Motels Turn Their Attention to Security

By BETSY WADE
Published: May 24, 1992

SPURRED partly by well-publicized negligence settlements against Motel 6 in the last year, safety gets increased attention in motels these days. When I stayed in a Holiday Inn last month in Columbia, Mo., I got a plastic card with a magnetic strip -- like the ones in high-priced downtown hotels -- to open an electronic lock on my room door, instead of the metal key for a tumbler lock. ...

A version of this article appeared in print on May 24, 1992, on page 53 of the New York edition.

The online version omits a drawing by Charles Walker, which depicts the five-unit "Cozy Cabins" motel with a car -- the only car visible in the lot -- parked near room 104. Someone outside the drawing's frame is thrusting a flashlight into the frame, shining a light on room 104.