The Washington Hilton attack highlights the hotel industry’s costly security crisis

* Hotels face the challenge of balancing improvements in security and guest experience with higher costs

* Experts highlight ongoing risks from multiple access points and uneven testing

* Security experts warn of often underestimated insider threats, citing budgets and convenience

NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters) – The suspect accused of raiding a checkpoint and shooting near the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday mocked security at the Washington Hilton for allowing him to get close to President Donald Trump.

“I expected security cameras everywhere, barricaded hotel rooms, armed people every 10 feet, metal detectors coming out of the wazoo,” a hotel guest identified by law enforcement as Cole Allen, 31, said in a manifesto before the attack. “What I found,” he added, “is nothing.”

Allen’s attack magnified a decades-old problem in the hotel industry: how to tighten security while maintaining a sense of warmth and hospitality. Some new security companies are offering AI-powered monitoring solutions, but hotels have been slow to adopt anything that could increase costs and violate guest privacy.

“Security will continue to improve with technology to detect unusual behavior. But at the end of the day, it’s a hospitality business where customers have to feel welcome,” said Nicolas Graf, professor of hospitality management at New York University.

Allen walked through the building before charging into a checkpoint on the upper floor of the ballroom where Trump dined with 2,600 reporters, government officials and others. Trump was evacuated safely and guests were not injured, but the breach shows the dangers of such events from inside hotels.

Hotel attackers have exploited the same vulnerabilities over and over again: multiple access points, guests arriving at all hours, uneven checks, and blurred lines between public and secure areas.

“Not all visitors to a building are screened the same way, which is why zoning and access control become critical,” notes Morgan Stevens, senior vice president of global security operations at Crisis24.

Hotels must improve security to save lives, but they also need to watch how they spend money. The top nine hotel, casino and resort companies are expected to generate roughly $102 billion in revenue by 2025, but have experienced margin pressure in recent years.

After the attack, the Washington Hilton hotel said it was operating under “strict” Secret Service regulations. Hilton Worldwide Holdings declined to comment on the matter, but the steps taken following Saturday’s attack follow a standard pattern.

Law enforcement closed the hotel. The detectives tracked down the suspect. Security experts debate what should have been done differently.

Allen was charged with attempted murder, firing a firearm during a crime of violence and illegally transporting firearms and ammunition across state lines while taking a train from his hometown in California. He has not applied yet.

IT’S HARD TO DEFEND

Hotels do not usually close large events but use access controls such as separate elevators or restricted floors.

It usually takes a few days to a week to secure a hotel before a big event, experts say. Security teams conduct site surveys, establish security systems, and categorize the site into controlled zones.

But some guests can still walk through the entrances, restaurants and guest floors next to screened guests. That creates an unavoidable security gap, they say.

“Hotels are taking a different approach to safety and security,” said a spokesperson for the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Security measures include trained staff, surveillance systems, access control and liaison with law enforcement, the spokesperson said.

Robert McDonald, an assistant professor at the University of New Haven and a retired Secret Service agent, said the agency often works with hotel security, local police and White House officials to develop a security plan rather than closing hotels entirely.

A recent incident shook confidence in that model. Trump said afterward that the hotel was “not a very secure building.” Reuters reported that US law enforcement officials are re-examining security at the Washington Hilton, outside of which President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981 by John Hinckley, making some call it the “Hinckley Hilton.”

After that shooting, the Hilton added a secure garage that allowed the president’s motorcycles to get inside the building, and used magnetometers and tighter pressure controls, McDonald said.

Around the world, some major hotel attacks have prompted security changes. The turning point was the attack on the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai in 2008, which left 31 people dead inside the premises.

“The industry has evolved a lot since” the Mumbai attacks, NYU’s Graf said.

In 2017, a man climbed out of a 32nd floor window of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas and shot 58 concertgoers nearby, the worst mass shooting in US history. Hundreds more were injured.

EXPENSIVE DEVELOPMENT

Hotels are beginning to consider AI-powered weapon detection, but experts say making meaningful improvements will be expensive and difficult.

Shortly before the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson outside the Hilton in Midtown Manhattan, AI security firm Xtract One said it received an inquiry from a hotel giant’s security chief about its weapons screening program. So far, no release has followed.

“This is a complex problem that needs to be solved, not just tackled by installing a single test device,” said Xtract One CEO Peter Evans. He noted the heavy volume of people, the large number of people entering, and the variety of luggage that goes through the big hotels.

Interest has been strong in other international markets, Evans said, particularly in Mexico where car company violence has scared away travelers and hurt revenues.

Anthony Varchetto, founder of Blue Star Security, said hotels often outsource threat services while underestimating the risks posed by registered guests.

He said: “That’s a general view. “People are apathetic, the workforce is small, and a lot of it is due to the budget.” (Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York and Alexandra Alper in Washington; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and David Gregorio)

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