22 ms·

The Ripple Effect of Death in a Hotel

116 points by crunchiebones 8y ago

jrbuhl 8y ago
Tangentially related documentary on what happens when those with no next of kin die: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErooOhzE268 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErooOhzE268.
fzeroracer 8y ago
It's both sad and frustrating that an entire industry treats suicide as merely a cost of doing business. That these statistics are hidden from the public is also a shame. Instead we prefer to sweep away the deaths of people because it's bad for business. Because it's gruesome and the reality is too much to bear.
- shard972 8y ago
  I'm curious how you think the industry should be treating suicide? I'm not sure if the hotel of death is the right way to go about things, and checking up on every guest from in-town to see if they are going to kill themselves doesn't seem very practical. > Instead we prefer to sweep away the deaths of people because it's bad for business. Because it's gruesome and the reality is too much to bear. I assume the "we" here refers to society? If so, I don't really see the issue of not announcing to everyone that there is a dead guy here and parading them around or something. The issues behind suicide are quite complex and even if we are talking about suicide driven by a disconnection from all aspects of society, i don't see how hotels can even hope to help fix this problem.
  - slededit 8y ago
    I find people need someone to blame for things. It makes the world seem more manageable. It’s not really a rational reaction to the situation.
  - DanBC 8y ago
    There are some quick easy things hotels can do. They can sell only small quantities of medication commonly used in suicide attempts. They can make it harder to access the rooftop of buildings. They can put small signs giving contact details for a suicide prevention organisation in key places. These aren't going to end suicide, but they do help reduce the numbers.
    - EmpirePhoenix 8y ago
      They do already, even without any goodwill, a suicide costs north of a few thousand, so it makes sense to try to reduce them.
- TazeTSchnitzel 8y ago
  In general, it's not the hotels' fault that guests commit suicide. Maybe Las Vegas hotels which are also casinos deserve some scorn, however.
  - tunap 8y ago
    I was in Vegas last month for work & a woman was wailing in an adjacent room from 3am until I left around 6:30am. It was unsettling, to say the least. I could only imagine what events led up to her crisis & what fallout followed. It made for a sobering day of contemplation... I struggled w/ gamblig addiction in my youth. Coincidentally, I was asked no less than 5xs that day if I had bought my billion dollar lottery ticket... nobody cared for my response; "You can't lose if you don't play." On topic, sorta: does anyone know the comedian who's skit is about a follow up phone call from management(police?) concerning a murder in an adjacent room she was staying in? Heard the skit on the radio a few months back and have wonderwd/searched for her name to no avail.
- onetimemanytime 8y ago
  People want to kill themselves, very hard to stop. If not hotels, they'll choose another way. As for hotels: You pay $250 for the room and do NOT want nosy employees asking or watching you carefully, 99+% just want to stay there and be left alone, unless they call you.
  - Xylakant 8y ago
    While it's basically impossible to stop a person that is really really determined to kill themselves, many suicides can be prevented by making the means less available. For example, reducing the package size of paracetamol and requiring blister packaging instead of bottles reduced the number of suicides in Britain: https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/a-simple-way-to-reduce-suicides/ https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/a-simple-wa... You can still walk into as many pharmacies and buy as many tablets as you want in total, so in theory this shouldn't change anything. People still can - and do - kill themselves with tablets. In practice, it requires a much more premeditated plan which seems to hold off a substantial quantity of people.
    - isostatic 8y ago
      The rational mind would see no difference between having to pop the pills out of the blisters individually or just having a tub of them. A rational mind treats "I want to commit suicide" as a problem, and comes up with a myriad of solutions. It's not exactly hard to commit suicide in theory. However people who commit suicide tend not to be thinking rationally, and it's amazing how small things can really help with reducing suicide.
      - onetimemanytime 8y ago
        Probably they want to kill themselves a certain second, but as climb the stairs, load the magazine or start unwrapping the Tylenols they change their minds. (The mind is fickle like that, different people handle life issues differently so I pass no judgment. Personally, I think suicide is somewhat selfish, unless your children, parents /those dependent on you are cared for. But even with material things, they need the person in their life.)
downandout 8y ago
