The recent news that Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy has had to change his accommodation plans several times while in New York casts a wide spotlight over the very essence of what it is to be involved in hospitality.
Specifically, this Khadafy affair brings into focus the responsibility hoteliers have today, or not, to provide ‘good neighbours’.
Khadafy was initially intent on pitching a tent (albeit a luxury tent with mod cons and air conditioning) in the middle of New York’s famous Central Park. Vocal New Yorkers forced him to move to a lawn in Englewood, New Jersey. Again America flexed its democratic muscle, and he booked a room at the Taj-owned The Pierre on Fifth Avenue. But then other guests at The Pierre, on hearing of his imminent check in, complained. “I’m leaving. It makes me feel uncomfortable. He is a terrorist,” said one guest, according to the New York Post.
More recently it has emerged that Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be staying at the The InterContinental Barclay Hotel on East 48th Street, a mile from The Pierre, for his New York visit.
While I would never suggest hotels get mixed up in the murky world of politics, these cases do bring up the important question: do hotels have a responsibility to their guests to ensure they are not bedding down next to unsavoury folk?
Forgetting the political implications of the cases above, would you, for instance, be happy staying in a room next door to a convicted murderer?
The potential threat here comes in two forms. Firstly the potential threat to a guest’s well being. But secondly, the potential threat to your own business. If a guest discovers that you have put him and his young family next door to a known paedophile, he may well never return to any of your brand’s properties again.
In short, how far should hotel security be willing to go to ensure the comfort and wellbeing of their guests, and also the integrity of their business?
The only way to ‘check out’ guests to this degree would be to investigate any guests that give cause for suspicion. This is a process that many employers in the West practice when screening potential employees. But if a potential ‘threat’ is discovered, would you be willing to reject their booking, or is any business good business?
Khadafy’s case is ultimately a no-brainer. He is of no threat to guests in reality, but accommodating him does run the risk of alienating a large portion of politically sensitive guests and losing their business forever. It seems though that he has taken the problem out of the hotels’ hands. Latest reports say Khadafy has chosen to stay at the Libyan Mission to the UN.
Time to check out your guests
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The recent news that Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy has had to change his accommodation plans several times while in New York casts a wide spotlight over the very essence of what it is to be involved in hospitality.
Specifically, this Khadafy affair brings into focus the responsibility hoteliers have today, or not, to provide ‘good neighbours’.
Khadafy was initially intent on pitching a tent (albeit a luxury tent with mod cons and air conditioning) in the middle of New York’s famous Central Park. Vocal New Yorkers forced him to move to a lawn in Englewood, New Jersey. Again America flexed its democratic muscle, and he booked a room at the Taj-owned The Pierre on Fifth Avenue. But then other guests at The Pierre, on hearing of his imminent check in, complained. “I’m leaving. It makes me feel uncomfortable. He is a terrorist,” said one guest, according to the New York Post.
More recently it has emerged that Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be staying at the The InterContinental Barclay Hotel on East 48th Street, a mile from The Pierre, for his New York visit.
While I would never suggest hotels get mixed up in the murky world of politics, these cases do bring up the important question: do hotels have a responsibility to their guests to ensure they are not bedding down next to unsavoury folk?
Forgetting the political implications of the cases above, would you, for instance, be happy staying in a room next door to a convicted murderer?
The potential threat here comes in two forms. Firstly the potential threat to a guest’s well being. But secondly, the potential threat to your own business. If a guest discovers that you have put him and his young family next door to a known paedophile, he may well never return to any of your brand’s properties again.
In short, how far should hotel security be willing to go to ensure the comfort and wellbeing of their guests, and also the integrity of their business?
The only way to ‘check out’ guests to this degree would be to investigate any guests that give cause for suspicion. This is a process that many employers in the West practice when screening potential employees. But if a potential ‘threat’ is discovered, would you be willing to reject their booking, or is any business good business?
Khadafy’s case is ultimately a no-brainer. He is of no threat to guests in reality, but accommodating him does run the risk of alienating a large portion of politically sensitive guests and losing their business forever. It seems though that he has taken the problem out of the hotels’ hands. Latest reports say Khadafy has chosen to stay at the Libyan Mission to the UN.
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