Host responsibility

1. Our commitment

Wintercape Hotels Limited operates a licensed gaming lounge, the Cape Room, on level one of the hotel at 142 Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch. That activity is regulated by the Gambling Act 2003 and overseen by the Department of Internal Affairs. Section 308 of the Act requires us to have a host responsibility policy and to actually apply it. This is that policy, and it is applied.

Our commitment is straightforward: we are a hotel that happens to have one licensed room in it, and we would rather a guest had a good evening than a long one. We take no commission and pay no bonus on gaming turnover to any member of staff at any level, so nobody working in this building has a financial reason to want you to stay at a machine.

2. Age — twenty and over, without exception

No person under the age of twenty may enter the Cape Room or the Torlesse Salon, take part in any gambling activity on these premises, or be present in the gaming area for any reason, including to speak to someone inside it.

We check photo identification at the door on every entry. This applies to guests of the hotel, to members of the public, to people who came in yesterday, and to people the door host knows personally. The door host has no discretion to waive it and will not be criticised by management for refusing anyone.

We accept the following as proof of age:

• A New Zealand driver licence
• A current passport, of any country
• A Kiwi Access card
• An 18+ card issued by Hospitality New Zealand

We do not accept a photograph or scan of any of the above on a telephone, a photocopy, an expired document, or a document belonging to somebody else. Anyone presenting another person's identification is refused entry for the remainder of their stay and the matter is recorded.

Where a person appears to be under twenty-five, we ask. Most people take this well. A few do not, and we ask anyway.

3. How the room is set up

Several of the arrangements below are not required by law. We do them because they work.

• No cash machines. There is no ATM in the Cape Room and none in the corridor or stairwell leading to it. The nearest is in the main lobby, about sixty metres away, and reaching it means walking past a staffed desk.
• Clocks you can see. Six wall clocks are positioned so that every table and every bank of machines has a clear view of at least one. A duty host checks them against the telephone at the start of each shift and records having done so.
• Daylight. The windows on the north wall are not blacked out. You can tell from inside the room whether it has got dark outside, and whether it has got light again.
• The room closes on time. Two in the morning Sunday to Thursday, three on Friday and Saturday. The last hand is called; closing is not extended because the room is busy. It never has been.
• No free alcohol at play. No drink is served without charge at a machine or a table. Bar service in the Cape Room stops thirty minutes before close.
• No cheque cashing, no credit, no lending. We do not cash cheques, advance funds, extend credit or lend money to any guest for any gambling purpose, and staff may not do so personally.
• Floor walks. A duty host walks the floor every half hour and logs it, whether or not anything happened. Those logs are kept for two years.
• Information at the door. Helpline cards and self-exclusion forms sit on the desk at the entrance, where they can be picked up without asking anybody for them.

4. Self-exclusion

Any person may exclude themselves from the Cape Room and the Torlesse Salon. You can do this at the Cape Room desk, at hotel reception, or by post to the address at the foot of this page. It is free, it is confidential, and it takes about ten minutes.

What happens:

• You complete a short written form and provide a photograph so that door staff can identify you. Nothing else is asked of you.
• We do not ask why, and no reason is recorded. If you volunteer one it is not written down.
• The minimum term is two years. You may choose longer. It cannot be shortened, cancelled or waived once made — not by you on a later evening, and not by any member of our staff, however senior.
• You are removed from every gaming-related mailing list and no promotional material referring to the Cape Room is sent to you again.
• Nothing about it appears on your hotel account, your booking record, or any statement or receipt.
• The rest of the hotel remains entirely open to you. You are as welcome as anyone else in the Norwester Room, the Bealey Bar, the Snowline Spa, the event rooms and every guest room in the building. It is one door that closes.

If a self-excluded person enters or attempts to enter the gaming area, staff will approach them quietly and away from other guests, ask them to leave the area, and record it. We do not make a scene of it and we do not involve anyone who does not need to be involved.

We also operate exclusion at our own initiative under section 309 of the Act where we have reason to believe a person is experiencing harm from gambling. This is a decision made by the duty manager, in writing, and it is explained to the person face to face.

5. Our staff

Every member of staff who works in or adjacent to the Cape Room completes host responsibility training within their first fortnight, and all of them do it again each February. Training covers the signs of gambling harm, how to approach somebody, what to say, what not to say, and how to hand over to the duty manager.

Staff are instructed to approach a guest where they observe any of the following:

• Playing continuously for an extended period without a break
• Returning to the room after saying they had finished for the night
• A visible change of mood — anger, distress, agitation at a machine or table
• Asking to borrow money, from staff or from other guests
• Talking about debt, losses they cannot afford, or being unable to stop
• Leaving a child or young person unattended anywhere on the premises
• Concealing their presence here from family, or asking us to

An approach is a quiet conversation away from the table. It is not a confrontation, it is not a lecture, and nobody is asked to justify themselves. Where a guest asks for help, the duty manager will sit down with them, offer the helpline numbers below, offer a self-exclusion form, and telephone on their behalf if they would rather not do it alone.

No member of our staff may gamble in the Cape Room at any time, on or off duty. This applies to every employee of the company without exception.

6. Children and young people

Children are welcome throughout the rest of the hotel and are not permitted in the gaming area under any circumstances. A child may not be left unattended anywhere on the premises while a parent or caregiver is in the Cape Room. Where this occurs, staff will find the adult, ask them to leave the gaming area, and record it. Where a child appears to be at risk we will contact the appropriate authorities, and we would rather be wrong about that than late.

7. Advertising and how we talk about it

We do not advertise gambling in a way that presents it as a way to make money, to solve a financial problem, or to achieve social or personal success. We do not use images or language suggesting that gambling leads to good fortune. We do not target advertising at people under twenty, and we do not advertise gaming in any medium whose audience is primarily under that age.

Where a hotel package includes a gaming credit, the amount is fixed and stated, the age restriction is stated in the same place, and the package is priced so that it is worth taking without using the credit at all. We will price any such package without the gaming element on request.

8. On the premises, and nowhere else

Wintercape operates a gaming lounge on its premises in Christchurch and nothing else. We do not offer, operate, licence, host or promote any remote or interactive gambling service. There is no application to download and no part of this website accepts a stake, a deposit or a payment of any kind. If you encounter something claiming otherwise in our name, it is not us, and we would be grateful if you would telephone reception and tell us about it.

9. Complaints and how to raise one

If you believe this policy has not been followed, ask for the duty manager, who is on site at all times the Cape Room is open. If you would rather not raise it here, or you are not satisfied with our answer, you can contact the Department of Internal Affairs, which regulates gambling in New Zealand, at dia.govt.nz or on 0800 257 887.

Written complaints may be addressed to the Duty Manager, Wintercape, 142 Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch 8011, or emailed to [email protected]. We acknowledge within two working days and answer within ten.