The Red Diamond Hotel Awards Compliance Register

Is there something sinister in the failures of Accor and Michelin Guide?

By Sandra Bynoe. 10/23/2024. [email protected]

Our founder, William H Harriss, has lived exclusively in hotels for the past eight years. He prefers living in quality hotels to living in any of his several homes. Before he stays in a hotel, he always enquires about health and safety, particularly how bedrooms and bedding are cleaned, laundered, sanitized, and sterilized. Unless he gets the right answers, he will not stay in a hotel. In fact, he often travels with his own pillows due to hotels' failure to sterilize their pillows.

William was about to start a tour of Europe and then the Far East to gather research and information on chosen hotels for a proposed book about hotel groups. He had already researched the Accor Group in-depth and was impressed by their historical growth and the decisions they had successfully taken since the founding. He wrote a rather excellent article about them to that effect. However, during that research, he noticed a statement by Accor that Accor hotels and their owned brands, which are predominantly franchised establishments owned by others, using Accor systems and methodology, bragged of a superior hygiene system. Accor announced on their website that they were operating a special advanced cleaning and hygiene program in almost all the hotels and brands they controlled, 98% was the figure they gave.

'ALLSAFE' CLEANLINESS & PREVENTION LABEL. ENDORSED BY BUREAU VERITAS & AUDITED BY EXPERTS TO ACHIEVE THE ALLSAFE LABEL. Accor has now established some of the most stringent cleaning standards & operational procedures in the world of hospitality.

William, being perhaps among the world's leading experts regarding hotel hygiene systems, attempted to ask them about that system. He met a brick wall, and Accor failed to answer any of his enquiries. It eventually told him that they would not divulge what the cleaning and hygiene regime included. It was made most obvious that everything they bragged about was a corporate, even a state secret. That annoyed William because they were able to brag in their public release on their website about a system called "ALLSAFE" and use it as a magnet to attract clients but were unwilling to give details of what it entailed.

Even more confusing was that one of Accor's franchisees in Paris, where William wanted to stay, told him that they no longer used the ALLSAFE scheme since the ending of the COVID pandemic.

Then William noticed in trade news releases that Michelin had a new award for hotels called The Michelin KEY. MICHELIN Guide says, "It aims to highlight the hotels that raise hospitality to an art form, forging truly memorable experiences for travellers" [their words, not mine]. These are the hotels that will be awarded a Michelin Key.

One Key: a very special stay. Two Keys: an exceptional stay. Three Keys: an extraordinary stay. According to AFP, hotels will pay Michelin a 10-15% commission for reservations made using its site. This sounds a bit steep and is another massive cost to franchisee hotel owners who are already paying their franchisor brand owners ridiculous fees sometimes hidden within purchases they make for such things as cleaning materials and chemicals and just about everything else they have to acquire where instructed by their franchise agreement.

Seeing this award is for overall excellence. William just had to ask Michelin if that included reviewing hotel bedroom and bedding hygiene, sanitizing, and sterilizing bedding and pillows. He sent messages through the Michelin website messaging service and heard nothing back. Eventually, he contacted Michelins' News and Publicity Department and sent them his requests and comments, asking them to forward his enquiries to the appropriate heads of departments. They answered but stopped corresponding after the initial contact and introduction. Now, that avenue appears to have become dormant, and William is being ignored by two massive organizations, Accor and Michelin.

Now, you may understand Williams' frustration. As a prospective hotel user client, he looked at these two massive organizations regarding cleaning, sanitization, and sterilization of certain items in hotel rooms, specifically bedding and pillows. The two organizations have closed their blinds on him and gone into lockdown mode.

We may all ask what is happening in these two world-leading organizations that have chosen to adopt such nasty, disrespectful behaviour. Why are they frightened of scrutiny? Why have they chosen to operate in the dark mode of secrecy, creating and adopting a gross failure in transparency?

