Hotels wrestle with how to boost security

HOTEL AND casino properties are grappling with how to deal with security and guests who are a potential threat in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead. “I’ve been racking my brain. If that were my hotel, what would I have done differently," said Dick Hudak, a retired FBI agent and former head of worldwide security for Sheraton hotels. “I don’t know if I would do anything different.” Because the Las Vegas shooting was a unique situation — a high roller with a security camera and an arsenal in his room — it’s unlikely to prompt major physical changes within hotels around the world, experts said. But that doesn’t mean major brands won’t ramp up staff efforts to watch out for odd behavior coming from guests. “They need a little bit to step up the training of the staff. How to be observant of a guest,” said George Taylor, vice president of global operations for iJet International, which audits hotel security. Staff might now have to keep a closer eye on closed-circuit televisions, as well as watch what guests are bringing in and out of rooms, Taylor said, noting that Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock had smuggled 23 weapons into his room.