HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW
MAY FOCUS: Eco-Friendly Practices

Viva Las Vegas: Hotel Security in the Aftermath of the 2017 Las Vegas Shooting

By Tara K. Gorman Partner, Perkins Coie LLP | May 2018

The hospitality industry prides itself on being hospitable - making guests feel welcome, pampered, at ease during their stay - and safe. In the aftermath of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, the deadliest mass shooting in the United States by an individual, hotel owners and operators, are tasked with balancing the safety and privacy of their guests, and safety of members of the community surrounding their hotel, with the “hospitable” environment of the hotel and the ease at which patrons can come and go - rather than standing in security lines, like at the airport. Not an easy balancing act, to be sure.

This article will explore whether the Las Vegas shooting will significantly change the way hotel owners, operators and brands approach their security procedures, and examine what could have been done by the hotel where the shooting took place to prevent this tragedy. For ease, we will use the term “hotel operations” when discussing the obligations of the hotel owner and hotel operator in connection with security procedures.

The Shooting

The October 1, 2017, Las Vegas shooting is the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in the United States - leaving 58 people dead and 851 injured, 422 of them with gunshot wounds. And the shooting took place in a hotel! Between 10:05 and 10:15 p.m., Stephen Paddock, a 64 year old former auditor and real estate businessman, and high-stakes gambler, opened fire from a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, firing more than 1,100 rounds of ammunition. Paddock's target was the crowd of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Paddock stock-piled a great deal of firearms and ammunition in his room at the Mandalay Bay - 24 firearms, a large quantity of ammunition, and numerous high-capacity magazines capable of holding up to 100 rounds apiece, to be exact.

What Happened in the Hotel?

Stockpiling Weapons. As a high-stakes gambler, Paddock was given a complimentary room at the Mandalay Bay. On September 25, 2017, Paddock checked into room 32-135 at the Mandalay Bay, which overlooked the site of the Route 91 Harvest Festival. A few days later Paddock also checked into room 32-134, a connecting room. During his stay, Paddock brought 22 suitcases full of weapons, ammunition and equipment to his room. In some instances the hotel bellhops even assisted Paddock with his luggage. Paddock did not bring 22 suitcases with him in one trip, but rather over the course of several days: 5 suitcases on September 25; 7 suitcases on September 26; 2 suitcases on September 28; 6 on September 30; and 2 suitcases on October 1. On October 1st, Paddock broke two windows and commenced shooting onto the crowd of concertgoers across the street, and then killed himself.

Do Not Disturb Signs. Paddock placed "Do Not Disturb" signs on the doors of both rooms on September 30 and left them on for 3 days - so apparently no housekeeping members entered the room.

Surveillance System. Paddock set up a surveillance system during his stay at the hotel. Paddock placed two hidden cameras in the hallway outside his suite and one additional camera in the peephole of his guestroom.

“Normal Interaction”. Paddock, as a high-stakes gambler, spent a good deal of time before the shooting in the Mandalay Bay casino gambling. He was reported to have at least ten interactions the employees of the Mandalay Bay, which were said to be “normal interactions”.

Tragic Clearly. Foreseeable?

The Las Vegas shooting was clearly tragic. But as time passes, the lawsuits that follow any tragedy are set in motion. Paddock took his own life. So the person who is clearly the most directly responsible for this tragedy is no longer alive. Plaintiffs then turn to someone else to hold liable. For this article, we will focus on the liability of the hotel.

Was Mandalay Bay negligent in its handling of the situation and should it have known that this mass shooting was going to happen in the hotel? A claim of negligence turns on whether the defendant owes the plaintiff a duty of reasonable care. Clearly the hotel owes its guests and patrons a duty of reasonable care. But does that duty extend across the street to the concert goers - and even if it does, was it foreseeable that a guest would bring an arsenal of weapons to his hotel room, break the windows and open fire on the crowd across the street?

There is no doubt that the many cases that have been filed after the shooting will delve into these questions in great detail. Given that Paddock was a high-stakes gambler, with no criminal record, and the only recorded interactions with law enforcement were traffic citations, it would be difficult to prove that Paddock was a person of interest and that that alone set off warning signs. In addition, even if the court found the hotel negligent and that this was foreseeable, to succeed in this suit against the hotel, the plaintiff would have to prove that it was the hotel's breach of its duty of care that caused the victims' injuries, and not an intervening cause. This is an extremely high hurdle especially in mass shootings where courts generally find the shooter responsible.

The Precedent has Been Set - Now what?

The past sets the precedent for the future. Now that this incident has happened, hotels owners and operators have knowledge that this sort of event is possible in their hotels. How is this incident going to shape hotel operations in the future?

