[117161] in Cypherpunks
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daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Anonymous)
Fri Aug 27 14:39:03 1999
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 20:17:07 +0200 (CEST)
Message-Id: <199908271817.UAA22620@mail.replay.com>
From: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Reply-To: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
August 27, 1999
Maximum Security: Budget Suites
Takes Guests' Fingerprints in Trial
By DANIELLE REED and MICHELLE HIGGINS
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
At Budget Suites of America, security is truly hands-on: Guests are
required to have their fingerprints taken at check-in.
Routine guest fingerprinting started in March and is currently being tested at
the extended-stay chain's three Arizona properties, says Vikki Morley, a
Budget Suites vice president. The idea is to make guests -- who stay an
average of 18 days -- feel more secure, she says, since criminals would
generally not want to have their fingerprints taken. While Ms. Morley
admits that a few people have turned around and left when they heard
about the requirement, mostly she says, "it's not a big deal" to guests, who
may already have had their prints taken at banks or ministorage areas.
The prints aren't sent to the police or any agencies outside the hotel, she
says, and fingerprint cards can be returned at check-out upon request. Still,
some in the hospitality industry question whether fingerprinting is the best
way to greet a guest. "Personally, I'd find it less than friendly," says
hospitality consultant Rick Stanfield of Stanfield Hospitality Consultants in
Hendersonville, Tenn.
