When staying in a hotel there are more things to think about then what kind of muffins will be on the complimentary breakfast buffet. Is that only me?
After a recent trip with several other families we realized one thing very quickly during our stay.
We were not prepared in the least for what we experienced during our stay.
Here are some safety tips you might not have ever thought about. These are born from our mistakes and our experience during our stay at a HUGE, MAINSTREAM resort in PA.
We experienced 2 fire alarm evacuations with 6 very young children. One during a late dinner, one during the middle of the night. It was the most harrowing experience we've all ever been through and thoroughly frustrating as well. We could have been better prepared with these tips below and a more cautious mind set.
You are on your own when it truly comes down to it. Staff can be ill equipped to handle emergency situations due to lack of training, personal responsiveness during a true emergency and simple lack of knowledge. Don't count on anyone but yourself.
CHECK LIST
1. Always know your exit routes and get familiar with your room. If you are on the bottom floor and have a walk out- by all means … use it if it's safe. I neglected to notice our walk out sliding door during our evacuation. It would have been a lot easier to use as long as it was a safe route. We carried 3 children, sleeping, up flights of stairs.
2. Do not count on staff to help you. Do not wait to see if it is a "TRUE EMERGENCY" and wait to hear from the staff in some haphazard manner. We were thoroughly confused waiting for phone calls etc as we were told was protocol.
The only protocol you need to follow is this one. Alarms mean - GET OUT. Teach your kids well.
3. Stow KEYS, WALLETS,SHOES AND PHONES in a GO BAG hanging on or near to the door. You will NEED to locate these items FAST if that alarm goes off and you are in your room. We frantically searched for all we needed losing precious time. We also were out in the FRIGID weather without keys to our cars with 6 kids between us. Luckily one of the husbands had a set to one car on them.
4. Have an emergency bag and blankets packed in your car just in case. Stow all the necessary first aid supplies of course but also remember some non perishable snacks. We were outside for quite awhile.
Four simple tips that might make your trip a bit better and safer all around!