...For this reason, most Las Vegas hotel rooms have neither balconies nor windows that open more than the inch or two that will permit the minimum required ventilation. This actually isn't true. The Cosmopolitan, right in the middle of the strip, is famous for the balconies on most of its 3,000 guest rooms and suites. There have been suicides and even drunken falls from Cosmopolitan balconies, but they have been relatively rare. Palms Place also has balconies on almost all of its rooms, as do a large percentage of the rooms at the Signature at MGM Grand. Others include the Grand Lakeview suites at Bellagio, the Skyline Terrace suites at MGM Grand, and the Sky Villas at the Palms. Finally, the hallways of almost all floors of the Luxor pyramid look down on the inside of the building, and could easily be jumped from. They have also had jumpers, but those have been rare.
- kurtisc 8y ago
  How do you know so much about Las Vegas hotels?
  - nkrisc 8y ago
    Wild guess: they've visited them. Another wild guess: their profession places them in a lot of hotels, either as a guest or for work.
    - kurtisc 8y ago
      It wasn't a facetious question.
    - downandout 8y ago
      Yes, I travel alot (especially to Vegas, mostly for business) and over the years have stayed in most of the room/suites I mentioned.
- james_s_tayler 8y ago
  I stayed at the Cosmopolitan in a room with a soaking tub overlooking the fountains at the Bellagio. Tell you what if I was thinking of ending it that would be a great way to change my mind. Pretty damn relaxing.
intralizee 8y ago
I’ve thought of going to Vegas and playing everything on red and proceed with suicide. I think it would be epic but would prefer a suicide that is more humane. People should just allow suicide by administration from a machine in a hospital. What society does now for people that suffer is so irrational, I might as well go to a church and be told to pray for things to get better because that is exactly what mental health professionals do with some drugs thrown in to distort reality. People that want suicide are rational and suffer from a reality that doesn’t favor them.
- isostatic 8y ago
  > People should just allow suicide by administration from a machine in a hospital The concept of a suicide is hardly new - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_booth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_booth
  - mprev 8y ago
    Your reply is fascinating. Are you really trying one-up someone who is hinting heavily at their own desire for suicide?
- steve_g 8y ago
  I'm sorry that you're in pain. If you are considering suicide, please don't do it. Many people want to help you. If you're in the US, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255, 24/7. It probably works from outside the US too.
  - tejohnso 8y ago
    Does anybody else find this kind of response patronizing? The parent said nothing about being in pain. The parent posted a completely rational statement. Here someone comes along trying to sound as though there is some moral or intellectual superiority to the opposite action and that this person needs help of some kind. Perhaps we would have more humane suicide options if society were to stop regarding suicide as some kind of dysfunctional behavior. There are plenty of rational reasons to commit suicide, and there are plenty of cases where not committing suicide seems rather irrational.
dunnevens 8y ago
I was intrigued by an article's title mentioned in this link: "How to properly respond to a guest death in your hotel". I found the article. Unfortunately, it's without any paragraph breaks, but should still be readable. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-properly-respond-guest-death-your-hotel-mukesh-dhankhar https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-properly-respond-guest-de...
- howard941 8y ago
  Here it is with paragraph breaks but as a PDF: http://hospitalitylawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/Responding-to-guest-deaths.pdf http://hospitalitylawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/Responding-t...
drpgq 8y ago
I wonder what the probability is for a Vegas hotel room that there's been a suicide in it.
DoreenMichele 8y ago
Unfortunately for hotel owners, suicidal guests—since they know they will not be paying their bill—tend to choose large and luxurious rooms for their last night on earth. I'm quite open about my struggles with being suicidal due to overwhelming personal problems. I find myself rather appalled to read the above. I cannot fathom intentionally and completely gratuitously dumping on other people like that as my final act. I have every sympathy for "I don't want to suffer anymore. Let me out of this miserable life that seems like it can't possibly ever get any better." I have no sympathy for "And, on my way out, let me actively fuck over other people who are innocent bystanders that have nothing to do with why I'm suicidal." I say this as someone who used to have really dramatic fantasies (in my teens) of using my suicide as a final message to the world concerning why I was saying "Goodbye, cruel world!"
- lakeeffect 8y ago
  Someone once told me that suicide is the most selfish act, as it pushes your suffering on others. Is it really more selfish to get a bigger room?
  - DoreenMichele 8y ago
    I generally hate the messaging that suicide is a selfish act. The implication there is that you are obligated to suffer so others can be more comfortable. In many cases, people are suicidal in part because "Hell is other people." Nonetheless, I stand by my above comment that I cannot fathom gratuitously pissing on random strangers in the process of saying "I've had enough and I'm out of here."
- mt85 8y ago
  Yeah, I have zero sympathy for people who flippantly joke about playing in traffic. They have little disregard for other pedestrians, drivers, etc. by creating a fatal accident.

