The Guest Security Standard
Security guests meet as courtesy: regular rounds, no unattended bags in the lobby, safes opened after an ID check, doors closed during work, an exit plan in each room.
- Who
- Security officers, front office, engineering, housekeeping
- When
- Every shift: rounds, safe openings, staff in rooms and monthly room checks
- You need
- The round route and log, a radio, the safe override kit, ID on file in the PMS
- Time to train
- 60 minutes, with one round and one safe opening role-played
What this standard achieves
Guests feel safe without feeling watched: security staff are visible, greet guests and help them, and every check that protects a guest’s room, belongings and way out is done the same way each time. From the log, the hotel can show who opened which safe and when, and that every room shows its emergency route.
Measured by
- Every guest greeted by officers on rounds
- Lobby and entrances checked every 30 minutes
- Unattended bag reported on the radio within 2 minutes
- Safe opened only after photo ID or three booking details
- Every safe opened by two staff, with the guest present
- Room door closed while any staff member works inside
- Exit plan on every room door, checked monthly
- Every incident logged before the end of the shift
The procedure
30 steps in 7 phases, in the order they happen.
Phase 1 Start the shift
- 01
Read the security log and the front office handover: VIPs in house, events, groups, rooms with special notes and open incidents. Note anything to look at on the first round.
- 02
Check the radio, the torch, the master key on its cord and the safe override kit, and sign each one out in the equipment log with the time.
- 03
Check yourself against The Presence Standard before the first round: uniform pressed and fitted, name badge, clean shoes, the earpiece discreet and the radio turned low.
- 04
Agree the round times with the duty manager: lobby and entrances every 30 minutes, guest floors every 2 hours, back of house twice a shift, more often during events.
Phase 2 How guests see you
- 05
On rounds, walk at an easy pace with your hands free and in view, never in a pair chatting, and stop to let guests pass in corridors and doorways.
- 06
Greet every guest you pass, by name if you know it, and offer help. Answer questions as the front desk would: directions, opening hours, a lift that won’t come.
“Good evening, Ms Haddad. Can I help you find anything?”
- 07
If a guest asks the way and it is close, walk them there. If it is far, walk them to the lift or the desk and hand them over by name.
- 08
Approach anyone who seems lost on a guest floor with an offer of help, never a demand. Ask which room or which guest they are looking for, and walk them to the lift or the desk.
“Good evening. May I help you find the room you’re looking for?”
- 09
On the radio, use room numbers and codes only, never guest names, and step away from guests before you answer a call.
Phase 3 Keep the lobby clear
- 10
Every 30 minutes, walk the lobby, the entrances, the lounges and the lift landings, and look at every bag, case or parcel: whose is it, and is anyone with it?
- 11
If a bag has no owner in sight, ask the guests nearby and the bell desk calmly whether it is theirs or known to them. Never touch, move or open it.
“Excuse me, does this bag belong to anyone here?”
- 12
Still unknown after 2 minutes: report it on the radio with the place and a description, keep guests at a distance without alarm, and wait for the duty manager. Follow the hotel’s plan for suspect items.
- 13
Bags the bell desk holds for guests go to the luggage room, tagged, within 10 minutes. No tagged guest bag waits in the lobby, as The Kerbside Standard sets out.
- 14
Log each lobby round with the time and anything found, so the duty manager can read the last 24 hours on one page.
Phase 4 Open a safe
- 15
When a guest asks for help with the in-room safe, check identity first: photo ID against the profile, or three details only the guest would know, such as the departure date, the booking email and the booker’s name.
“Of course. Before I open it, may I see an ID, or could you confirm three details of your booking?”
- 16
Go to the room with a second member of staff, never alone, and open the safe only with the registered guest present. Anyone not named on the booking cannot ask for an opening.
- 17
Open the safe, step back, and let the guest check and take their belongings. Never handle the contents or look inside longer than it takes to open it.
- 18
Write it in the safe log: room, guest’s name, ID seen or details given, both staff names, time and reason. The duty manager reads the log every night.
- 19
A safe opened without the guest (after departure, or in an emergency) is opened by the duty manager and security together. List each item aloud, photograph it, seal it in a bag and follow The Lost Property Standard.
Phase 5 Doors and rooms
- 20
Every department working inside an occupied room (engineering, in-room dining, minibar, housekeeping) keeps the door closed while working and the master key on its cord, as The Door Standard sets out.
- 21
If someone arrives at the room while you work inside, ask for their name and check it with the desk before letting them in or leaving them alone in the room.
“Good afternoon. May I have your name, please, so I can check the room with the desk?”
- 22
Never let anyone into a room, even a person with the guest’s name and luggage, unless the front desk has checked them. Keys follow The Key Standard.
- 23
On each floor round, check that room doors are shut. Knock at any door left ajar and tell the guest; if nobody answers, close it from outside without entering and log the time.
