Have you experienced your inventory running low after a guest stay?
Research suggests that at any given month, hotels can lose between 5-20% of their overall towels, sheets and robes. Now, hotels like to treat guests to the idea that their stay should feel like a home away from home. Although, towels, robes and washroom goods add up in the long run. Guests shouldn’t expect these items to be given away for free.
What can you do about them getting sticky fingers?
Most Commonly Stolen Hotel Items
As much as you can make your guests stay feel like a home away from home, there is an evident mindset for them to take items back home with them.
Research on UK holidaymakers clarified these as the items most commonly stuffed in guests suitcases. Here are the top ten items commonly associated with guest theft:
- Silverware
- Remote batteries
- Hotel robes
- Shampoo
- Towels
- Linens
- Pillows
- Artwork
- Hangers
- Wall mirrors
Was it your guest?
If you’re a one-room Airbnb, this doesn’t present an issue, but for busy hotels, it comes to question if it was your guest or employees. That is unless you have proof to back your claims.
If the numbers aren’t adding up and you’re taking a hit from restocking lost items, then here are a few tips to help fight back.
Hotel Guest Theft Procedures
1. Make Your Stance Clear Before Booking
If your guests are booking online, make your charge policy clear in the description. To be extra clear, when you send an email confirmation of the booking, leave this policy link in the footer of the email. The more your guest-to-be sees your stance they’ll doublethink before pilfering your pillows.
2. Utilise signs in your hotel
Image via r/mildlyinteresting
Leave a sign in the room advising the guest of the price for taking valuable items. If they’ve skim-read the information before, seeing it in the flesh will surely make them reconsider making their suitcase heavier upon leaving.
3. Employ Anti-Theft devices
Anti-theft hangers are a great choice. UK holidaymakers are estimated to steal around £3 million pounds worth of tea bags & coffee sachets from hotels every year. While you could limit the amount offered in your rooms, applying small features like anti-theft hangers will help to keep costs down and guest theft at bay. Another highlight would be to install a fitted hand dryer, an item mounted to the wall would be much more difficult for a guest to get at than a loose dryer.
The Valera Hotella 1200W Hairdryer is suitable for use in hotels; this device is eco-friendly and quick and easy to install. At only 15cm wide, the Valera Hotello is compact and supports most room spaces.
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4. Chargeback the stolen items
Finally, just as you would charge for any damages to the room, charge for any missing items in the room. Incorporate this stance into your company policy so that all employees are aware of the new system. Everyone knowing the companies policy & procedures will make this easier to implement.
This issue is costing hotels money and we hope with our information you can now take strides to be safer and more secure. It’s not just towels and tea bags that presents an opportunity for thieves; online, your employee and guest records are highly sought after by hackers.
Hotel Data Breaches
It isn’t just guest theft you have to worry about. Dozens of confirmed data breaches have hit hotels all around the world, with hackers using sneakier and more convoluted ways to access personal information. Just last year, Marriot hotels confirmed that an estimated 327 million guests data was stolen, which included “some combination of name, mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number”.
One way to help prevent this information from falling into the wrong hands is signing up to a confidential shredding service.
At Direct365, We’ll provide secure, confidential containers and arrange a schedule that meets your needs. Additionally, we offer a complimentary workplace privacy policy to help you remain compliant. By having a clear plan in place, you’ll be able to ease staff into how they can act in a more data secure manner which can only benefit your business’s security.
If you’re unsure of how this process would work best for you, we can provide a free site survey, no matter where you’re based in the UK. Our vetted staff will come to your premise and advise the best and most logical plan to suit your business. Please send us an enquiry today.