116 points by crunchiebones 8y ago

Tangentially related documentary on what happens when those with no next of kin die: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErooOhzE268 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErooOhzE268.

fzeroracer 8y ago

It's both sad and frustrating that an entire industry treats suicide as merely a cost of doing business. That these statistics are hidden from the public is also a shame. Instead we prefer to sweep away the deaths of people because it's bad for business. Because it's gruesome and the reality is too much to bear.

shard972 8y ago
I'm curious how you think the industry should be treating suicide? I'm not sure if the hotel of death is the right way to go about things, and checking up on every guest from in-town to see if they are going to kill themselves doesn't seem very practical. > Instead we prefer to sweep away the deaths of people because it's bad for business. Because it's gruesome and the reality is too much to bear. I assume the "we" here refers to society? If so, I don't really see the issue of not announcing to everyone that there is a dead guy here and parading them around or something. The issues behind suicide are quite complex and even if we are talking about suicide driven by a disconnection from all aspects of society, i don't see how hotels can even hope to help fix this problem.
- slededit 8y ago
  I find people need someone to blame for things. It makes the world seem more manageable. It’s not really a rational reaction to the situation.
- DanBC 8y ago
  There are some quick easy things hotels can do. They can sell only small quantities of medication commonly used in suicide attempts. They can make it harder to access the rooftop of buildings. They can put small signs giving contact details for a suicide prevention organisation in key places. These aren't going to end suicide, but they do help reduce the numbers.
  - EmpirePhoenix 8y ago
    They do already, even without any goodwill, a suicide costs north of a few thousand, so it makes sense to try to reduce them.
TazeTSchnitzel 8y ago
In general, it's not the hotels' fault that guests commit suicide. Maybe Las Vegas hotels which are also casinos deserve some scorn, however.
- tunap 8y ago
  I was in Vegas last month for work & a woman was wailing in an adjacent room from 3am until I left around 6:30am. It was unsettling, to say the least. I could only imagine what events led up to her crisis & what fallout followed. It made for a sobering day of contemplation... I struggled w/ gamblig addiction in my youth. Coincidentally, I was asked no less than 5xs that day if I had bought my billion dollar lottery ticket... nobody cared for my response; "You can't lose if you don't play." On topic, sorta: does anyone know the comedian who's skit is about a follow up phone call from management(police?) concerning a murder in an adjacent room she was staying in? Heard the skit on the radio a few months back and have wonderwd/searched for her name to no avail.
onetimemanytime 8y ago
People want to kill themselves, very hard to stop. If not hotels, they'll choose another way. As for hotels: You pay $250 for the room and do NOT want nosy employees asking or watching you carefully, 99+% just want to stay there and be left alone, unless they call you.
- Xylakant 8y ago
  While it's basically impossible to stop a person that is really really determined to kill themselves, many suicides can be prevented by making the means less available. For example, reducing the package size of paracetamol and requiring blister packaging instead of bottles reduced the number of suicides in Britain: https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/a-simple-way-to-reduce-suicides/ https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/a-simple-wa... You can still walk into as many pharmacies and buy as many tablets as you want in total, so in theory this shouldn't change anything. People still can - and do - kill themselves with tablets. In practice, it requires a much more premeditated plan which seems to hold off a substantial quantity of people.
  - isostatic 8y ago
    The rational mind would see no difference between having to pop the pills out of the blisters individually or just having a tub of them. A rational mind treats "I want to commit suicide" as a problem, and comes up with a myriad of solutions. It's not exactly hard to commit suicide in theory. However people who commit suicide tend not to be thinking rationally, and it's amazing how small things can really help with reducing suicide.
    - onetimemanytime 8y ago
      Probably they want to kill themselves a certain second, but as climb the stairs, load the magazine or start unwrapping the Tylenols they change their minds. (The mind is fickle like that, different people handle life issues differently so I pass no judgment. Personally, I think suicide is somewhat selfish, unless your children, parents /those dependent on you are cared for. But even with material things, they need the person in their life.)

