Washington Hilton attack highlights hotel industry's costly and nagging security issue

The suspect accused of storming a checkpoint on Saturday and firing a gun near the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner mocked the security measures at Washington Hilton that allowed him to be so close to Donald Trump.

In a manifesto written before the attack, the hotel guest Cole Allen, identified by law as a 31-year-old man, wrote: "I expected surveillance cameras everywhere, bugged rooms, armed officers every 10 feet and metal detectors to the roof." "What I got," Allen added, "is absolutely nothing."

Allen's attack has 'heightened a problem that the hotel industry has been facing for decades: how to maintain a warm and welcoming atmosphere while tightening security. Some security companies are now offering AI-powered monitoring systems, but hotels are reluctant to use anything that might increase costs or invade the privacy of their guests.

Security will continue to improve as technology continues to identify strange behavior. "At the end of it all, this is a hospitality industry where the customers must feel welcomed," said Nicolas Graf a professor at New York University.

Allen then moved up the building, before charging the checkpoint located on the floor above the dining room where Trump and 2,600 journalists were having dinner with government officials. Trump and his guests were able to escape safely, but this breach shows that the real risks at events like these are inside the hotels.

Hotel attackers exploit the same vulnerabilities repeatedly: multiple entry points, guests arriving all hours of the day, uneven screening and blurred boundaries between public and protected areas.

Morgan Stevens is the senior vice president of global security operations for Crisis24. She noted that not every guest is screened in the same way.

Hotels need to increase security in order to save lives but they also have to be careful with their expenditure. The top nine hotels, casinos and resorts by revenue are expected to generate about $102 billion between 2025 and 2025. However, margins have been squeezed in recent years.

Washington Hilton Hotel said that it operated under "stringent Secret Service protocols" after the attack. Hilton Worldwide Holdings refused to comment on this story. However, the steps taken after the attack Saturday were familiar.

The hotel was sealed off by law enforcement. Investigators traced the suspect’s steps. Experts in security debated whether anything could have been done better.

Allen was accused of attempted assassination and discharging a gun during a violent crime, and illegally transporting firearms and ammunition across state lines. He had taken a train to his hometown in California. He hasn't yet entered a guilty plea.

Hard to Secure

Hotel rooms are rarely closed for major events, but access is restricted by separate elevators and restricted floors.

Experts say that it usually takes a few days or a week to prepare a hotel for a big event. Security teams carry out site surveys, create credential systems and divide the hotel into controlled zones.

Other guests can still enter the lobbies and restaurants, as well as the guest floors, alongside those who have been screened. They said that this creates insurmountable security gaps.

A spokesperson for the American Hotel and Lodging Association said that hotels employ a multi-layered approach to safety and protection. The spokesperson stated that precautions include trained personnel, surveillance systems and access control, as well as coordination with law enforcement.

Robert McDonald, assistant Professor at the University of New Haven, and retired supervisory Secret Service Agent, said that the agency usually works with hotel security, the local police, and the White House administration in order to develop a plan for security rather than shutting down hotels outright.

The latest incident has shaken confidence in this model. Trump claimed that the hotel "was not a particularly safe building." Reports said that U.S. officials were reassessing the security of the Washington Hilton. President Ronald Reagan had been shot outside the hotel by John Hinckley in 1981, prompting some to call it the "Hinckley Hilton."

McDonald stated that after the shooting, the Hilton installed a garage that allowed presidential motorcades access to the building. It also increased the use of magnetometers, as well as tightened press controls.

Other major hotel attacks around the world have led to a change in security. The 2008 attack on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai, that left 31 people dead in the hotel was a turning point.

Graf, from NYU, said that "the industry has improved significantly" since the Mumbai attacks.

A man who shot out of the window from a 32nd floor suite in the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas in 2017 killed 58 people at a concert nearby. It was the deadliest mass killing in U.S. History. Many more people were injured.

Costly Security Upgrades

Experts say that implementing AI-powered weapon detection in hotels would be expensive and complex.

In December 2024, shortly before the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in front of a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan by a gang of terrorists, AI security company Xtract One received a request from the chief security officer for a major hotel 'chain regarding its weapons detection system. No rollout has yet taken place.

Peter Evans, CEO of?XtractOne, said that the problem is complex and cannot be solved by a single device. He noted the large number of people, the multiple entrances and the wide variety of luggage that moved through large hotels.

Evans noted that interest has increased in certain international markets. This is especially true in Mexico, where cartel violence and fear of travel have hurt revenues.

Anthony Varchetto said that hotels allocate resources to external threats, while underestimating the risks posed by guests.

He said that this is a common mistake. "People become complacent and understaff. A lot of this comes down to the budget."

(source: Reuters)