Beneath the desk on which I am writing this column is a grey plastic box with the dimensions of a jerry can, as well as a convenient handle. It is, the label informs me in English, a Simplicity Descending Life Line. I am on the second storey of the excellent Dae Young Hotel, a 10-minute walk from the main railway station in Seoul, South Korea.
Upon checking the window frame, I see there is a sturdy “supporter ring” embedded on the left-hand side. In the event of a fire, the instructions show in pictures that I should hook the Life Line onto this ring, strap the other end – a large belt – around my chest, hurl the reel of rope out of the window and clamber out after it, hanging on to the rope as I abseil down the wall of the hotel. Frankly, without a comprehensive training programme I think such an attempted escape is likely to cause more damage than taking my chances on the stairs – which have fire extinguishers on every landing, I note.
The most valuable precaution in any hotel is to scope out the fastest escape route. While I am not sure that the Descending Life Line lives up to its Simplicity branding, I am a huge advocate of reducing risk to travellers, whether in hotels or on board aircraft. Tragically, on a Singapore Airlines flight from London Heathrow this week, one man died after the Boeing 777 encountered severe turbulence over Myanmar; Geoff Kitchen, a 73-year-old from Somerset, suffered a heart attack.
Dozens more were badly hurt, some with very serious .