Hotel Fire Exits

[Avatartar]

Just reading the terrible news about the ski hotel fire in Turkey. Those poor people.
I don’t know if escape routes are a factor in the death toll but it made me think about our holidays.
I glance at the fire exit route on the back of the hotel bedroom door but have never tried to trace out the route or consciously think what would we do if …. but I will do now on holiday.
Does anyone make a point of ensuring they know how to get out in an emergency?

I look at the map on the back of the door. However I even get lost in hotels normally so I don’t think it would help in an emergency.

Always. I subconsciously do it pretty much everywhere, restaurants, theatres etc. It's a habit installed into me by my dad. Always look for the fire exits first, partly in case of fire, but also for any other reason you might need to get out fast eg. An attacker or building collapse.

Always - same for planes and stadia. Probably slightly paranoid but living through the 80s and all the disasters, my parents drummed it into me to make sure you know where the exit is and how you'll get there.

Always - my parents survived a hotel fire in China. My mum is an ex-air hostess and always thinks about how to get out.

Yes we usually have a look in our corridor to check where the fire exit is so we know which way we are turning when we exit the room in an emergency.
Usually takes 30 seconds

Yea you should know in which direction to go and how many doors you need to pass to get to the exit, in case it’s smoky and you have to crawl along the floor. I used to do it routinely but the last couple of times it has slipped my mind so thanks for the reminder.

Yes, always check exit routes everywhere. It only takes a few minutes.

Yes. I always check where the nearest fire exit is (and physically go and look if it’s not obvious) whenever I check into a hotel. Quite often the nearest fire exit is the stairs and I often take the stairs instead of the lift anyway (unless I’m on a very high floor).

I always note the escape routes

We were in a hotel about a year ago when the fire alarm went off at 5am.

It was extremely difficult to find our way out and this was in a very modern, large chain hotel. We could easily find the emergency exit sign on our floor, but got down the stairs and couldn’t even figure out which the ground floor was, never mind how to actually get to the street. Luckily someone else had left a fire door open (!) so I then saw the street - but that was on the floor above where I currently was so I’d gone down too far. There were no staff around, just us and a bunch of other guests who we met en route.

It turned out to be a false alarm. But I guess my point is that even if you think you are prepared by looking at the map on the back of the door, it may not be so easy when you actually need to leave.

I probably pay less attention to it than I should. I will try to remember to do that in future.

I think building safety is notoriously poor in Turkey. I remember reading after the Turkey-Syria earthquake that companies had been allowed to pay a fee to avoid having to follow safety regulations. It’s why earthquakes are so much more deadly there than equivalent magnitude earthquakes in places like the US or Japan.

Yes, in hotels and restaurants I do it as I used to work in hospitality. It's a good reminder, and PP's comment about counting doors - thank you.