We should all be concerned by the strange, uncooperative behaviour that both these world-leading organizations display. Perhaps we should ask ourselves, due to this behaviour, can they be trusted by the trade or the public in anything they say or do? Can we take them at their word? It is shameful that they have chosen the 'silence and secrecy' route.

Silencio y secretismo

Silence et secret

Silêncio e sigilo

Schweigen und Geheimhaltung

Whatever language you use it means the same thing!

Health and safety, transparency and proper disclosure to paying guests, the general public and staff are important in the hotel industry. There are standards required by law, and hotel compliance departments supposedly control those standards. Of course, different countries have different laws. However, the standards applied by these two giants should be the same everywhere, with the highest standards of health and safety compliance used everywhere equally, even in third-world places. There should be no fogging of the view, no frosted glass, it should be a clear window of transparency. We at Red Diamond Hotel Awards would never have believed that the world-leading organization "Michelin Guides" could behave abysmally and disgracefully; something appears to have gone seriously wrong with their own compliance department.

In hotels, housekeeping staff carry out the actual hygiene procedures and methods, following the strict guidelines set by the Health and Safety Departments and enforced by the Compliance Departments of every hotel.

The responsibility for enforcing laws and rules regarding compliance ultimately rests with a corporation's Main Board of Directors. If a hotel is sued, the owner corporation's board of directors also can be jointly and severally sued along with the corporation. Board Directors cannot limit or remove their liabilities under compliance rules by employing Compliance Agencies, that does not remove their ultimate responsibility. Compliance with regulatory requirements is not just a legal obligation but a fundamental ethical responsibility for all hotels. https://lnkd.in/gS_Em7cT

By maintaining a high standard of compliance, hotels demonstrate their commitment to the well-being of their guests, employees, and the environment. They prioritize their guests' safety and security, ensuring their stay is free from potential risks and hazards. If the Health and Safety Department and/or the Compliance Department are aware or informed of a risk and do nothing about it, the organization is committing an offence, and the directors are fully responsible.

The actual significance of compliance is that "Hotels should prioritize compliance to create an environment of trust, which is crucial for building long-term guest loyalty." Compliance is not just a box to tick; it is an essential element in establishing a positive reputation and attracting new guests. When hotels prioritize compliance, they create a sense of trust and reliability that encourages guests to return and recommend the hotel to others.

Most Hotel Groups are aware of that and have introduced programs that control cleaning, sanitization and sterilization procedures, or by legal requirement, they should have done so.

Essential Regulatory Requirements Affecting Hotels

Regulatory requirements affecting hotels cover a wide range of areas, including but not limited to:

Training: Well-trained and knowledgeable staff are essential for maintaining compliance. Hotels must invest in training programs to educate employees about regulations and their role in achieving compliance.

Health and safety regulations: Hotels must comply with strict health and safety standards to ensure the well-being of guests and employees. This includes regular inspections, well-documented inspections, maintenance of safety equipment, and implementation of emergency response protocols.

Cleaning Programs: Among those protocols must be a cleaning program that includes elements of sanitization and sterilization. That same requirement is particularly important in bathrooms and bedrooms, with particular attention paid to bedding items that may well carry cross-infections and pathogens between clients and also be a danger to hotel staff. Such pathogenic dangers have been well studied and documented, so there can be no professional excuse for being unaware or not putting in place proper procedures to ensure the safety required for clients and staff.

Cleaning Products: Many cleaning products contain chemicals that can be dangerous to some people but not others; a copy of the product list, including the names of chemical compounds contained in the cleaning products, should be made available to anyone on request. It should also be available to proposed clients who may be considering staying or not staying in a particular hotel based on the cleaning products and chemical use list.

Fire safety protocols: Hotels must have proper fire safety measures, including fire alarms, extinguishers, and evacuation plans. Regular fire drills and staff training are essential to ensure a quick and efficient response in an emergency.

