Friday, September 2, 2022

Staying Safe In Your Hotel Room.

 I've been traveling quite a lot this year.  Sometimes I travel by myself and sometimes I travel with others. Either way, there are somethings I do to help keep myself free.  Over the years, I have staying in places that were quite local and in an area not to far from the druggies hang out to really nice top of the line places such as Marriott or Hyatt.  No matter where I stay, I do things to make sure I am safe.

These tips can be utilized when you travel alone or with friends.  The first tip is to keep track of your luggage and purse at all times. Never have your luggage behind you, keep it next to you so no one can grab it and run off with it.  Keep your purse on you if you can.  I once left my purse with my luggage and had a companion watch them but she got to talking and when I came back, my purse had been stolen.  Since then, I keep my purse with me so it doesn't go missing.

It is best to request a room located anywhere on floors 2 to 6 because rooms on the first floor are most often broken into and if there is a fire and the fire department has to help you get out of the room, their ladders only really go up to the 6th floor.  In addition, if the place has outdoor room access, it is too easy for people to break into the first floor rooms so stay on the second or higher floor.

At checkin, take a couple of hotel cards so one can go into your wallet and the other you can put on the table next to the phone.  This information is important to have available should you need to call the police, fire department, or even order in a meal.  When you go into the room, check it out completely before you close the door.  Look in the bathroom, behind the curtains, the closet, everything incase there is a bug infestation such as bedbugs, broken doors or windows,  or to find someone who might have hidden in the room.  It is best to check for anomalies. 

After you close the door, check the safety guide to see where you have to do if there is a fire or you need to evacuate the room due to an emergency.  Also, keep the curtains closed so no one can see into your room.  The hotel always leaves the curtains open when the room to signal it is empty so always close them.  It also provides you with privacy.  

Instead of relying on the public wifi provided by the hotel, carry your own VPN (Virtual privacy network) to add that extra layer of security.  It is too easy for criminals to hack your personal information when you use public wifi so using a VPN is so much safer and makes it less likely you will be hacked.  This is especially true when you are in certain countries.

Consider bringing a rubber door stop to place in the door so no one can easily get in and be sure to activate the dead bolt because you do not want anyone to walk in to your room in the middle of the night. Sometimes its because the front desk misread the room number and gives people access via a key or card. It does happen.  I checked into a hotel in Hawaii kind of late and the front desk accidentally gave us the keys to a room that already had people in it so image everyone's surprise when I walked in.

If someone knocks on your door and you are not expecting anyone or didn't order a meal in, do not answer it.  If they claim to work for the hotel, you can call the front desk to verify someone is supposed to be there.  I've discovered that most hotel doors have a peep hole to check on the hallway side of the door.  I usually look through to see if it is housekeeping, or security.  If I don't recognize the person out there as being with the hotel, I call down to the front desk.

Furthermore, take time to get to know the people working there, stopping to chat a bit and tip them so they are more willing to help you should it become necessary.  Keep your phone handy so you can use it to provide light should it be needed. This is important should there by an emergency or you have to get out of the building in the middle of the night or there is a power failure.  

When you leave the room for the day or for anything, place the do not disturb sign on the door, leave the television on low so it appears as if there is someone in the room.  If you have valuables, lock them up in the hotel safe.  Valuables might include your computers, digital devices, money, jewelry, etc.  You do not want to lose them because someone broke in and took them.

So use all or some of these tips to help you stay safer during your travels.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.


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