Big city blues
As much as New York City is popular with the tourists, visitors to some landmark attractions will be in for a surprise due to cost of admission increases.
I do a strange thing in hotel rooms sometimes: I host a live radio show. Thanks to the magic of Skype, my room becomes my studio when I’m on the road. And it used to be a quiet, easy place to broadcast from.
No more.
During not one, but two recent broadcasts, I’ve been interrupted by the maid knocking insistently. This despite my having hung a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door. I thought it was bad luck, but I recently discovered that a change in hotel policy may be behind these interruptions.
Called “room checks,” this new policy requires some member of the hotel staff to check each room every 12 to 48 hours (the policies vary by hotel).
The new policy was created in response to last October’s massacre in Las Vegas, during which a guest turned his hotel room into an arsenal. The check can be done during routine cleaning by a maid, but if a room has a “Do Not Disturb” sign on it for too long, hotel security will enter the room.
The Associated Press announced that Caesar’s Entertainment imple- mented room checks in February at its 46 casinos across the world.
Hilton hotels, Wynn Resorts, Boyd Gaming and MGM Resorts also have reportedly implemented this policy. At the end of last year, Disney changed the “Do Not Disturb” signs to “Room Occupied” signs at its Grand Floridian, Polynesian and Contemporary resorts. This was along with a new policy requiring visits within 24 hours by a member of the hotel’s staff.
Sadly, in today’s world it makes sense for hotels to take these sorts of measures for our safety. But there are legitimate reasons why a guest should have the right to be in the hotel room that he or she paid for without having to worry about being disturbed there.
For now, those honeymooners, and others who simply want to hole up in a hotel room unharrassed, will need to plan to spend at least an hour a day outside of their rented digs.
In addition, they should alert the hotel of their time outside the room, so that the room can be checked in timely fashion. And for those who need to be in their rooms at a specified time, do what I do now: Contact the head of housekeeping to alert them to your need for peace, and give them an alternate time to come back and clean.
Note to the reader: Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
The information in this column was accurate when it was released, but prices are competitive, sometimes limited and can always change without notice.