Vegas hotels should "baby proof" their rooms

[Alan Mendelson]

I think Vegas hotel operators should baby proof their rooms. They should baby proof their rooms not because they get a lot of babies staying in their hotel rooms, but they get a lot of adults who might be careless after having a few drinks or might be in a rush to get to the casino or to a show or to a dinner reservation.

I just posted on my website an article about some of the new lamps that Caesars is installing in some of its room makeovers. See it here: http://alanbestbuys.com/id240.html

These new lamps have "corners" instead of being rounded and these lamps are placed over the small dining tables in some of the hotel's rooms. It's easy to bump your head getting up from the table or when you lean over to read something.

My friend and I both bumped our heads on this lamp in our room on our last visit. We did not get hurt but it brought this bad design to our attention.

When you baby proof a home one of the things you do is remove things with corners because corners cause injuries.

[redietz]

I wonder if casinos that cater to the young, hip, and often blasted crowd take into account design features for safety more than the standard Marriott or Hilton. For example, does the Palms vet their room design differently than Caesars?

The thing is, with a rapidly aging demography, US citizens are now most likely to be injured in falls at home. Undoubtedly, that's an increasing concern in casinos, too. So vetting rooms and perhaps changing rules and regs for moving walkways and handrails for stairways may be prudent. The stone step area outside of Caesars, where you head down to the outside courtyard from Bally's or head towards Bellagio, could probably use extra handrails on the steps themselves, which may be a bit of a hassle for older people, especially after a rain.

[Alan Mendelson]

One of my former girlfriends had a home without a handrail on a stairway leading to the second floor. There was no wall or handrail on the outside of the stairway which looked out to the living room. And along the wall there was no handrail either. I asked her about it and she told me that her ex-husband who was an ARCHITECT did not like the look of a handrail and had it REMOVED when they bought the house. I was actually afraid to walk up and down that staircase and I couldn't believe she went up and down that staircase carrying anything such as laundry. This was clearly a violation of local building codes.

redietz I think you're right about casinos considering who their customers are. As the population ages more will want to have handrails in tubs and showers. I have clients in the bathroom remodeling business and they all have designs that include railings for baths and showers, even walk-in tubs. The casinos do offer "handicapped rooms" with special railings and even showers without a "lip" so that you can wheel a wheel chair close to the shower. And there are seats in some showers, too. But I am yet to see a walk-in tub.

[Rob.Singer]

It's not against any city codes to remove a stairway handrail inside your own home, even if it were required by the new home-builder. You can do whatever you want inside the home once you own it. If you choose to sell it then the inspector may require you to either put in a handrail (which I highly doubt) or the issue may come up for negotiation with the buyer.

On the points about hotel rooms, WHO TF CARES if they're childproofed or old fart-proofed or whatever? Old people or cripples can always get a handicapped room at any hotel, with all the rails and smooth edges you could ever dream about. As far as kids, leave them home if you're worried about them getting hurt somehow. They likely have FAR more opportunity to get hurt in their own homes anyway.

[blackhole]

As soon as I started reading this thread started by Alan, I was really expecting a picture with a big bandage across his head with red blood oozing through. Damn, what a let down ... lol

[Alan Mendelson]

There's another problem that is widespread in all buildings these days whether hotels, casinos, shopping malls, office buildings: escalator flights are sometimes too long. When someone falls or loses their balance, the domino effect can be disastrous.

Several years ago I was attending a New Year's Eve party at a casino that had a very long escalator flight from its ballroom level down to the casino floor. Someone lost their balance and about two dozen other people got caught up in the mess. No one was seriously hurt but that was just luck because dozens and dozens of people could have fallen all over each other. At least with short flights the number of people on each flight is limited.

Another problem: people stand at the end of escalator flights. Why don't people move? Don't they realize that when they stop at the end of the escalator ride that more people are about to exit and will have no place to go if the people who are already off don't move out of the way?

[blackhole]

I think Alan should start a comedy routine that I would happily pay to hear, or lock himself up in a secure bunker.

[Alan Mendelson]

blackhole, it's not funny that people get hurt. During my 30+ years in TV news I covered a lot of crazy accidents. And at the Century City mall a couple of years ago I was in the right place at the right time to stop an escalator when a lady's skirt got caught between the steps and she was pulled down and fell and then was caught in the steps. Pretty scary stuff. I hate to see people hurt. I don't want to tell you about the plane crashes I covered and being in the debris field. It makes an impact you never forget.

[blackhole]

Lighten up Alan. Learn to smile a little more often, and not just when sitting in front of a 100k royal hit.

[Alan Mendelson]

Lighten up Alan. Learn to smile a little more often, and not just when sitting in front of a 100k royal hit.

Youre right. But sometimes I take safety too seriously. I've just seen too much.

[redietz]

Youre right. But sometimes I take safety too seriously. I've just seen too much.

I think once you've seen someone fall and hit something sharp (or hard) and blood gushes all over, you have an auto sensitivity. You just notice that stuff for a long while.

