"Do not disturb" signs being removed from resort rooms

[Patcheslee]

I haven't been on here for awhile but saw this somewhere else and wanted to look into it. Personally, I unpacked my suitcase and treated the hotel as my home for a week. I expected that lent me privacy inside the room since we didn't have housekeeping. Now I would treat Disney like any other hotel when I stay a single night: don't unpack, keep luggage locked while outside the room, valuables still locked up, but now checking everyday. Not exactly what I would feel as home.

 

[flynnibus]

I imagine this is mostly a change in nomenclature and changing the guest expectation of privacy placing the sign. I doubt they will change their own procedure that greatly. I imagine housekeeping will largely treat the occupied signs the same as they did the do not disturb and these rooms will be skipped. I doubt they will actually open and check every one every day. But now, If there is suspicion about something regarding a particular room they will be able to enter since their is no expectation of privacy established by placing the sign any longer.

Or simply add to the procedure if a room is not entered the day before... take the extra step to enter on day 2.. etc. they don't need to enter everyday... as you say, it's more about establishing a new baseline so they can get guests accustomed to it and then set their "frequency" policy as needed.

 

[flynnibus]

Which is completely unnecessary unless there is an issue. A person should have some expectation of privacy in a hotel room. If I am spending a day or two just lounging in my room, there is no reason for them to come "check" on me or enter without my permission. And like EvilChamelean said, what are they going to do about it if they walk in on someone with a bunch of guns?

It could easily be security doing these extra checks... not housekeeping. Create a daily report of rooms that need a check, and have the security teams do the check. They would have the extra training and radios needed, etc.

 

[peter11435]

It's not about rummaging through guests belongs or spying on them. It's about eliminating any sense of privacy that a "guest" may have felt they had in their resort room. In other words the goal isn't to catch guests participating in dangerous or illegal activity they goal is to prevent it altogether.

 

[dreamfinder912]

Sounds like the kind of nonsense they'd do at my University whenever there was a fire alarm-they had to come by and check that we had all actually left the room but it was common knowledge that they did it to check for prohibited items (candles, alcohol, etc). Never thought I'd have to compare crappy dorm rules to Disney hotel policies, especially DVC.

 

[jaklgreen]

It could easily be security doing these extra checks... not housekeeping. Create a daily report of rooms that need a check, and have the security teams do the check. They would have the extra training and radios needed, etc.

Yeah but look what happened in Vegas. The guy killed a security guard and was still able to kill all of those people. If someone(security, housekeeping, management, etc) walks into a room with a guy and his guns, do you think he would let them leave alive to call the police? Those people don't go there to go to the parks and then shoot afterwards. They have 1 purpose, that's it. This is another of the "security" measures that makes it look like they are doing something. Can't wait for them to go through all of our bags at check in to make sure we are not bringing guns with us. I would actually prefer they get it done with so I don't have to be bothered with random room checks throughout my vacation.

 

[RustySpork]

Yeah but look what happened in Vegas. The guy killed a security guard and was still able to kill all of those people. If someone(security, housekeeping, management, etc) walks into a room with a guy and his guns, do you think he would let them leave alive to call the police? Those people don't go there to go to the parks and then shoot afterwards. They have 1 purpose, that's it. This is another of the "security" measures that makes it look like they are doing something. Can't wait for them to go through all of our bags at check in to make sure we are not bringing guns with us. I would actually prefer they get it done with so I don't have to be bothered with random room checks throughout my vacation.

What about the people who check in and then go to Academy and buy weapons to bring back to their rooms! They should do both!

Not serious there. I think this whole check your room every day concept is stupid, it's just more theater that's not going to solve anything.

