Thinking of staying @ Hilton Hawaiian Village (with or...

This morning%26#39;s online edition of ';The Honolulu Star-Bulletin'; has, what many may consider, a very disheartening %26amp; disturbing article:

starbulletin.com/2006/01/03/news/story01.html

Thinking of staying @ Hilton Hawaiian Village (with or...

This is so sad! We just stayed at the HHV last month. I am going to write to them and express my concern about the safety issue and that unless the company takes appropriate preventive measures, I will be taking my business elsewhere, and encourage others to do so as well.

Thank you for passing this news story along.

Thinking of staying @ Hilton Hawaiian Village (with or...

bpb12; I checked several other Honolulu media websites; most were non-commital, but kgmb.com (the local CBS affliate) stated that the Lanai ';slats (should be) no more than four inches apart';. I seriously doubt that any 3 1/2 year-old could squeeze through an opening that size.

Also looked at the HHV website and, if there is mention, I missed it. Appears consistent with their ';no comment'; stance. Now I know it%26#39;s probably due to lawyer-gag, but think we%26#39;ve all experienced airline tragedies wherein expressions of remorse/sympathy were issued by the company.

Six years ago, we checked into a, recently refurbished, room at the southern end of Waikiki. I noticed that the lanai railing was loose; so much so that I was able to lift it out of it%26#39;s moorings...and witnessed a bolt fall-out upon setting it back down. Within 10 minutes, the Hotel Manager was in our room; supervising the bolting shut of the door. We were moved to another room and found a maintenance worker checking the security of the lanai. after unpacking, I went out on our lanai and witnessed multiple employees in the process of checking the security of (every?) lanai. Not long thereafter, we went through the lobby and arriving guests were stacked up pending a check of their accomodations.

The Star-Bulletin article quotes the Father of the Child as being ';angry that the general manager of Hilton Hawaiian Village has made no assurances to me that he will do something about the railings';: What can you say?

Please update on what results your investigation/efforts produce.

This has been much covered on the news here....(ps kama, it%26#39;s kgmb9.com)....I%26#39;m not saying there is no fault on the part of HHV, BUT how about some parental supervision? Their 3 children were all on the lanai playing, alone, when the accident occurred. There have been several children killed in the last two years from falls off lanais...and in all cases they were unsupervised.

The reports I%26#39;ve seen here, the HHV has referred inquiries to the police. And, since it%26#39;s an ongoing investigation, I understand why they can%26#39;t/won%26#39;t say much.

mrsfuzz has made the same observation that I was about to make about parental responsibility. This was not a case of the child running out onto the lanai when the parents weren%26#39;t looking - three children aged 6 and under were playing out there. Whatever the circumstances, it is tragic that a 3 year old has died.

Maybe, just maybe, it will make other parents think more about where their young children are and what they are doing.

Hi mrsfuzz,

Boy, I%26#39;ll bet this one is really getting the coverage locally; somewhat surprised no mention nationally (that I%26#39;ve seen). Maybe just a matter of time, seems as though the Kauai Helicopter crash last year was delayed nearly a week by the national media and not until it was disclosed that the Pilot wasn%26#39;t instrument certified.

Really don%26#39;t understand why Hilton hasn%26#39;t issued a boiler-plate statement of condolence (even one as disingenously contrite as most are) because it appears, at this time, as though no criminal charges are warranted.

I wondered about the parents too, especially the fathers statement of how guilty the 6-year-old felt...uh, yeah Dad! Believe Hawaii is among the states adhering to the contributory negligence statutes, but then again, how inattentive/removed could the parents have been in a hotel room. Four years ago, we just happened to be LUCKY enough to be following my daughter when one of our grandsons freed himself of his car seat %26amp; proceeded to climb halfway out of a window that was down fewer that six inches. Guess all parents/grandparents have a horror story of just a few seconds of inattention leading to a close call.

Been years, but can remember a heated classroom chicken/egg discussion of which came first; the term foolproof or Murphy%26#39;s Law. One side of me says ';how does a family oriented hotel not provide safe lanai%26#39;s';; along with the nagging question of ';why hadn%26#39;t it happened sooner';. In any event, would sure like to see some action by the Hilton, regardless of the self incrimination implications.

Quite often TV seems more willing to be graphic/forthcoming than anything seen in print; would sure appreciate your ongoing impressions of what is reported.

The death of this child is very sad, but I am with Keitht and Mrsfuzz on this one - what were the parents thinking, by letting three very small children play on the lanai alone? We stayed at the Alii Tower, and there are chairs and a table on the balconies which the children could easily climb on - they should have been supervised. My kids were teenagers when we were there, but we still kept a close eye on them.

Unless the railings round the lanai were faulty, there is no way that a child could have slipped through the gap between the ones in the room in which we stayed.

Hi keitht and TrishP,

Am sure more to come; you might want to refer to ';Family copes with 3-year-old boy%26#39;s death'; at khon.com (the local Fox affliate): ';Police are classifying it as an unattended death...They say the railing bars were far enough apart that a toddler could fit through';.

Hadn%26#39;t thought of it until just now, but wonder if the Hilton has ';child-safe rooms'; and, somehow, this family was assigned to a room that wasn%26#39;t?

By the way, all the links I post are done so only after a Spybot check to ensure no funny stuff.

Oops; do stay away from Star-Bulletin Archives of approximately one year and before: DSO Exploit.

Oh, I don%26#39;t want to be misunderstood, I%26#39;m totally in agreement about parental responsibility. However, there are regulations about how far apart those bars on railings are suppose to be, and I have a hard time believing that any child could fit through them if they were regulation. That is the responsibility of HHV. And because most places ARE regulation these days, I could see how parents might become lax about checking before letting the kids out on the lanai. Yeah, jumping on the furniture and falling off the lanai, that%26#39;s NOT the responsibilty of HHV, but railings are.

We stayed at the HHV 2 years ago with my 5 year old son. We were on the 30th floor in the Tapa Tower. We switched rooms with my parents because our room had a railing that had a large opening where it attached to the wall. Large enough for a child to slip through.

My husband thought I was a little paranoid, but I think you have to be careful. You never know what a kid may try. I have always been a fearful of child falling from the lanai.

Very sad situation for those parents and the other children. My prayers are with them.