Accessibility requirements for guests with disabilities: Hotels must comply with accessibility standards to ensure disabled guests can comfortably access and navigate the premises. This includes wheelchair ramps, accessible rooms, and facilities accommodating different needs.

Food safety and hygiene standards: Hotels that offer food services must adhere to strict food safety and hygiene regulations. This includes proper storage, handling, food preparation, and regular inspections by health authorities.

Data protection and privacy regulations: With the increasing reliance on technology, hotels must comply with data protection and privacy regulations to safeguard guest information. This includes secure storage and handling of personal data and obtaining proper consent for data collection and usage.

Environmental sustainability practices: Hotels are increasingly expected to adopt environmentally sustainable practices to minimize their environmental impact. This includes energy and water conservation, waste management, and eco-friendly materials.

We at Red Diamond Hotel Awards are wondering if Michelin has actually failed to consider health and safety compliance in its investigation of a hotel before making awards under its KEY awards scheme. Why else would they be panicked into ignoring Williams' contact with them?

Health, safety, and Compliance regulations are constantly evolving, demanding that hoteliers stay up-to-date with the latest changes and adapt their operations accordingly. By keeping abreast of regulatory updates, hotels can ensure continuous compliance and maintain their reputation as responsible and trustworthy establishments.

Red Diamond Hotel Awards Compliance Register

We at Red Diamond Hotel Awards are proposing to keep a register of Hotels that fail to confirm to us that they are compliant with the items listed above. We have no special rights or powers to demand such information; there are no statutory powers we can rely on. But we will submit a list of questions to hotels; they can answer or not answer.

If the hotels or Groups answer our questions and something is not subjected to proper procedure and compliance, we will discuss that with the Group or hotel. If no solution is found, we will list in a register what we consider the failure. Hotels will have the opportunity to talk and discuss with us and make adjustments to satisfy or rectify compliance. We will not rush to list you or show you in a bad light. The Register will be available online to both the industry and the public.

If a hotel refuses to acknowledge our questionnaire or give us information, we will list it as hostile and record a failure to be transparent for the benefit of the travelling and lodging public. Due to this failure, they will be listed in the Register as hotels to avoid.

Every hotel will have the opportunity to reverse and remove its listing in the Register by becoming compliant and transparent. Remember, this is self-regulation and reporting. We will only be visiting hotels on a token basis.

Asking thousands of individual hotels will be a massive task. So, the above procedures and questions may be asked of Hotel Groups to divulge on behalf of themselves and their directly owned hotels, directly managed hotels owned by others, and also their franchisee hotels, where they, as franchisors, set the standards and procedures and instruct and enforce where cleaning materials and chemicals are bought from by the franchisees.

Therefore, Brand names may be block-listed in our Register by the failure of the Group to answer our questions. The public will be given an explanation by us why we list a Group, brand, or a particular hotel in our Register.

Hotels will not be charged; the whole operation is voluntary and free. Red Diamond will never ask for payment for any of the procedures listed above.

In a rapidly changing regulatory landscape, hotels that adapt and excel in compliance will emerge as industry leaders. Compliance should be viewed not as a burden but as an opportunity to enhance guest satisfaction, reputation, and operational efficiency.

Hoteliers must anticipate and prepare for future regulated challenges as we move forward. By embracing innovations and best practices, hotels can navigate compliance requirements effectively, ensuring guests a safe and welcoming experience while upholding ethical and legal responsibilities. After all, compliance is not just about ticking boxes—it's about setting new standards and pushing the boundaries of excellence in the hospitality industry.

But the most important features of any compliance regime are knowledge, prompt application, honesty, and transparency. If you can tell anyone the answer to any question about your procedures and compliance, you have the winning formula. If you cannot do that, then the public will rightly assume you have something nasty to hide.

Hotels can have a framed Red Diamond Hotel Award, a 'Hotel Hygiene Excellence' certificate.

Sandra Bynoe

[email protected]