Who's to blame when a guest drinks too much?

I note from last week's letters column Greville Dare's alarm at smoking in hotel bedrooms (Caterer, 9 March, page 22). He talks of a "deadly oversight" in allowing guests to smoke in rooms when they have "overindulged" through drinking.

However, the question has to be asked about Mr Dare's culpability in such cases? It seems he is worried about his guests going near a box of Swan Vestas and 20 Camel Filters, but is happy to see his tills ticking over with guests drinking to oblivion.

Let us take this thinking to another level. If guests use the lavatory when three sheets to the wind, it could result in a very slippery floor. With no warning signs in sight, that could result in a devastating injury.

Other ramifications of overindulging include peas and carrots festooned all around the hotel; verbal and even physical abuse towards staff; and fire alarms and extinguishers set off.

What happens when overindulging leads to a situation in one of his rooms that results in divorce on the grounds of adultery?

And what if they had sex unprotected? Sexually transmitted disease, unwanted pregnancy, dismissal from the job for sleeping with the secretary? Things most sober people would think about.

Taking one's clothes off can be a Herculean task with a bottle of Scotch inside you (trust me, I have experience), and could easily result in falling over and hitting one's head on a piece of furniture. Attempting to take another's clothes off at the same time is just too dangerous to contemplate.

I too have no statistics, but I would be interested to learn about hotels' culpability in such cases where they have readily fed the guest with more drink and a situation develops as a direct cause of the guest "overindulging".

I do not drink but do not begrudge anyone enjoying what is a lovely drug when taken in correct doses. But I do feel that Mr Dare might take the time to train his staff about the effects of alcohol, so that they can recognise when a person is approaching being "overindulged".

The effects on mind and body can be horrific, and the resulting behaviour can also be devastating and sometimes life threatening.

We started the Ark Foundation, now part of Hospitality Action, to educate people about these effects, and have delivered the training to leading hotels and institutions throughout the country. I would be pleased to deliver the same to Mr Dare and his staff.

Peter Kay
The Ark Foundation

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