New York City Hotel evacuated!

Hotel emergency evacuation plans were put to the test over the weekend in New York and Tennessee.

In Times Square, approximately 800 to 1,000 guests were evacuated from their rooms at the New York Marriott Marquis when a car bomb was discovered near the hotel that encompasses West 45th and West 46th streets along Broadway Avenue. The southern, West 45th side of the hotel was evacuated and guests were sent to the banquet floors on the fifth, sixth and seventh floors of the 49-floor, 1,892-room property, according to spokeswoman Kathleen Duffy.

The guests were evacuated at approximately 9 p.m. Saturday night and were allowed to return by 3 a.m. Sunday morning. The hotel had set up cots in the banquet facilities for the guests, Duffy said.

The hotel has a crisis management team and routinely reviews its evacuation policies. Because of this, the hotel's personnel were not acting off-the-cuff while the evacuation was taking place, she added.

Authorities discovered a smoking, but undetonated, car bomb in Times Square Saturday evening. No arrests have been made, though police are currently searching for individuals seen on a surveillance video taken of the area where the bomb comprised of propane, gasoline, and M-88 firecrackers was discovered, according to the Washington Post.

Source:
Hotelnewsnow.com
Shawn A. Turner
Associate News Editor