[Dan Druff]

I don't think that many babies/toddlers come to Vegas. They're a burden for the parents because there are no easily available or cheap babysitting services available through the casinos.

There used to be. My parents told me about dropping me off at a "kid's center" at some Vegas hotel in the 1970s when they went out at night, and said that I loved it. I have vague memories of this, but will say that I always did look forward to going to Vegas in those days. Though some of that excitement was for playing the games at Circus Circus.

On the other side of the aging scale, falling really is a huge danger to the elderly, especially the over 80 set.

It's amazing how many people over 80 die within a year of falling in their home (usually the bathtub, but sometimes elsewhere).

Anyone over 80 should be extra careful not to fall!

On a side note, is there anyone over 80 reading this forum?

[Rob.Singer]

A thread about people getting hurt? Hillary fell and got hurt and it shows. Alan, try to get her on here to discuss the fall, the moment of disaster, and the resulting concussion? Oh wait, she'll claim it never happened, and all the loony liberals here will automatically believe her.

[Alan Mendelson]

Dan falling is also a danger to younger people. This morning, around 7am I fainted in my hotel bathroom falling to the marble floor. Spent 6 hours in a hospital. Fortunately I didn't hit my head but I did have a minor nose break. The faint came from a health condition and there was no fault on the part of the hotel. But when talking to the ER doc after my cat scan and blood tests came back clear, he said to me I was very lucky since most hotel bathrooms are nothing but hard surfaces.

[blackhole]

Alan,

Better slow down a bit. It seems your burning the candle from both ends. I know you said the faint was caused from medical issues, but if your spending endless hours playing in a casino, at our age that wear and tear induces other pre-existing problems.

I know if I'm up all night playing poker, I'm selective with what I drink (no alcohol) and eat. The next day I'm never feeling normal. It seems all aliments that bothered me in the past all show up together after stressing my body. Regardless, of the fun involved our old bodies are stressed just about from everything we do. Especially, an old person with serious past medical issues.

Younger people keep telling me that 64 is young today. As far as I'm concerned and as much as I try to believe that, they have no idea what ageing is really all about yet.

[Alan Mendelson]

Thanks blackhole. From reading here you may know that 8 years ago I had a kidney and pancreas transplant and prior to that I was an insulin dependant diabetic for 32 years. Diabetes damaged various parts of my body and that has left me with various health management chores. What happened is that I was dehydrated and it caused me to fall over. Luckily my nose took the impact and the break was very small so no "nose job" is in my future. Tonight more than 12 hours later I have a very small discomfort (pain is "1" with "10" being the worst) and there's some swelling that will disappear in five days. It was the "royal flush" of luck after hitting marble.

Hotel staff was great by the way.

Most embarrassing moment was returning to the hotel this afternoon wearing only shoes and a hospital gown (my clothes were in a patient bag covered in blood from the nose bleed when I was on the floor).

[Rob.Singer]

Much of that is true....for most people. Alan's been given a 2nd chance, so why not push beyond what's normal. And in my case at 67, if I'm playing vp it's almost always been overnight. We travel by car a lot and I mostly drive overnight, and I'm mostly up all day every day. It's all about how you've taken care of yourself over the years. If you have then your body can easily handle overuse and beyond normal limits activity. If not, then that's where the breakdown comes into play. Something to think about for the younger folks out there--esp. you dumb smokers--who seem to think having a gut or eating sugary/fatty foods and/or fast foods will somehow not really affect you in your declining years.

[Alan Mendelson]

Even though I did not file any report with Caesars about my fall, late today I received an email from the director of risk management at Caesars asking if I was okay. I thanked him for his concern and told him exactly what happened. Again, the hotel was not at fault at all -- I became ill.

But I was surprised that the risk management director found out about it. I didn't even tell my host. I guess he reviewed the reports from security/EMT and saw my name.

I appreciated the email.

[RoeIncarnate]

It's not against any city codes to remove a stairway handrail inside your own home, even if it were required by the new home-builder.

Pretty sure this is not true. In most places you can't reduce the code compliance of a property. You also might find your home insurer won't protect you in the case a 3rd party gets hurt and sues you.

[Rob.Singer]

Pretty sure this is not true. In most places you can't reduce the code compliance of a property. You also might find your home insurer won't protect you in the case a 3rd party gets hurt and sues you.

You've probably never seen the wiring some people do on their homes to save money by not hiring electricians. Once you're in your home and esp. if you own it and the bank doesn't, you can do what you want UNTIL AND IF you choose to sell it.

In the Phx. area there are strict codes regarding fences with self-latching gates around pools for homes with children under a certain age, and/or for homes that ever have those children visit for whatever reasons. I removed the fence & gate as soon as I got here. But if the house is ever sold, I'd have to put one back in, regardless of who buys. Or, I could negotiate a deal where the buyer puts them in, which is most always the case.

Home insurers are not concerned with how safe anything is or whether anything is up to code or not. If the house burns down because of shoddy self-wiring, if you didn't have the intention of starting a fire then the claim is valid to them. The same with bad ventilation, faulty alarms, etc.