Phase 6 Check the way out
- 24
Once a month, check the emergency route plan on the back of every room door: present, readable, the right floor, the room marked, in the hotel’s languages. Replace any faulty plan within 48 hours.
- 25
Housekeeping reports a missing or damaged plan at every room inspection, like any other room fault, so a gap is never left until the monthly check.
- 26
On each floor round, check that emergency exits, corridors and stairs are clear, exit signs are lit and fire doors close fully. Report any fault on the radio at once.
- 27
When a guest asks about safety, show them the plan on their door and walk them to the nearest exit if they wish, calmly and in under two minutes.
“Your nearest exit is to the left, past the lift. Shall I show you?”
Phase 7 Log and hand over
- 28
Write every incident before the end of the shift: what happened, where, when, who was involved, who was told and what was done. Facts only, no opinions about guests.
- 29
Hand over to the next officer in person: open incidents, rooms to watch, rounds missed and why. Both officers sign the log.
- 30
Each week the security manager reads the logs with the front office manager, checks five safe openings against the PMS, and raises any pattern at the morning meeting.
What to record
Each round
- Time and area covered
- Bags found and their owners
- Doors and exits checked
- Officer’s initials
Unattended bag
- Time seen and place
- Description of the item
- Time reported on the radio
- Outcome, and the time closed
Safe opening
- Room and guest’s name
- ID seen or three details given
- Both staff names
- Time and reason
Rooms and doors
- Doors found ajar, with the time
- Visitor checked with the desk
- Staff seen working with the door open
Exit plans
- Rooms checked this month
- Plans missing or damaged
- Date each one was replaced
Incidents
- What, where and when
- People involved and who was told
- Action taken and who follows up
When the situation changes
- A guest says the safe won’t open
- Check identity first, then open it with a colleague and the guest present. If the battery is flat, replace it and test the safe with the guest before you leave.
- A visitor asks for a guest’s room
- Never give or confirm a room number. Call the guest from the desk and let them come down, or authorise the visit in person or from the room phone.
- A guest asks you to mind a bag
- Take it to the luggage room with a tag and give the guest the stub. An officer never keeps a guest’s bag at their post.
- Staff are working with the door open
- Ask them to close it, and tell them why in a word away from guests. Log it, and send repeated cases to the head of that department the same day.
- A guest is worried after a news story
- Listen, give two or three facts about the hotel’s security that apply in your building, and show the exit plan. Never mention past incidents.
- The fire alarm sounds
- Follow the hotel’s emergency plan. Officers go to their posts at a walk, and speak to guests calmly, one instruction at a time.
Common mistakes
- Standing at the entrance with arms folded and the earpiece showing. Guests walk past someone who looks like a bouncer, and nobody asks you for help.
- Opening a safe because the guest is in a bathrobe and knows the room. Confidence is exactly what someone without ID would rely on.
- Opening a safe alone. If anything is missing later, nobody can say what was inside.
- Moving an unattended bag to the luggage room to tidy the lobby. If it was dangerous, you have carried it past every guest.
- Leaving a room door open behind the trolley while working inside. The guest’s laptop is in view of everyone in the corridor.
- Saying “Room 412, Mr Novak, complaint” on an open radio. Everyone near the speaker now knows who the guest is and where they sleep.
Check your team
After training (60 minutes, with one round and one safe opening role-played), each person answers these without the sheet.
- How often is the lobby checked for bags, and what do you do after 2 minutes?
- What proof of identity is needed before a safe is opened?
- Who must be present at a safe opening, and what goes in the log?
- What happens to a room door while staff work inside?
- What do you check on the emergency route plan, and how often?
- How do you approach someone who seems lost on a guest floor?
- What is never said on the radio?
The Thirty-Minute Round
What the officer looks at on every lobby and floor round: twelve checks, about four minutes on foot. Anything that fails is reported on the radio at once.
- Every bag in the lobby has an owner in sight
- Bell desk bags tagged and in the luggage room
- Entrance doors close and lock as they should
- Lift landings clear, lifts answering calls
- Guest room doors closed and locked
- No room door held open by a trolley
- Emergency exits and stairs clear
- Exit signs lit, fire doors closing fully
- Nobody left wandering a guest floor without help
- Service doors closed to guests
- Lights working in corridors and car parks
- Round logged with the time and your initials
Brief four items a day for three days at the security briefing. In the second week the security manager walks one round a day with an officer, who names each item aloud as they check it.
The Standards Library.
No. 01 · Luxury Concierge / Front Office
The Guest Request Standard
Any request, at the desk, by phone or by message: noticed in seconds, understood behind the words, promised with a time, closed in person and written to the profile.
No. 17 · Front Office
The Kerbside Standard
From the car stopping to the guest at the desk: met within 30 seconds by name, every bag counted, tagged and watched, and walked in to a colleague who already knows them.