A housekeeper at the DoubleTree Guest Suites in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was credited with preventing a mass shooting at a nearby hotel during the holiday weekend. On Wednesday, police were conducting a routine “random check” of the guest rooms at the DoubleTree, which is located on the fourth floor of the Ocean Boulevard hotel, Myrtle Beach Police Department spokesman Joel Brown told The Hill. While doing so, officials discovered a .22-caliber handgun inside the suite. The gun was loaded with four rounds—one in the chamber, according to Brown. The guest was in the bathroom at the time and reported the gun to hotel staff, who immediately called police, who cleaned the weapon and arrested the guest, Brown said.
Last week a housekeeper for a hotel in San Jose, California prevented a mass shooting during a family party by alerting hotel officials when they spotted an armed guest. At the time of the party, family members had gathered in the hotel lobby to watch fireworks and the California state holiday was underway. The guest was in his room at the time, armed with an assault rifle and handgun.
Hotel concierge prevented a mass shooting on July. Why are we cutting the budget again?
Gary Leff 10. July 2024
Hilton is abolishing daily housekeeping at full-service hotels in the U.S., meaning these hotels will no longer be considered full-service hotels. You must ask for the room to be cleaned if you wish. And if there are fewer housekeepers, they may be at a disadvantage. It’s part of the chain’s CEO’s strategy to charge customers pre-pandemic prices but give them less.
It’s not like three years ago when Hilton wanted housekeepers in every room every day as part of the war on terror. The plan to leave the prohibition signs up for longer than 24 hours follows the mass shooting in Las Vegas and makes cleanup the first line of defense.
And that’s on top of the role the Department of Homeland Security wants housekeepers to play in detecting sex trafficking. You can be a sex trafficker if…. This list includes: I packed camera gear and lots of electronics (bloggers), didn’t clean for a few days (bonus points for green choices) and wore poor quality clothes (I’m not very fashionable). Paying with prepaid gift cards (for miles) is another indication.
So when hotels refuse daily cleaning, they condone sex trafficking and terrorism?
I’m usually skeptical of such efforts, but apparently the housekeeper at the W Chicago Lakeshore Hotel prevented a mass shooting during the Fourth of July. (HT: Donald W.)
The housekeeper found a semi-automatic rifle with a high-powered scope and laser in a very suspicious position in the guest room on the 12th floor. Floor overlooking Ohio Street beach, which was full of fireworks.
Chicago police found a rifle with a bullet on it, a handgun and several loaded rifle magazines on the windowsill of room 1208.
The incident was obviously very disturbing given the location of the W Hotel on Navy Pier, Chicago Police Commissioner David Brown told reporters at a press conference yesterday.
… That employee saw something when he entered the cleaning room that likely prevented a tragedy, Brown said. Thank God the hotel clerk saw something, said something and thus prevented the disaster.
Keegan Kastel was charged after housekeeping staff at the W Chicago Hotel reported to police the presence of a rifle with a live round in the room, a handgun and magazines for the rifle on the windowsill.
The gun was equipped with a high-powered scope, and Casteel was in a room overlooking the beach on Ohio Street. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/QNOGENTktJ
– Megan Hickey (@MeganHickeyTV) July 6, 2024
Doing away with housekeeping is bad for guests, but also for hotels. This takes away some of what sets them apart from the owners and destroys their competitive advantage. Given the role that hotels, and Hilton in particular, have played in recent years in combating sex trafficking and mass slaughter, how can they cut that aspect of their budget?
