Hotel Emergency Preparedness

[suebee]

I was staying at the Cosmo last week when the shooting incident occurred out front. It was the one day we slept in and didn’t leave the hotel early and we ended up getting stuck on lockdown for 5 hours. The incident started about 1045am and we didn’t hear a thing from the hotel for just over 2 hours after it began, even though the lockdown was immediate. In fact it was only because my sister could see the bus and cops below that we knew anything had happened and then I searched twitter to find out more. We couldn’t get through to the front desk so I used the text concierge service and they confirmed the lockdown. The local news was covering it live long before hotel guests heard anything.

This was a relatively minor incident, however between the Bellagio incident the night before and then this one the following day there was a lot of misinformation (i.e. active shooter in the casino, hotel being evacuated) out there and in our case, no information for a long period of time. What I learned after was that the casino floor was cleared immediately and nearly all hotel staff (save for some security personnel) were locked in their “safe rooms” until the hotel was cleared. Also, when they finally did use the hotel wide intercom system it sounded like they sent out the lowest person on the totem pole – she sounded really nervous giving the announcement.

So this got me thinking, do you think hotels are prepared to handle a major emergency if one happened? Would Vegas hotels be any more/less prepared than any other hotel? I’m not freaking out over it or anything, I’m just wondering if anyone here has any insights or knows what the protocol might be.

EDIT:
I should also add that we stayed 3 nights at the Linq and one night the fire alarm went off at 230am and there was an intercom message within a minute (before I had my shoes on to start the trek down the stairs). It was a false alarm and the next morning we were chatting with some folks who had experience 3 false alarms during their stay that week (all at the Linq) so I guess they are used to getting some info out fairly quick

 

[Valgal]

I have never seen any drills or anything similar to it at any hotel in Vegas. Back in September I went with some friends to Winstar in Oklahoma. They take their tornado drills seriously. We stayed 2 nights and both mornings at 8 am sharp they repeated the toranado warning drill -- repeated the long winded announcement stating it was only a drill for the hotel staff and no action was required by the guests x 2 both mornings -- over the load speaker into the rooms. I complained to one of the girls and she said we were lucky -- the last time they made them all evacuate to an inside location away from windows etc.

My husband had to evacuate a Wyndham hotel In Houston one time at around midnight. He had to go down 12 stories or so. He is relatively young but the elderly couldn't use the elevators -- he said it was pathetic -- they never explained it and it was not called a drill. He never found out what it was about. He was attending a popular convention so he figures it was related to that.

Probably something everyone should know is where their Emergency exits are.

 

[Richard Alpert]

Probably something everyone should know is where their Emergency exits are.

I agree with Val on this one! I look for the emergency exits as I approach a hotel room for the first time.

My dad always taught me to be aware of your surroundings and to always leave yourself at least two exits out of every situation.
When visiting the in-laws I try for three or four!

RICHARD

 

[BreakEven]

With the lengthy power outage @ Paris or Bally's earlier this year, that was a great reminder to all of these hotels that they need to have clear emergency processes/procedures in place INCLUDING good communication plans. And they need to run drills on them at least annually so people know what to do.

It sounds like they HAD anticipated this sort of event (omg...safe rooms for the employees?), but they had a major communications gap. I'm shocked that it was HOURS before they said anything! I would've expected at least a quick "stay in your rooms until further notice" before they got out. I've had the quick intercom notification after a false alarm too (think it was even @ Cosmo). Hopefully, this is just a preparedness problem (and "easily" fixed).

Were there any notices posted @ the elevators or stairwells or anything? I'm assuming not, but I would've expected some folks to try taking the stairs down when the elevators were no longer working.

It'll be interesting to see if any of the casinos are proactive about letting folks know they have new procedures in place for events like this in the future. Can't give specifics, because that provides targets. Don't want to remind people of an event like this, because it scares them away. But many would be comforted knowing the hotels and/or LVPD have consulted and drawn up plans.

 

[Kobra2848]

On our stay at Planet Hollywood in February the fire alarm went off the first night around 2:00 am. The alarm sounded for quite some time and people started gathering in the hallways. There was never an announcement over the intercom system and no one answered at the front desk. Finally an employee came down the hall and said it was a false alarm ( she said someone pulled a fire alarm ). We were on the 26th floor and I was not looking forward to walking down 26 flights.

Mark

 

[Rush]

This was a relatively minor incident

Actually, it was a murder.

 

[smerrian]

I always check out the poster on the back of the hotel room door when I get a room. It gives your location and the emergency exit routes.

 

[Natural21]

Yes. Always check to see where the exits are.
Once I was taking the elevator in a Strip hotel. An older man taking the elevator asked if I was staying on upper floor. I told him I was. He said "That's good. You'll be closer to the helicopter in case of a fire". I still wonder about that. Probably good advice.
Good luck.

 

[da1chifan]

Good things to think about when traveling anywhere. I am not really concerned with incidents like happened in Vegas recently, but I do think about things like when hotels lose power (I think Paris was most recent in Vegas) or if there was a fire.

I'm strange and sometimes like to take the stairs instead of the elevator (unless I'm on the 30th floor... lol). I was at one hotel and took the stairs down, got to the bottom floor, and the door to the lobby was locked! I was glad I had my phone so I could call them. Glad it wasn't an emergency, but it made me think about what if it had been.

 

[Elf70]

I was at Cosmo in the casino on Saturday during the shooting. The casino evacuation was proceeding smoothly and calmly until two muffled "pops" went off. I'm sure it was the shooter shooting at the police as was reported on the news. The pops caused mass panic and the smooth evacuation became a stampede. I ended up outside the casino with many Cosmo employees. They did an amazing job giving out information and directing wandering people towards the fire station and then Aria. One of the employees told me that in the past few weeks all employees were tested on emergency preparedness. I thought the whole situation was handled as well as it could be.

 

[Jade88]

I can't help but think about stuff like that when i travel. I make sure to know my exits and try to be aware of whats going on around me. Still, you never know how you will react until your in a situation. I hate elevators to begin with so i take the stairs a lot.

 

[Corinne]

I was at The Paris when they had their power outage last year. It was total chaos and I will never stay there again because if it had been a fire (luckily it wasn't although there were fire engines) I wouldn't be here now. Yes, it was that scary and no help at all from staff or announcements. Pitch black emergency staircase and hallways.

 

[Breeze147]

Yes. Always check to see where the exits are.
Once I was taking the elevator in a Strip hotel. An older man taking the elevator asked if I was staying on upper floor. I told him I was. He said "That's good. You'll be closer to the helicopter in case of a fire". I still wonder about that. Probably good advice.
Good luck.

Actually, helicopters can't operate in over heated air. That's why people were left on top of the WTC. Helicopters couldn't get near due to smoke and heat. The old guy was trying to pick you up.

 

[TrewBrew]

At work I have had to plan and drill what to do in the case of fire, medical emergency and active shooter situations. I never thought about emergency situations in hotels and personally planing what to do.
For smaller hotels we always check for the stairs but that is because we would rather take them if it is 3 or 4 floors then wait for the elevators. I guess in the world today I need to think more about emergency situations.

 

[Natural21]

Actually, helicopters can't operate in over heated air. That's why people were left on top of the WTC. Helicopters couldn't get near due to smoke and heat. The old guy was trying to pick you up.

Come to think of it, he did say something about being attacked with a missile!
Good luck.

 

[bubbakitty]

Although inconvienced by such a process, I can't believe you can just walk in to a hotel casino without any interaction with someone. You see lots of resorts/hotels overseas being attacked. It can happen anywhere but seems to take one attempt to beef up. Yes, be aware.