downandout 8y ago

...For this reason, most Las Vegas hotel rooms have neither balconies nor windows that open more than the inch or two that will permit the minimum required ventilation. This actually isn't true. The Cosmopolitan, right in the middle of the strip, is famous for the balconies on most of its 3,000 guest rooms and suites. There have been suicides and even drunken falls from Cosmopolitan balconies, but they have been relatively rare. Palms Place also has balconies on almost all of its rooms, as do a large percentage of the rooms at the Signature at MGM Grand. Others include the Grand Lakeview suites at Bellagio, the Skyline Terrace suites at MGM Grand, and the Sky Villas at the Palms. Finally, the hallways of almost all floors of the Luxor pyramid look down on the inside of the building, and could easily be jumped from. They have also had jumpers, but those have been rare.

kurtisc 8y ago
How do you know so much about Las Vegas hotels?
- nkrisc 8y ago
  Wild guess: they've visited them. Another wild guess: their profession places them in a lot of hotels, either as a guest or for work.
  - kurtisc 8y ago
    It wasn't a facetious question.
  - downandout 8y ago
    Yes, I travel alot (especially to Vegas, mostly for business) and over the years have stayed in most of the room/suites I mentioned.
james_s_tayler 8y ago
I stayed at the Cosmopolitan in a room with a soaking tub overlooking the fountains at the Bellagio. Tell you what if I was thinking of ending it that would be a great way to change my mind. Pretty damn relaxing.

intralizee 8y ago

I’ve thought of going to Vegas and playing everything on red and proceed with suicide. I think it would be epic but would prefer a suicide that is more humane. People should just allow suicide by administration from a machine in a hospital. What society does now for people that suffer is so irrational, I might as well go to a church and be told to pray for things to get better because that is exactly what mental health professionals do with some drugs thrown in to distort reality. People that want suicide are rational and suffer from a reality that doesn’t favor them.

isostatic 8y ago
> People should just allow suicide by administration from a machine in a hospital The concept of a suicide is hardly new - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_booth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_booth
- mprev 8y ago
  Your reply is fascinating. Are you really trying one-up someone who is hinting heavily at their own desire for suicide?
steve_g 8y ago
I'm sorry that you're in pain. If you are considering suicide, please don't do it. Many people want to help you. If you're in the US, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255, 24/7. It probably works from outside the US too.
- tejohnso 8y ago
  Does anybody else find this kind of response patronizing? The parent said nothing about being in pain. The parent posted a completely rational statement. Here someone comes along trying to sound as though there is some moral or intellectual superiority to the opposite action and that this person needs help of some kind. Perhaps we would have more humane suicide options if society were to stop regarding suicide as some kind of dysfunctional behavior. There are plenty of rational reasons to commit suicide, and there are plenty of cases where not committing suicide seems rather irrational.

dunnevens 8y ago

I was intrigued by an article's title mentioned in this link: "How to properly respond to a guest death in your hotel". I found the article. Unfortunately, it's without any paragraph breaks, but should still be readable. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-properly-respond-guest-death-your-hotel-mukesh-dhankhar https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-properly-respond-guest-de...

howard941 8y ago
Here it is with paragraph breaks but as a PDF: http://hospitalitylawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/Responding-to-guest-deaths.pdf http://hospitalitylawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/Responding-t...

drpgq 8y ago

I wonder what the probability is for a Vegas hotel room that there's been a suicide in it.

DoreenMichele 8y ago

Unfortunately for hotel owners, suicidal guests—since they know they will not be paying their bill—tend to choose large and luxurious rooms for their last night on earth. I'm quite open about my struggles with being suicidal due to overwhelming personal problems. I find myself rather appalled to read the above. I cannot fathom intentionally and completely gratuitously dumping on other people like that as my final act. I have every sympathy for "I don't want to suffer anymore. Let me out of this miserable life that seems like it can't possibly ever get any better." I have no sympathy for "And, on my way out, let me actively fuck over other people who are innocent bystanders that have nothing to do with why I'm suicidal." I say this as someone who used to have really dramatic fantasies (in my teens) of using my suicide as a final message to the world concerning why I was saying "Goodbye, cruel world!"

lakeeffect 8y ago
Someone once told me that suicide is the most selfish act, as it pushes your suffering on others. Is it really more selfish to get a bigger room?
- DoreenMichele 8y ago
  I generally hate the messaging that suicide is a selfish act. The implication there is that you are obligated to suffer so others can be more comfortable. In many cases, people are suicidal in part because "Hell is other people." Nonetheless, I stand by my above comment that I cannot fathom gratuitously pissing on random strangers in the process of saying "I've had enough and I'm out of here."
mt85 8y ago
Yeah, I have zero sympathy for people who flippantly joke about playing in traffic. They have little disregard for other pedestrians, drivers, etc. by creating a fatal accident.