One of the most important things for hotels in hurricane-prone areas to have going into active storm seasons is a broad plan.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Hotel News Now podcast, Jamison Conrey, vice president of engineering, capital projects and risk management at Hospitality Ventures Management Group, said he ensures properties across his company's portfolio of 56 hotels have individually tailored plans on how to deal with hurricanes.
"The most important thing is having that preparedness, that emergency plan, together, and you know, that's something that I've developed over the years and put in a system that we use at all of our hotels that updates that document and is easily available to them where they can tailor it to their property," he said. "When I say tailor it, such as emergency evacuation centers or radio stations or TV communications, any of that stuff is tailored on these documents, but that is the most key portion of being prepared. [It] is having that document in place so that everybody knows what to do in each level of storm and each phases of it."
In the interest of being ready before, during and after a storm, Conrey devised a multi-step plan for his company and its hotels to follow.
Before storms, he advises hoteliers to: develop a comprehensive emergency response plan; conduct regular staff training on emergency procedures; stay informed about weather forecasts and potential threats; prepare essential supplies and equipment; secure the property; back up critical data and protect important documents; review and update insurance coverage; create guest communications and evacuation procedures; have a recovery plan in place; and train staff on guest safety priorities during a hurricane.
During hurricanes, the three steps he advises are to activate that in-place emergency plan, maintain communications with staff and guests, and ensure safety procedures are followed.
After storms, hoteliers are urged to assess and document damage; initiate recovery efforts; monitor for water damage; and review and update emergency plans.
A key tool for hoteliers should be developing strong vendor partnerships — both from restoration specialists and insurance companies — to have better priority coming out of storms, and that can also yield benefits in front-end preparedness, Conrey said.
He added partnerships with some restoration companies has improved their overall tracking of storm information ahead of time.
"They utilize all the different weather sources, and they pull all that information together, and they provide us day-by-day updates. ... They have an inventory of our hotels," he said. "They start showing our hotels on their tracking map and showing here's some impacted areas, potentially, through all of the data that we have and then we work with them in staging at those properties."
For all of HNN's interview with HVMG's Jamison Conrey, listen to the podcast above.