RUES Hotel Management & Consulting

Safety and Security

The safety and security measures of the former El Salvador Sheraton, in difficult situations, replaced the hotel’s key objective SERVICE (in normal times). Our slogan was, “first Safety and Security.” But, still the hotel could provide the “best Service possible” that was essential to survive in turbulent times and to stay in business for many years to come. A reputation for safety. Tourists shun destinations troubled by political unrest, so our potential lodging market was composed of the journalists who came to El Salvador to report on the political developments, diplomats, political and economic advisors, primarily from North America and Europe and local business. The journalist I spoke with on the plane when I flew to El Salvador for my interview indicated that the former Sheraton was the international journalists’ last choice, due to the lack of effective security. One of my first projects as general manager was to change the hotel’s reputation as a dangerous place to stay.

The upcoming presidential election in early 1984 offered an opportunity. Political feeling among the factions supporting the six candidates ran high, and the guerillas were determined to undermine the elections, so involving the hotel in this event presented substantial risks. Successful handling of those risks, however, wouldput the hotel back in business. Providing safe lodging and a secure work place for the journalists in El Salvador to report on the election would increase among that group, and hosting the principals without incident would enhance the hotel’s reputation with government and win recommendations and referrals. The risk could be minimized by adhering to strict security measures, so I decided to take the risk.

The hotel hosted a press conference and a round table discussion in which each of the candidates. With all the candidates gathered, there was high tension in the air. We implemented special security measures to secure the hotel against bombs and arson. The morning of the event, all the premises were carefully inspected. Specially trained police guards checked all strategic points.

In the afternoon, every incoming conference guest was checked, and all weapons were exchanged for a deposit ticket. As an added precaution, only soft drinks and coffee were served, to prevent incidents due to excess of alcohol. The revenue from this event was practically nil, but the conference was concluded without incident, an accomplishment that paved the way for many other political events at the election drew near.

The hotel’s atmosphere of political neutrality and the sound safety measures employed won favorable comment from all participants. Consequently, the hotel was chosen as the first hotel to house administrative offices of the “Central Election Commission.” The facilities required were:

1. A pre-registration hall where the records of the Salvadorean voters were processed and computerized. This operation continued around the clock for three months and required a staff of 120.

2. Six conference rooms for various administrative purposes.

 3. An international press facility that would begin operations several days before the election and remained operative through all post-election activities. The hotel’s contract with the electoral commission produced a large volume of long-term occupancy. The work of the electoral commission was a main attraction for international and local journalists, and an estimated 1,300 journalists visited the hotel during this time. The hotel enjoyed 95-percent occupancy during the three weeks in March 1984, when the election activities were peaking.

Like all Sheraton properties, the hotel was fully insured against all damages and incidents that are likely to occur in the normal operation of a hotel. Acts of political terrorism, – at that time – however, are not regarded as normal occurrences. Given the nature of this first surge of business, I searched all over the world to find an insurance company that would issue a special to “cover acts of terrorism.” I was not successful in obtaining such a policy, but this did not stop me from hosting political events. At that time, it was a question of being in business or being out of business. I chose to be in business.