Hotels Had Surprising Problems During North American Black-Out

From generators to flashlights, the North American blackout exposed hotel shortcomings in emergency readiness that in some cases forced travellers to sleep on the streets.

The 1,946-room New York Marriott Marquis and the 305-room Renaissance New York Hotel Times Square sent some guests outside after the back-up generators failed at both properties.

While some customers were able to sleep on the floors of the lobby or banquet rooms, hundreds were sent outside with blankets and pillows. At the Marquis, they took refuge under the portico. At the Renaissance, they slept under the stars.

Hotel officials say they did not have any choice. Without a generator, fire alarm and sprinkler systems were inoperable.

"Before it became dark, management decided to evacuate the hotel for the safety of the hotel guests," says Kathleen Duffy, spokeswoman for the city's Marriott hotels

Duffy said she did not know why back-up power failed. The Marquis' generator is tested weekly and had been serviced three weeks ago.

Hotel employees worked through the night to make guests as comfortable as they could, she said. Employees provided water, granola bars and fresh fruit. Flashlight-toting staff members repeatedly climbed the stairs of the 47-story hotel to retrieve guests' prescription medicines or other essentials from their luggage in their guest rooms.

Guests coped despite the hardships. Bob Roberts, 83, fell asleep outside the Marquis. "He does not worry about anything," his wife, Margo, also 83, said. They had checked into the hotel before boarding a cruise to England.

Hotel problems went beyond generators

• Flashlights. Some hotels did not have enough, forcing emergency purchases. At the 371-room Cleveland Airport Marriott, sales director Cathy Razzante says the staff made a quick run to a Kmart to buy 80 more flashlights when the outage hit.
• Room key cards. Most rooms' door locks are battery operated and were unaffected by the outage. But some hotels were not able to imprint the codes into the key cards. At the 426-room Warwick Hotel, General Manager Wanda Chan says bellhops took turns escorting guests to the dark rooms with flashlights and master keys because no new keys could be made. Cleveland's airport Marriott already had a back-up set.
• Toilets. Automatic flushing toilets in public areas at the Marquis are electronically operated and couldn't be flushed when the electricity went out.
• Closed windows. Some hotels became stifling hot from lack of air conditioning. And the windows do not open. At New York's Roosevelt, the windows can be cracked 4 inches to allow some ventilation, says Bob Morse, operations president for Interstate Hotels, which manages the Roosevelt.

If there was one consolation, it was price. The Warwick, where guests could sleep in their rooms, knocked the rate to US$ 179, down from US$ 239. At the Marquis, where the standard room rate is US$ 199, guests were not only forgiven the night they couldn't stay in their rooms, but the next night as well.

Hotel problems during the outage raise questions about liability. Alexander Anolik, an attorney who specialises in traveller issues, says if hotels are required to have back-up generators in event of a power outage, they could potentially be considered negligent if the systems do not work.

Some travellers commended hotels for the way they handled the crisis. Thad Dungan, an Atlanta software salesman, says the Ritz-Carlton in Michigan, was ready with chemical light sticks and a spread of sandwiches and pasta."It was very well scripted," he says.