GSA secures Strand Palace Hotel’s glistening reputation

London’s appeal as a destination for business and leisure is felt across the globe, with an estimated 11.7 million visits last year, up 21 percent on 2020. Situated in the heart of the capital is The Strand Palace Hotel, an institution that has been welcoming guests for more than a century. Corporate travel is particularly important, with up to 80 percent of guests staying for business during the week.

The issue

As the largest, centrally located, independent hotel in London – with 788 rooms, a maximum capacity of 1,200 guests a night, and an array of bars and restaurants – The Strand Palace has a lot of ground to cover to uphold its reputation.

The hotel has always taken pride in its exemplary standards of service, housekeeping, security, health and safety. It has 24-hour staffed security and CCTV throughout public areas, access is restricted to guests after midnight, all rooms have deadlocks, self-closing mechanisms, peepholes and safes. For female guests travelling alone, the hotel does not allocate rooms with interconnecting doors, or rooms on the first floor, at the ends of corridors or near fire exits. With the UK’s current terrorist threat level still considered “substantial”, the importance of providing guests peace of mind through such measures cannot be understated.

The approach

A lot of work goes into ensuring everything delivers to the highest standard of excellence. As well as undergoing regular training to keep up to date with all the latest regulation and procedures around health, safety, and security, The Strand Palace boasts a large on-site security team to monitor for – and deal with – potential threats. Its commitment to security was cemented when it sought accreditation with Global Secure Accreditation, becoming one of the first London hotel to receive accreditation.

GSA has developed an independent assessment process for hotel security. Audited by SFJ Awards, a government-approved global standards body, the certification is the ultimate seal of approval for hotels and serviced apartments wishing to cement their safety and security credentials. The Strand Palace first received accreditation in 2019, following a rigorous assessment of security standards at the hotel carried out by a GSA assessor, and has renewed since.

The result

Obtaining certification has yielded many benefits for the hotel. As well as being able to secure more corporate business by demonstrating a duty of care to its guests and staff, the hotel has obtained key external feedback on current security measures at the property and maintained knowledge of cutting-edge safety and security news/information via the GSA membership platform.

Speaking of the importance of GSA’s accreditation, Managing Director at Strand Palace, Matthew Beard, said: “In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen increased importance placed on health and safety guidelines and procedures, but security cannot – and should not – be forgotten. The hotel has always taken all three very seriously, not least because of the size of the property; the bigger the property, the bigger the risk. The hotel’s security is not solely the responsibility of the security team. Our entire team has security in mind when dealing with guests – a mindset that has been encouraged with the help of the GSA team. With all sorts of threats and uncertainties around us, it is great that we can say, with confidence, that our guests are safe in our hands.”

The Strand Palace’s hotel staff are continuously learning, ensuring they stay up to date with all the latest regulation and compliance. Pairing this with GSA’s knowledge of – and commitment to – the highest standards of security has helped build a hotel that truly protects its guests, making it an ideal home away from home for corporate travellers far and wide.