To Disturb or Not to Disturb - That is the Question

Paddock placed “Do Not Disturb” signs on his room and left them there for 3 days. There is no hotel industry-wide requirement or standard for how long hotel employees should wait before contacting the guest or entering the room with a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door. Generally, hotels have a minimal practice that rooms with “Do Not Disturb” signs are entered for cleaning after 3 days; however, some hotel operations require workers enter rooms after 24 hours. After the Las Vegas shooting, some hotels have implemented a 12-hour wait time before entering the room or contacting the guest. Typically, the concern is the health and safety of the guest in the room, not the health and safety of the citizens in the vicinity of the hotel. In this case, if it was evident that there was an arsenal of weapons when the hotel employees entered the room, could it have made a difference?

Nevada Gun Laws

Nevada law permits the carrying of concealed weapons with a permit and an open carry of firearms without a permit. The law does not require gun owners to have a licenses or register their weapons. In addition, there is no limit to how many weapons a person may own. According to the National Rifle Association, certain semi-automatic weapons and machine guns are not prohibited by Nevada state law provided that they are registered and possessed in compliance with federal law. The gun laws in Nevada would have made it extremely difficult for hotel employees to prevent Paddock from bringing his guns into his room. Furthermore, even if the hotel employees had known of the arsenal of weapons Paddock had in his room, there would have been minimal legal recourse to require law enforcement to investigate especially because Paddock had no prior criminal record.

Heightened Security

After the Las Vegas shooting the many hotels in Las Vegas, including the Mandalay Bay, implemented heightened security measures such as metal detectors, increased on-site security personnel, putting bags through metal detectors, and intense training of staff to increase awareness.

So many doors to guard. The standard metal detector would run hotels approximately $50,000 per door and 24/7 security personnel for a single entrance would cost about $250,000. At first glance, it appears the bottom line would not be greatly affected by implementing these important safety measures. However, once hotel owners consider the number of doors that would have to be modified and “guarded” the cost escalates quickly! For example, the Venetian has 167 exterior doors. The Las Vegas Convention Center has approximately 1,500 doors. Fire life and safety regulations require all these doors so that guests can leave the facility safely in the event of a fire. Therefore, cutting down on the number of doors is not a practical consideration. While money is a consideration - and if money would solve the problem - one could make a compelling argument that the additional cost would be worth ensuring guest safety. However, as discussed earlier the gun laws in every jurisdiction do not make it easy on hotel owners to easily implement these safety procedures.

Even if hotel owners were to require heightened security - similar to airport security - the cost would not merely be monetary. The cost to guests would be felt in many aspects of the stay. The airline industry changed after 9/11 and passengers comply. However, one must admit that there is a huge difference between the logistics of entering a plane (one time and then you take off) and entering a hotel (numerous times in a single day and hundreds/thousands of people). Experts say that security measures like metal detectors and x-ray machines would result in great inconvenience in the hotel industry. Beyond the mere inconvenience of having guests walk through x-ray machines and checking their bags upon each entry into the hotel, the pure logistics of where these surveillances would take place comes into question. If this is done in the lobby, and the baggage is explosive, it could detonate in the lobby. Not a good solution. If the surveillance is done in the parking lot - this has its own set of problems. While some cities have such heighten security mechanisms in place - Mumbai, New Delhi - experts have said that the American market has no appetite for such stringent security procedures - at this juncture.

Privacy Considerations

Beyond the considerations of safety for the hotel guests, the hotel operations must also balance privacy considerations for the guests. Would it be prudent to for the hotel employees to be more aware of what the guest brings into the hotel room, run random background checks on guests and the guests of the guests? While these measures may result in increased security, they would also have a great detriment in the guest experience.

How Far Should We Go?

Hotels have implemented heightened security measures and may continue to do so in the aftermath of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. However, hotel operations must also carefully consider the privacy sensitivities of the hotel guest, the guest experience and the mere logistics and expense of ratcheting up the security procedures to the point that Viva Las Vegas feels more like Alcatraz.

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We can be reached via telephone, email, or online at our contact page. When you visit our site we do not log any information regarding your domain or email address. Information Sharing: We do not share user information with any third parties other than via press release distribution as described below.

Hotel Newswire is a newswire service that distributes press releases on behalf of our users. If you decide to submit a press release for distribution through our system we will transmit your entire press release including any personal information therein contained to our media contacts and online distribution points including search engines. This is the only redistribution of your information that we engage in. Your submission of press releases through our system indicates consent with this policy. The information we collect during your registration process is used to notify users about updates to our service and inform users of any special events hosted by Hotel Newswire. This information is not shared with other organizations for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

Cookies: Our system requires the use of cookies to enable the user to log back into our website to access information from the newswire, without having to log in each time using the required username and password.

If you do not want to receive email from us in the future, please let us know by following instructions included in our communication with you. Users who supply us with telephone numbers online may receive telephone contact from us regarding their account, or informing them of new products and services available on the HotelExecutive website. If you do not wish to receive such telephone calls, please edit your account and remove your phone number from your account profile. This can be done from your user account menu.

Ad Servers: We do not partner with or have any relationship with any ad server companies. From time to time, we may use customer information for new uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change at any time, we will post the policy changes to our website to notify you of these changes and provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses. If you are concerned about how your information is used, you should check back at our website periodically.

