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Disney and Hilton hotels to change security policies on 'do not disturb' signs after Las Vegas gun massacre

Staff will be allowed to check rooms with 'do not disturb' signs 

Mythili Sampathkumar
New York
Thursday 04 January 2018 10:55 EST
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Las Vegas shooting: Who is gunman Stephen Paddock?

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Some Disney hotels have eliminated “Do Not Disturb” signs to make it easier for staff to check rooms.

The signs have been replaced with “Room Occupied” and read: “The Disney Resort hotel and its staff reserve the right to enter your room, even when this sign is displayed, for maintenance, safety, security or any other purpose.”

Neither Disney nor the Hilton chain, which has similarly changed its policy, would confirm that the 2017 Las Vegas massacre prompted the change in security procedures, according to CNN Money.

Disney is not the only company to change its security policy, with the Hilton chain doing the same in November 2017.

Hilton’s staff policy is now that staff need to alert a manager on duty if a room has displayed the Do Not Disturb sign for more than 24 hours.

The Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock had killed 58 people and injured nearly 500 after he rained down bullets from his 32nd floor room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel room on the Las Vegas strip.

Paddock had ten suitcases of 23 weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition stored in his room.

He had placed the Do Not Disturb sign on his door but even when housekeeping staff checked the room, they have said they did not notice anything awry.

Another Las Vegas hotel, the Orleans Hotel on Tropicana Avenue and Boyd Gaming’s dozens of other properties worldwide, have instituted a new policy as of October 2017 as well - “welfare checks” will be done if guests have used the Do Not Disturb signs for more two consecutive days.

Paddock had checked into Mandalay Bay three days prior to the 1 October 2017 shooting.

Located just a few miles away on the strip from Mandalay Bay, Wynn Las Vegas now requires staff to check rooms every 12 hours.

Paddock reportedly shot himself just ahead of police arriving at his room. It was the deadliest shooting in modern US history.

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