Not all hotels you see out there are reliable especially if you haven’t heard much about it before or if it’s not famous. It is however not bad to try new hotels or ones you’ve not yet tried. Guests’ safety in staying in a hotel is definitely ensured by the hotel management as it will affect their whole business, but still, you have to be cautious and prepared for your own safety inside your hotel room.
Wherever you go, there are bad things that could happen because of crooks that take advantage of guests’ unawareness, too much complacency and carelessness. Your hotel room is the place you stay in, and it’s where those bad guys will target you. It is very important to know how to keep yourself safe. Here are 10 essential tips for you to guard your own safety inside your hotel room.
#1 – GENERAL CHECK
The hotel room is where you’ll stay, put all your stuff and spend time relaxing or doing important tasks. It is significant to know if it’s safe to stay in it. Upon arriving inside your hotel room, ask the hotel staff who assisted you to wait for a while as you scan the room. Make sure that there’s no one else inside the room. There might be someone hiding behind doors and curtains who might attack or rob you..
#2 – LOCK FUNCTIONS
As how security is anywhere else, the lock in your hotel room will be your utmost security; it makes certain your safety and your privacy. Know which parts of the room have locks. Carefully check if every lock, especially that in the main door, is functioning very well. It shouldn’t be too easy to open for anyone else and not too hard also for you. It is nicer if the door has a deadbolt. Also test the door from the outside to know if it’s easy to get unlocked. Check the windows’ locks too. Be more mindful if there are sliding glass windows and doors. If their locks aren’t functioning properly, it’s so much easier for crooks to enter in, especially because sliding doors don’t make much noise unlike when a normal door is banged.
#3 – MAKE A CALL
Being able to contact the ones outside your room is vital. Two things. One, test if the telephone inside the hotel room is working. Make sure that the response you must get if you’re making a call is that you’ll get reconnected. If the voice you hear tells your room number, then it’s unsafe, meaning anyone else can also get such information. Know how it is used so you won’t panic in case of emergency if ever it’s broken or if it’s suspicious. Two, make a call using your own cell phone. Check the signal, and know if it’s not hard and unclear to make a call.
#4 – ASK FOR HELP
Let down your pride. If you don’t know how something works, it is better to ask for assistance than to do everything by yourself to discover how it is done. It’s not bad to get curious and to learn using an appliance for an instance, however, it’s not yours to destroy. After two or three failed tries, ask for assistance already. You can call the front desk or tell it personally to the staff who accompanied you to your hotel room. This is most especially for hotel stuff which flammable and breakable.
#5 – HAND A LIGHT
It is advisable to place a flashlight beside you or just anywhere near you, just in case of brownouts and electricity power shutdown.
#6 – KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR VIEWER
Some people aren’t aware or forget that there are door viewers in their room. The door viewer can be used by thieves to peek into it and see what’s inside your room. It will help them to get into your room and pick up their target stuff, so be very watchful that the door viewer must be covered from the inside. Don’t be too complacent about hotel staff as well.
#7 – DOOR WEDGE IT
This one’s really helpful for you can take a shower or sleep without worry. If you put a door wedge, it’ll hinder the crook from being able to open it completely, thus, he/she will stop from there. The door wedge might also make a sound that can wake you up. The sound could be coming from the friction. The sound could also be from a built-up sound maker inside the door wedge, that when a certain part if bumped or hit, it will really make the a loud sound that’ll alert you that someone is opening, or at least trying to open, the door of your hotel room.
#8 – VALUE THE VALUABLES
Even if your things are placed inside your hotel room or even inside the bedroom, still it’s dangerous to just place them wherever whenever! You might misplace the important stuff you need. Cameras, cell phones, wallets, batteries, money and many more — They are just some of the many valuables a traveler brings. Don’t be too comfortable putting your gadgets just on top of a table then leaving them! You’ll never know if someone is already plotting a way to get into your room.
#9 – STRANGERS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW
Trust that the hotel cares for your utmost safety, but remember that it doesn’t have complete control on your room if you’re already there. Do not just let anyone enter your room; they might be already eyeing on some of your stuff. Also, you might not know that the hotel staff who came to you isn’t really a staff there. With that, make sure that you ask for a confirmation first from the front desk whether they really sent a staff. If it seems so suspicious, and if you’ve proven that there is someone is trying to fool you, don’t panic; calmly report it instead.
#10 – ROOM KEY IS THE KEY!
One of the many problems of guests when it comes to safety is the room key handling! The key could be a normal key or a hotel room card. Whatever the key looks like, you must not lose it. Before leaving, make sure that the doors are closed and the locks are tightly locked. Keep your key well! Don’t put in everywhere! Assign a certain spot in the room wherein you’ll be sure that it’s where you last place it.
Conclusion
Nowadays, lawbreakers have more and more strategies to be able to steal from you. If you do not become regardful, you might become a poor victim of crooks doing their bad thing inside the hotel. Have a safe and secure stay inside your hotel room!
AUTHOR BIO
Nicole Ann Pore is a daytime writer for Holiday Inn Parramatta, a five-star hotel in Parramatta, New South Wales offering a worthwhile stay and a close experience of the historical richness of Australia. Nicole writes about travel, accommodations and everything else related to them. For her, the beauty of this world is astounding and worth-sharing, and traveling is one of the best ways to appreciate it. | She graduated Cum Laude from De La Salle University Manila, Philippines with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Arts. “To God be all the glory”