Upon request we provide site visitors with access to all information (including proprietary information) that we maintain about them. Users can access this information by logging in to their account.

Security: We always use industry-standard encryption technologies while transferring and receiving user data exchanged with our site. We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information that we have collected from you on our site. We do not store credit card information in our systems.

If you feel that this site is not following its stated information policy, you may contact us.

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How a Training Professional Can Breathe Life Into Your Guest Service

By Merrick Dresnin, Chief People Services Officer, Cote Hospitality

In the highly competitive hospitality industry, the key to success often lies in consistently delivering guest experiences. To achieve this, resorts must go beyond simply creating standards. The standards must resonate throughout the operation. They must be deeply embedded in daily operations. The right training professional can ensure that standards are embedded and delivered. In this article, we will explore the impact the correct training person can have on the operation, and how they can achieve so much so successfully. As complicated as a training role can be, successful impact on a property's service delivery can...

Brains Behind the Bots: Field Notes from the AI Underground

By Tim Hentschel, Co-Founder & CEO, HotelPlanner

In March 2024, visionary leader Elon Musk opened another artificial intelligence startup, xAI, as an open-source challenge to ChatGPT, which is owned by OpenAI. Then IBM announced it was slashing its staff size in its increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. On the same day, the European Union’s parliament endorsed the world’s inaugural comprehensive regulatory framework for managing AI at the forefront of technological investment. The EU AI Act, enacted in 2021, categorizes AI technologies based on risk levels, from "unacceptable" to low hazard, with enforcement slated by the end of May this year pending final checks and...

Wage and Hour Compliance Challenges in The Hotel Industry

By Jacqueline Voronov, Partner, Hall Booth Smith, P.C.

The hospitality industry, known for its dynamic and diverse workforce, faces a unique set of employment law challenges. This sector’s particular operational structure, characterized by irregular hours and a diverse range of job roles, creates complexities that can lead to many legal and financial risks. The last few years have seen an explosion in the number of private lawsuits against employers, most notably for wage and hour violations. This has been due, in large part, to increased scrutiny and enforcement action by the United States Department of Labor (DOL). In this article, we explore the problems hotels encounter in...

Bringing Context Back to Hospitality's Labor Emergency

By Michael Nixon, President & Chief Development Officer, Expotel Hospitality

It's difficult for some of us in hotel leadership to remember a time when hospitality was flush with workers, but today's labor landscape is not an acceptable normal. Conventional wisdom says COVID-era furloughs and budget cutbacks are to blame for the current state of vacant hotel positions–a figure the Los Angeles Times places at around 238,000 compared to before the pandemic. Sure, this plays a part. However, I have been around long enough to know that our industry has been finding ways to achieve more with fewer hands-on deck for years. In many ways, this has sent the wrong message...

Digital Convenience or Customer Frustration? Rethinking Hotel Technology

By Mary Barker, Senior Strategic Account Manager, Spectrio

You’d think hotels would have the digital experience down by now. Most have implemented kiosks, mobile keys, and other digital tools galore. However, the focus on a digital reinvention hasn’t always led to an improved experience for guests. For example, complaints about mobile app glitches and problems with digital room keys have plagued Marriott for years. Issues with check-in kiosks can lead to long lines and frustrated guests struggling to access important services, damaging customer satisfaction and loyalty. And the list goes on. Unfortunately, as prices in the industry continue to go up and guest...

Fostering Collaboration Among Design and Construction Teams to Maximize Asset Value and Enhance Guest Experience

By Paul McElroy, Executive VP of Design & Construction, Highgate

When I walk into a well-designed hotel I can't help but think of the thousands of people from across the globe who had a hand in bringing it to life. From a stone manufacturer in Brazil to a casegood manufacturer in Vietnam; from the minds that drew the design to the hands that poured the foundation, people from all walks of life came together to create something entirely new and special. That incredible diversity of thought and skill was necessary to create an unforgettable space. But, on too many hospitality projects, those various people work in silos and often...

From Burnout to Flow: Why Your Grind Mindset is Killing Your Leadership

By Kelly Meerbott, Executive Leadership Coach, YOU Loud & Clear, Inc.

Let’s take off the starched white collar and get brutally honest for a minute. If you’re a hotel executive reading this between back-to-back meetings—eyes twitching from your fourth double espresso, inbox overflowing, calendar packed—consider this your permission slip to stop performing and start recalibrating. You’re not tired because you’re weak. You’re exhausted because you’ve been lied to. You’ve been conditioned to believe that relentless motion equals effective leadership. That staying late, skipping meals, and answering emails on vacation earns credibility. That the “grind” is the price of greatness. But here’s the real cost: Your leadership...

HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW MAY FOCUS: Eco-Friendly Practices

Viva Las Vegas: Hotel Security in the Aftermath of the 2017 Las Vegas Shooting

By Tara K. Gorman Partner, Perkins Coie LLP | May 2018

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HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW
MAY FOCUS: Eco-Friendly Practices