In reaction to the Las Vegas killings.
Walt Disney World (DIS)has swapped “Do Not Disturb” signs with “Room Occupied” signs at a handful of its hotels in Orlando, Florida, according to a company spokeswoman.
Disney is also allowing housekeeping and maintenance staff to enter the rooms on a daily basis.They will knock and announce their presence before entering, according to the company.
[…]
The Orleans hotel and casino, located on Las Vegas’ famed Tropicana Avenue, along with Boyd Gaming’s 23 other properties nationwide — changed its “do not disturb” policy in late October, a spokesman said. Under the revised policy, a “welfare check” is conducted after two consecutive days of a “Do Not Disturb” sign on a room door.
Good idea? As someone that stays in hotels a lot and usually leaves up my DND sign, I would find this annoying. But it is also fairly harmless. It is certainly within the hotels’ rights and, perhaps, responsibility.
I stayed at The Orleans a few weeks ago and had the same annoyed reaction. I needed to stay in my hotel room the majority of the days to work, and of course the cleaning staff never showed up when I took occasional breaks for food and slots!
However, every other day I didn’t put up the sign, and housekeeping was very professional about knocking before entering. You let them know you’re in the room, they ask if you need anything, and then they leave. Guests can also be pro-active about approaching members of the housekeeping staff to “check in” when they are in the hallways and cleaning other rooms.
You just make the wellness check as easy as possible for yourself and everyone involved–or stay at a different hotel until the majority of properties adopt the same policy. Besides, in places like Vegas and Disney the majority of people aren’t spending much time in their hotel rooms anyway.
Also, I agree with Owen that perhaps it is now the hotels’ responsibility because this is our new reality. It’s a way to keep things safer for everyone, it protects hotel property, and it may prevent some future lawsuits.