4 Tips to Ensure Your Safety During Hotel Stays
Enjoy a great travel guest post on 4 tips to ensure your safety during hotel stays. Never let your guard down is one of my personal tips.
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Be safe in your hotel with these important tips.
You’ve just gotten off the plane in a foreign city and your guard is up. After all, there could be pickpockets, luggage thieves or con artists milling about. Better safe than sorry, right? So you keep an eye on your belongings and refuse that “discount taxi” ride offered by some guy driving a rusted old van.
After checking in to a posh hotel room, your guard drops. You feel at home inside this new personal space and the need to be vigilant subsides. But don’t get too complacent — even the most secure hotels can’t always protect careless guests from thieves and other criminals. So take matters into your own hands: follow these few commonsense rules that will help ensure you — and your property — remains safe during your hotel stay.
Check Out the Hotel First
You won’t be able to scrutinize every details of the hotel’s security plan, but you can get an idea of how safe a property is simply by checking out its website. Look at photos of the building: does it look well-lit at night? Do the rooms open to the outside of the building? If so, they may be less secure than rooms that are accessed from inside the hotel. Whether this should be a concern or not really depends on where the hotel is located.
Scan details on the hotel’s website. Is there a doorman watching over the entrance? Is valet parking offered or will you have to walk through a dark parking lot to get to your room? If you’re not sure about the security at a hotel or have questions, simply give the front desk a call and ask staff a few questions.
Keep Your door Closed and Keys Safe
Ensure no unwanted guests gain access to your room. Don’t ever leave the door ajar while off fetching ice or grabbing a snack at the vending machine down the hall. Thieves need just seconds to ply their craft.
Never lose sight of your room key. But if it does go missing, make sure you ask the front desk for a new key and not a duplicate. Duplicates are copies of existing keys, normally given out if you left your original key inside. Insist that staff create a new key so no one else can gain access to your room.
Keep Your Valuables Safe
Don’t stuff a wad of cash into the sock drawer or stash your laptop under the bed — thieves will tear through a room in minutes and they know where to look. Instead, always put your valuables in the safe provided by the hotel. Many of these are now large enough to accommodate a full-sized laptop. If you have something that won’t fit in the safe, speak to the front desk and ask if they have safe deposit boxes available.
Stay Vigilant and Use Common Sense
It’s easy to just relax and forgot about the importance of security once you’re checked into your hotel room. Unfortunately, that’s how a lot of people end up falling victim to preventable crimes. Take simple steps to ensure your safety: never open the door without knowing who is on the other side; call the front desk to verify room repairs or unexpected deliveries; ensure you know the location all the public phones, fire exists and elevators.
If you’re checked into a quality hotel, there’s no need to constantly be worrying about getting robbed or having your property stolen. But staying alert and using a little commonsense will still go a long way toward ensuring your vacation isn’t ruined by a criminal.
About the author: Farah is a blogger who loves to travel. If you are planning to visit Arizona or Scottsdale anytime soon, don’t forget to book your stay at Scottsdale Resorts and Scottsdale Hotels by visiting her website.
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Thanks, Farah, for these great tips on hotel safety. Come back again sometime!
For everyone else, what tips would you add to the list? Tell me in the comments!
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Discount Taxi in a rusty van….that could be a problem in some of these third world countries. As long as it doesn’t say “Candy” on the side……Juuuuuust kidding.
I always take note of any suspicious looking people. Things that just don’t look right. You usually know what it is when you see it. And don’t ever be hesitant to ask the front desk ANYTHING. As inane as you think it may be, it just might save a life or someone’s belongings, including yours.
Good to note, Irene. I would also be quick to report to the front desk.
Very good tips.
Mary, I thought so, too!
This is very good and I would like to add one more tip to this.
When walking down hallways on the way to the ice machine or the elevator, be alert to doors opening to others rooms. Just because you’re in a hotel hallway it does not mean you are safe.
Brenda, I didn’t think about that one, but you’re right. Excellent addition to this list.
I use to have a job where I had to travel a lot and stay in hotels. I was always vigilant about safety. These tips are a must for any traveler!
Maria, I imagine you were very sharp after so much travel. Plus, you are blessed with keen common sense.
I guess I am just a safety guy when it comes to travel. Hotels for me are lock door, check to make sure I locked door, re-check to make sure I locked door and when I go to bed place a chair in front of door and a knife on the table next to me (okay just kidding about the last one mostly)
Aaron
Aaron, I’m super cautious about the doors myself. The knife doesn’t sound like a bad idea….