The primary reason which people usually choose to stay in hotel, motel, and resort properties is to have a comfortable, clean, and dry place to stay when they are away from home — and that includes getting a good restful night of sleep to feel recharged and refreshed for the next day…
Should Fire Safety Tests Be Announced In Advance By Hotel Properties?
…but doing so is rather difficult when a loud fire alarm blares unexpectedly at 3:00 in the morning, waking everyone up in the hotel, motel, or resort property — and then having to be directed to the nearest exit until the “emergency” concludes, which involves engines from the local fire department with sirens and red and white lights flashing everywhere.
That scenario can be quite irritating — but fire knows no time. What if an actual fire had erupted for whatever reason at 3:00 in the morning, potentially endangering both guests and employees? Would any of them know what to do if the emergency was real?
One hotel property posted an announcement on its official Internet web site of when it will be undergoing fire safety testing yesterday, Monday, July 11, 2022 with the following message:
The hotel will be undergoing fire safety testing on July 11, 2022. On this date, fire alarms will be set off for approximately 30 minutes during the day between 11 am and 3 pm. Thank you for your patience as we practice our commitment to guest safety.
The hours of 11:00 in the morning and 3:00 in the afternoon are during the time of day when the hotel property changes guests — some guests check out while others are checking in; and members of the housekeeping staff are busy tending to cleaning rooms — and save for the few guests who might be taking a nap during that time, no one is usually sleeping during those hours…
…but otherwise, any person who reads that announcement and plans on staying at that hotel property during those hours will be expecting fire safety testing to occur — and if his or her stay bridges that time period, that guest will likely leave the hotel property to attend to something else so that he or she will not be affected by the testing.
Final Boarding Call
Although this method of fire safety testing helps to improve the chance of getting a good night of restful sleep, does removing the element of surprise render preparation for being ready for an emergency less effective?
I speak from experience: for a period of time some years ago when I would travel to visit customers as part of the company I founded, every time I stayed overnight at a hotel or resort property, I was greeted with that dreaded unexpected fire alarm during the middle of the night — or so it seemed…
…and to worsen matters, I also had the pleasure of experiencing the dreaded unexpected fire alarm during the middle of the day while I was at the facilities of the customers. Some of them would complain — until I related to them that I had already been through that procedure the night before while I was sleeping.
However, I learned really quickly what to do in the event of a fire at a hotel or resort property, as I practically became an “expert” on it due to all of the times my work or sleep has been interrupted by an unexpected fire alarm — but thankfully, I have never been in a hotel or resort property while it was actually on fire.
For detailed information on how to protect yourself and improve your chances of surviving a fire at a hotel, motel, or resort property, please refer to this article here at The Gate.
Do you believe that fire safety tests at hotel, motel, and resort properties should be announced in advance — and if so, for how long a period of time and how often? If not, why?
I look forward to reading your thoughts in the Comments section below.
All photographs ©2021 and ©2022 by Brian Cohen.