 

[zbsigpi]

I am going to preface my post with this, We (hoteliers) respect your privacy and do not wish to enter your hotel without your permission.
As a hotel manager we have the right to enter any room at any time to perform security, housekeeping or maintenance duties. I am reading things regarding your privacy, security of your items, ect. Ladies and gentlemen this is not an issue of privacy but more so a security measure, we do not want to enter your room without your permission, we do respect your privacy! However this is not something new, it is just being reworded. If you think that before this announcement that after 2 or 3 days of having a DND on your room, that your room was not entered and checked on, you are being silly. Similar to Do Not Disturb signs, the housekeeper when they come upon your room with the DND/Occupied room will mark it on their paperwork along with the time. They will check the room probably another 2 times during their shift to see if the sign has been removed and they can clean the room. If the sign is not removed, it again will be marked on their paperwork. The supervisor/manager will then mark it in their system as well at this point it will be decided to enter and check the room or not, obviously by their wording they will be checking the room daily now. I do not know Disney's policies but I will assume that the person entering your room is probably a supervisor/manager and they are checking the room for condition and safety and NOT your belongings, yes you still have certain rights. The check probably will take less than 3 minutes from door knock to exit.

When I go on vacation the 1st thing I do is place the DND on the door, personally my reason is that I do not need/want housekeeping services. However if it is for length of stay over 2 days I will have service done probably every other day!

 

[zbsigpi]

Another thing that I am reading is that guests are worried about being walked in on. Hotels have procedures in place to prevent this not that sometimes procedures are not followed but 99% of the time they are. If they are not followed make management aware of it. In my hotel we knock and announce our selves two separate times before keying the room then we only open the door slightly and announce our selves if these go unanswered then we enter the room. This is what your deadbolt and safety latch is for if you want privacy while in the room. When the deadbolt is "on" a normal key that housekeeping, engineering or standard management would have would not unlock the deadbolt. You need a special key/key clearance to open a door with a dead bold "on" As an upper level manager of a mid sized hotel, I do not want or even carry a key with the ability to open a dead-bolted door and neither does our General Manger, if we need it then we will go get one. As for the safety latch we do have a tool to open these however if we need to go to that extreme then more than likely there is something wrong with the guest and we need to access the room. A sleeping guest would surely wake up with all the noise (phone calls, knocking and loud talking that we would be doing prior to opening the safety latch.

 

[flynnibus]

Yeah but look what happened in Vegas. The guy killed a security guard and was still able to kill all of those people. If someone(security, housekeeping, management, etc) walks into a room with a guy and his guns, do you think he would let them leave alive to call the police? Those people don't go there to go to the parks and then shoot afterwards. They have 1 purpose, that's it. This is another of the "security" measures that makes it look like they are doing something. Can't wait for them to go through all of our bags at check in to make sure we are not bringing guns with us. I would actually prefer they get it done with so I don't have to be bothered with random room checks throughout my vacation.

That's where training and procedures kicks in. Using your same logic, police are just as lost a cause minus their own guns. Methods and procedures are used to help minimize risk and enable the ability to react. Like working in pairs, where you position yourself, your radio usage, etc.

Not saying the risks don't exist... just that they aren't a reason to not do this. These types of challenges are what security is structured to address

 

[jaklgreen]

I am going to preface my post with this, We (hoteliers) respect your privacy and do not wish to enter your hotel without your permission.
As a hotel manager we have the right to enter any room at any time to perform security, housekeeping or maintenance duties. I am reading things regarding your privacy, security of your items, ect. Ladies and gentlemen this is not an issue of privacy but more so a security measure, we do not want to enter your room without your permission, we do respect your privacy! However this is not something new, it is just being reworded. If you think that before this announcement that after 2 or 3 days of having a DND on your room, that your room was not entered and checked on, you are being silly. Similar to Do Not Disturb signs, the housekeeper when they come upon your room with the DND/Occupied room will mark it on their paperwork along with the time. They will check the room probably another 2 times during their shift to see if the sign has been removed and they can clean the room. If the sign is not removed, it again will be marked on their paperwork. The supervisor/manager will then mark it in their system as well at this point it will be decided to enter and check the room or not, obviously by their wording they will be checking the room daily now. I do not know Disney's policies but I will assume that the person entering your room is probably a supervisor/manager and they are checking the room for condition and safety and NOT your belongings, yes you still have certain rights. The check probably will take less than 3 minutes from door knock to exit.

