Security is one of the categories that guests want.
What can I do to improve?
so far, i will have lockers in every rooms.
key for the entrance.
What can i do to increase the security for my guesthouse?
15 years
What can i do to increase the security for my guesthouse?
Have you seen these pages yet?
A few other things that I think many backpackers are looking for:
15 years
Hi sean, I think employees are the most important asset to any biz. Haveing good amenities on your property will help to keep your hostel more secure but, well selected, trained, motivated, vigilaint staff are your best bet. I think the bigger the hostel the harder this gets. Consider haveing a mystery guest try to get into your property unregistered. Can the unregistered mystery guest get into one of the dorm`s or private rooms? Can a unregistered mystery guest talk the HK into letting them into a room with there key? Big hotels in the US do this to test their level of security and I think it is applicable to hostels as well. Never underestimate the human element.
Good luck
Patrick
15 years
I think employees are the most important asset to any biz.
Absolutely. Just a hint, the most secured hostel elected in 2008 by HW (it's a Hungarian hostel) has only an entry code and a set of keys for their guests. Nothing special, fancy biometric system or anything like that. However, those guests feel absolutely safe in that hostel, because they wouldn't think that anyone can break or sneak in stealing their stuff, the guests and their host can look after each other.
Of course providing lockable facilities are crucial, such as secured entrance, individual lockers, staff operated luggage room and valuable locker/safe deposit are important, although ratings are rather based on feelings than objectivity.
If you can get rid of suspicious elements (especialy loner long term guests and broke locals) from the hostel and your staff will be able to look after your guests, your security rating will be increased shortly.
Also if you have excellent staff, all rating categories will increase. ;)
15 years
we have lockers for every bed, free luggage storage, a safe for valuables behind reception and key card access to the hostel - front door and rooms - and yet our security ratings havent increased since we installed the key cards.
this obviusly strikes me as odd, because there isnt much more we can do. i figure now, that its because of the size of our dorms - we have about 130 beds in dorms with 12+ beds. these are also our most popular dorms, so i assume because people are sharing with a lot of others, they assume their stuff isnt so secure. the other issue i believe is our long term guests - sorry stu if you read this, but ive always had a problem with long termers in hostels - who do a lot of hanging around. theyre all sound guys and girls now (got rid of a few... er... less than ideal guests recently) and im sure theyre not the sort who would steal but they dont necessarily give that impression.
like aboriginal said, its all about perception and feelings rather than objectivity. i guarantee if i asked every guest what they think we could do to make the place more secure, they would struggle to come up with something we could do - and yet they still dont seem to feel like we're as secure as we could be.
15 years
like aboriginal said, its all about perception and feelings rather than objectivity. be.
I agree with this, we have virtually none of the things that people recommend like key cards, CCTV etc, but being a small non-city hostel it feels secure. Our security ratings are decent anyway. People don't feel like there are potential thieves hanging about outside or inside. I think Paklian said something similar a while back - they have virtually no security measures but the place is secure due its location and guests (correct me if I'm wrong there).
I think if you run a small non city hostel and had cameras over the top security measures it would just feel weird to the customers. Probably make them feel less secure.
15 years
Just a hint, the most secured hostel elected in 2008 by HW (it's a Hungarian hostel) has only an entry code and a set of keys for their guests. Nothing special, fancy biometric system or anything like that. However, those guests feel absolutely safe in that hostel, because they wouldn't think that anyone can break or sneak in stealing their stuff, the guests and their host can look after each other.
...Also if you have excellent staff, all rating categories will increase. ;)
I agree with that -- I think it comes down to:
I recently went to a large, city hostel that had no lockers in the rooms and security ratings were over 90%. I didn't feel like my laptop was safe there because I had to go down 3 floors to have the front desk store it in an unlocked cabinet behind the desk even just to go take a shower. It appeared that a lot of guests were getting drunk and hooking up, possibly leading to many 100% ratings down the board?
I used to work at a hostel that had a lot of cockroaches and abysmal cleanliness ratings on Hostelworld. But if the guests had fun they would give it 100% ratings for all categories ;)
15 years
Thank you for all the info.
i figured out location is also important to increase the security.
crime rate for my area is really low. therefore shouldn't be a problem.
15 years
crime rate for my area is really low. therefore shouldn't be a problem.
You can take advantage of this in your welcome speech. Casually mention that your guests should feel comfortable walking around the area at any hour of day or night, and you'll be happy to offer suggestions if they would like some advice on where to go. It's subtle, and it kills two birds with one stone: security and guest service.
15 years
You can take advantage of this in your welcome speech. Casually mention that your guests should feel comfortable walking around the area at any hour of day or night, and you'll be happy to offer suggestions if they would like some advice on where to go. It's subtle, and it kills two birds with one stone: security and guest service.
Hmm, I was talking about this with someone the other day and it seems just mentioning low crime can be counter-productive. If the area is low crime then it shouldn't be an issue. However, bringing it up can either put fear into the back of one's head where there was none or make them less mindful of one's personal security, which can be a big mistake. For me, it'd put fear into the back of my mind (why'd they need to mention it if it's low?). But everyone is different so I'd gauge whether security was a big issue for a guest before assuring them the area is low crime in the welcome speech. I'd hate for something to happen and they turn around and say but you said there was no crime. No, you said low crime but of course they're likely to only take that as there being no crime (I've actually heard that one before).
Now if the place has a high crime area (as in many major big cities) I'd definitely feel obligated to mention this and provide security tips. As others have already stated security is one of those sticky areas you just can't win with though.
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