A hotel detective is a person in plain clothes hired to monitor the security of a hotel and investigate various security, morality, or rule violations therein.
They are distinct from uniformed
security guards employed by a
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
.
Hotel detectives are often retired and/or ex-
police officer
A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
s with additional training. They have prominence in certain
noir fiction
Noir fiction (or roman noir) is a subgenre of crime fiction.
Definition
In its modern form, noir has come to denote a marked darkness in theme and subject matter, generally featuring a disturbing mixture of sex and violence and death in some ...
, especially in the works of
Raymond Chandler and
Philip Kerr
Philip Ballantyne Kerr (22 February 1956 – 23 March 2018) was a British author, best known for his Bernie Gunther series of historical detective thrillers.
Early life
Kerr was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where his father was an enginee ...
, and are sometimes referred to as "house dicks".
See also
*
Detective
References
External links
U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics: Private Detectives and Investigators
Hospitality occupations
Detective
Private detectives and investigators
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