When I go on vacation the 1st thing I do is place the DND on the door, personally my reason is that I do not need/want housekeeping services. However if it is for length of stay over 2 days I will have service done probably every other day!

If someone has given absolutely no reason for suspicion, then they should not go in to a room to "check" it. Let's say there is a typical midwest family staying in the room. The chance that they are crazy terrorists wanting to kill a bunch of people is pretty much non-existent. What reason would any hotel staff have to go into someone's room with no cause. You don't want your landlord to walk into your apartment daily to check up on you. I don't want hotel staff to do so either. And if this is for "safety" reasons with them quoting the Vegas shooting, then it sounds like they are looking for someone with weapons. Like some nut job is going to just keep it lying on the bed. I would imagine they would have it hidden and locked in their suitcase. And you are saying they will not go through people's stuff, then how are they going to find any evidence? This is a complete waste of time and unnecessary stress on the guests. It's just stupid.

 

[jaklgreen]

That's where training and procedures kicks in. Using your same logic, police are just as lost a cause minus their own guns. Methods and procedures are used to help minimize risk and enable the ability to react. Like working in pairs, where you position yourself, your radio usage, etc.

Not saying the risks don't exist... just that they aren't a reason to not do this. These types of challenges are what security is structured to address

So Disney is going to have trained officers that know what to look for going through the rooms? A typical housekeeper or hotel employee is not going to know what to look for. This is another one of those pointless procedures that make it look like they are helping prevent an attack. In reality it will just annoy the innocent.

 

[drizgirl]

Another thing that I am reading is that guests are worried about being walked in on. Hotels have procedures in place to prevent this not that sometimes procedures are not followed but 99% of the time they are. If they are not followed make management aware of it. In my hotel we knock and announce our selves two separate times before keying the room then we only open the door slightly and announce our selves if these go unanswered then we enter the room. This is what your deadbolt and safety latch is for if you want privacy while in the room. When the deadbolt is "on" a normal key that housekeeping, engineering or standard management would have would not unlock the deadbolt. You need a special key/key clearance to open a door with a dead bold "on" As an upper level manager of a mid sized hotel, I do not want or even carry a key with the ability to open a dead-bolted door and neither does our General Manger, if we need it then we will go get one. As for the safety latch we do have a tool to open these however if we need to go to that extreme then more than likely there is something wrong with the guest and we need to access the room. A sleeping guest would surely wake up with all the noise (phone calls, knocking and loud talking that we would be doing prior to opening the safety latch.

My concern isn't someone walking in on anything. My concern is with the knock that precedes someone walking in. If I'm in the room for a nap, it would wake me up whether they enter or not. And I have sleep issues so would likely have a very hard time getting back to sleep. Some people have kids who need naps. Once again, it's the knock that would be disruptive to them.

 

[GenerationX]

You know people are going to get confused and think they have to keep the "Room Occupied" sign outside the door at all times to prevent Disney from assigning their room to another guest.

 

[flynnibus]

So Disney is going to have trained officers that know what to look for going through the rooms? A typical housekeeper or hotel employee is not going to know what to look for. This is another one of those pointless procedures that make it look like they are helping prevent an attack. In reality it will just annoy the innocent.

Disney already has this staff. The variable is at what stage is disney going to actually enter rooms...

Not all steps are about 100% prevention - they often are about taking away the easy paths.

I still think this is more about establishing the framework... and Disney will actually hold back exercising the right except where a room isn't entered over an extended period.

 

[Bullseye1967]

So Disney is going to have trained officers that know what to look for going through the rooms? A typical housekeeper or hotel employee is not going to know what to look for. This is another one of those pointless procedures that make it look like they are helping prevent an attack. In reality it will just annoy the innocent.

