Local New York City hotel housekeepers waiting for the arrival of Dominique Strauss-Kahn to enter Manhattan Supreme Court in June 2011. Local New York City hotel housekeepers waiting for the arrival of Dominique Strauss-Kahn to enter Manhattan Supreme Court in June 2011.


Time will tell
Furthermore, Shukla fears the panic devices could create unnecessary panic among new recruits, which could reflect in their quality of service, adding that staff should have adequate training to handle potentially risky encounters rather than relying one security device.


“We would like to wait and watch the outcome of panic buttons before applying them in the region,” Shukla concluded.


On the other hand, Rotana’s Sivalingam was convinced the initiative would be a positive step: “Currently staff members just have to call housekeeping and we also have an emergency number for cases of fire for example. Panic buttons wouldn’t worry staff, it would benefit them”.

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Panic buttons are certainly a “hot topic” in New York, as Skifteri puts it, but it’s apparent there are still many questions unanswered.

“Whether the initiative is a good or bad thing it remains to be seen throughout the years to come. It will be helpful for staff members to work with peace of mind and not be worried about anything that a misbehaving guest might do. It will also be very helpful for any kind of emergency in fact, such as medical emergencies — and not only in the case of an attack,” says New York’s Skifteri.

“Hopefully, knowing that staff members with guestroom access have these buttons on their person will be a deterrent for future attacks.

“We will just have to give panic buttons a try and see if we get to find the answers to our questions as we go along,” he asserted.

Sofitel, which was among the first chains to confirm it would implement panic buttons across its New York City properties, declined to comment on whether it would roll the initiative out in other cities, including in the Middle East.