Handling Unusual Event

A hotel is a big place and there are lots of guest along with lots of staffs. So there may be lots of unusual situations that happen in the hotel. So hotel staffs must be careful and must be able to deal with the unusual situation that happens or occurs in the hotel. The different unusual situations which may occur in the hotel are as follows:

1. Death

Hence in the hotel, there is a number of people's death is also one of the unusual situation that happens in a hotel. Dealing with unusual events like death (guest or employee ), the following steps must be taken.

• The front office staff or housekeeping staff or the concerned person should inform the manager on duty or to the general manager.
• Doctor should immediately be called upon to examine the cause of death.
• General Manager may decide to call the police.
• The room and the area should not allow anybody to enter until all the police formalities are over.
• There should not be any information to the other guests and staff about the incident as it may make others nervous.
• The dead body must be removed from the staff entrance or the back gate.
• The concerned relatives should be connected through address was given on the registration card.
• The death case should be handled inaudibly so that the incident is not known to everyone; who may bring a bad name to the hotel
  
  

2. Accidents

Accidents are unpredicted and may be minor or major depending upon the condition of the incident. In the case of any unusual accidents, the following steps should be taken.

• The hotel and house doctor should be called immediately.
• Try to find out the condition of the guest and nature of the accident.
• Doctor`s instruction must be followed immediately.
• If the accident is minor like a simple burn, cut, bleeding etc first aid treatment should be given as per requirement. The first aid measure is a simple medical treatment that is provided to the injured person on the spot, before consulting a doctor. In the case of serious accidents, the patient can be taken to the hospital immediately. The simple and common method of first aid measure is do not move the causality unnecessarily. Keep him or her warm. Make a diagnosis decide the treatment and treat. Check for breathing, blood circulation and pulse.
• If it is beyond the control and happens to be a major case, the guest should be taken to the nearby health centers or hospitals and inform the concerned person or relatives if required.

3. Damage to the hotel property

Natural disaster, human errors and other guest and employee activities might cause damage to the hotel property.

Following are some of the procedures as how to handle damages caused by the guest.

• Guest staying in the hotel may damage the hotel property knowingly or unknowingly.
• Depending upon the type of damage caused by the guest, the hotel may charge for the value of damages.
• Front office cashier is instructed to put the damaged amount in the guest account if found that it is intentionally done.
• A responsible guest will never argue but may object. He or she must be referred to the manager on duty or general manager.

4. Theft

Hotel belongings can be stolen by guest or employees. If the guest has stolen an item from the room then the value of the item should be placed on the guest account or guest folio at the front office cashier. Guest is politely informed about his deeds only if one sure that the guest is to blame. If not, hotel security is informed by providing all the necessary details about the incident. The necessary action is taken after the serious scrutiny.

5. Drunk

Sometimes hotel may come over to handle unusual incidents like drunken guest. It is understandable not to argue with the drunken guest. He or she must be politely taken to his or him room or away from the public area. If the situation gets worse and difficult to handle, the hotel security must be called and handed over to them. The necessary steps will be taken to bring the guest in n the rmal position.

6. Birth cases

In the cases of births in the hotel, precautions are taken before handling the case. If the incident of such types occurs they are taken to the nearby health centers hospitals by providing necessary support from the hotel. Hotel doctor and relatives are informed if possible.

7. Skippers

Skippers are big problems to a hotel business, therefore, the necessary precautions should be taken to control skippers by checking the complete address in a registration form. Suspicious guests perhaps are asked for the payment in advance or full payment. If the guest found to be with a scanty baggage, the front office personnel or the staff should keep an eye on the guest, limit the amount of the bill to restrict the expenses from going up.

8. Fire in hotel

• As soon as a fire is detected, the first thing to do is to inform the telephone operator, who plays a vital role helped on alarming the entire hotel.
• The front desk staff should immediately call the fire brigade available in the city for help.
• Every guest from the room should be vacated as far as possible.
• Trained firefighters should be initiated to extinguish fire, using appropriate safety measure. Use different extinguisher for different grades of fire.
• If possible necessary thing should be removed and guests are suggested not create panic or havoc which can make the situation more difficult to handle.
• Necessary fire preventive measure must be taken.

In a case of big fire, city fire brigade should be called after consulting with the management.

References:

Oli Gopal Singh et.al., Hotel Management Principles and Practices-XI, Buddha Prakashan, Kathmandu.

Bhandari, Saroj Sing et.al., Principles of Hotel Management-XI, Asmita Books Publication, Kathmandu.