I stated in a similar post about the same topic that at the hotel I managed we had a very similar policy in place, we just did not advertise it. If someone kept a DND sign on a door for over 2 days, myself or my assistant manager would "check on the guest". This is not that usual of a policy. It is just good business. I travel for work now, and see it in many hotels I stay at. I don't have a problem with it. I don't care to have housekeeping in my room, but I have no problem if a member of management peeks in. I understand why it is done. As far as a housekeeper not being qualified to notice something out of place, you are dead wrong. They are in the same rooms every day after day and are usually the first ones to see something out of the ordinary. And yes Disney does have trained people that know what to look for. You would be very surprised what happens behind the scenes at Disney to look out for your safety.

 

[Bullseye1967]

Disney already has this staff. The variable is at what stage is disney going to actually enter rooms...

Not all steps are about 100% prevention - they often are about taking away the easy paths.

I still think this is more about establishing the framework... and Disney will actually hold back exercising the right except where a room isn't entered over an extended period.

The fact that DVC members will now get their trash removed every day starting in 2018 does show they will be entering rooms.

 

[I am Timmy]

I was more referring to the reported incidents involving staff already walking in on people (and children) who are not clothed, but that's a fair point too.

We got back from a two week trip last night. Stayed in a family suite at All Star Music. We decided to forgo housekeeping, two days later a maid knocked, didn't wait for a response, and just walked in to give us towels. When she saw us, she said, "oh, sorry". We went to the front desk to clarify what it means to forgo housekeeping. We were told they are under no circumstances supposed to enter the room. Even if you call for more towels, etc. they are supposed to leave them outside (we hadn't called, so it was strange.) We were told it wouldn't happen again. Three days later, a maid WALKED IN without knocking, and caught one son in his underwear and the other naked in a towel. She just said sorry, will clean the room later. So, went back to the front desk. This time they got the manager, she was mortified (as were my sons), and said it wouldn't happen again. I told her this was already the second time, and she was trying to clean our room. She apologized profusely and gave us a $200 credit. Cool. The next day, we came back to our room around 3 pm - our room had been cleaned. I could not keep these people out! Went back to the front desk, the young lady suggested putting a do not disturb sign out for the rest of the trip. We didn't have one in our room - she had to go track one down. Turns out that did the trick. The sign is all.

 

[I am Timmy]

Which is completely unnecessary unless there is an issue. A person should have some expectation of privacy in a hotel room. If I am spending a day or two just lounging in my room, there is no reason for them to come "check" on me or enter without my permission. And like EvilChamelean said, what are they going to do about it if they walk in on someone with a bunch of guns?

Will maids be going through some special forces training for this very scenario?

 

[Bullseye1967]

We got back from a two week trip last night. Stayed in a family suite at All Star Music. We decided to forgo housekeeping, two days later a maid knocked, didn't wait for a response, and just walked in to give us towels. When she saw us, she said, "oh, sorry". We went to the front desk to clarify what it means to forgo housekeeping. We were told they are under no circumstances supposed to enter the room. Even if you call for more towels, etc. they are supposed to leave them outside (we hadn't called, so it was strange.) We were told it wouldn't happen again. Three days later, a maid WALKED IN without knocking, and caught one son in his underwear and the other naked in a towel. She just said sorry, will clean the room later. So, went back to the front desk. This time they got the manager, she was mortified (as were my sons), and said it wouldn't happen again. I told her this was already the second time, and she was trying to clean our room. She apologized profusely and gave us a $200 credit. Cool. The next day, we came back to our room around 3 pm - our room had been cleaned. I could not keep these people out! Went back to the front desk, the young lady suggested putting a do not disturb sign out for the rest of the trip. We didn't have one in our room - she had to go track one down. Turns out that did the trick. The sign is all.

That is just CMs doing their own thing. It is totally against policy. One of my pet peeves is checking into a hotel and there is no DND sign in the room. I actually carry one with me now.