targets and time limits within which a task has to
be completed and negligence or intentional delay will hamper
a lot of hotel’s efficiency.


 For example, if the housekeeping staff delays to make even

one room, the Front Office will receive complaint from the
arrival guest as their room is not ready, as compensation the
Front Office may offer free beverage which will be a loss to
the Food and Beverage Department and consequently a
trouble for the account to maintain a complimentary bill and
there will still be a chance that due to bad service, the guest
may not come back which is a loss to the hotel.
Personal Services on Company
Time
 It is often seen that the employee will be using
the company’s resources and time to their own
personal benefits.


 This is specially seen in administrative staffs who

are in front of the computer and are searching for
personal needs such as online chatting, Skype
calls to family, research or assignment of college,
Face book etc. They are more indulged in their
personal works and perform less on their office
works resulting in delay in payroll, mistakes in
service charge, errors in posting and stock etc.
Personal ‘Calls on Company’s
Expense
 This has become very famous trend,
especially among youngsters.
 They utilize their company’s valuable resource
talking to their friends, family and sometimes
making international calls which could have
saved a lot of money for the hotel which in turn
reduces its chances of expansion,
development as well as its profit margin
leading to loss of both parties- employees and
employers.
Stealing Company’s Assets


 Small undetectable items, shawls, decorative items, cutleries,

stationery items etc are things that are regularly missing from the
hotel as they are stolen by the employees. They are hard to detect
and easy to carry out making them an easy lifts.


 Repair and Maintenance may steal shampoos or guest valuables

which will be targeted to room attendants, Front office will receive
the complain and HR as well as the PR department will have a
tough time dealing with such cases.


 Hence, hotels have to be very particular during their hiring process

and regular checking and personal belonging like bags outside the
hotel premises and security check on all employees and their bags
is a must to control such events.
1 Responding to employee
theft
 Different responses are available to management in dealing with
assets lost through employee theft. The property may want to:
 Cash Control


 Provide a receipt for every transaction. Encourage customers to

expect a receipt by posting signs at each register.


 Put one employee in charge of setting up cash drawers. Have

another double-check the cash count.


 Make each employee responsible for his/her own cash drawer.

 Issue one cash drawer per on-duty employee. No other employee
should at any time (during lunch, breaks, etc.) be allowed to open or
use another's cash drawer.


 At the end of each shift each cash drawer should be balanced by

the employee and double-checked by another.
 Get your employees involved


 Offer rewards to employees who report theft. Ask

your staff for their suggestions on how to eliminate
theft.


 Employee background Checks –



 Contact previous employers to find out if this

person has a theft problem before you hire.
 When employees are not screened properly, you
spend more time and money training new
 Secret Shoppers:


 Secret shoppers or mystery shoppers pose as customers and

watch employee behavior and situations that owners can't
always observe. Secret shoppers are trained to look at how
customers are treated, the type of service provided,
efficiency, honesty, sales techniques as well as misbehavior.


 Survey Cards:
 Give your customers a short survey card to complete or place
one on your web site for customers to fill out.
 Offer recognition and rewards to employees who consistently
provide exceptional customer service.

 Video Surveillance:
 Often just installing cameras will cause employees to think
twice before stealing.
 But in order for them to be effective, you need to let your
employees know you check these by offering them feedback
(Positive or Negative) based on their job performance by
viewing these videos with them.
 Responding to employee theft


 Do a product inventory
 Conduct inventories often and at irregular intervals. Also
make routine spot checks. Inspect records of purchases and
sales at the beginning and end of each shift.
 Define individual employee responsibilities for inventory
control. This establishes a climate of accountability
 Post Signs and Install Locks


 Post signs to indicate areas that are open to the public and those that are for
employees only.
 Install locks on all doors to interior work areas to control public and employee
access. Doors to storage and supply rooms, and individual offices should be locked
to limit access


 Trash Control


 Keep trash dumpsters inside during business hours. Check bins at random times for
pilfered goods that might have been placed in them for pick-up after the trash is
taken out.
 Use clear plastic trash bags. Inspect contents for pilfered goods. Keep lids of
outside trash dumpsters locked during non-business hours. If practical, keep the lids
locked whenever the dumpsters are not being filled or emptied.


 Have employees work in pairs in emptying trash. Or have different employees empty
the trash from day to day.
 If You Suspect Theft

 Despite your best efforts, dishonest employees

can find ways to steal. If you suspect theft, call
your local police department.
 Don't play detective and try to solve the crime.
 And do not jump to unwarranted conclusions.
 A false accusation could result in serious civil
liability.