Spring is here and Summer is right around the corner. Everyone’s favorite time to travel. I think we can all agree that travel is fun and exciting. We love to think about the great time we will have visiting new areas of the United States and traveling abroad to countries we had only dreamed of visiting. We think about our interaction with the new people we will meet and making new friends, eating different foods and seeing sights only read about in books. This is very exciting!
Although traveling can be exciting we need to remember to do our best to keep it safe. After all staying safe is how we keep our travel adventures happy and free from unwanted incidents or even tragedy. One of the most important places we need to check for safety is the place we are staying, where we sleep at night. The hotel will be our home base. Our base where people will see us coming and going, where we keep our belongings and valuables.
Hotel Room Security
When you check in to a hotel get a couple of business cards from the front desk keep one in your room by the phone and one in your wallet or purse. When you are out on the town and get lost you will have the hotel business card on you with the address and phone number of the hotel to show to the cab driver. This can also work out for you when in a foreign country and you don’t speak the language.
Read the placard on the back of the room door that references fire safety and emergency evacuation procedures. Something I do every time is check and make note of how many doors down from the exit stairway your room is. How many exit stairways are on your floor? You will need to know this in case of a fire. You never want to take the elevator if a fire breaks out and you are on an upper level in the building. Make sure that stairway is accessible. Is the door unlocked? Is the stairway free of debris? Is the stairway dark or well lit? No matter if you are alone or with family take a “dry run” on walking down the stairway and exiting on the ground floor so you are familiar.
If you notice that the stairways are locked, have debris in them that may block exits or the area is dark, report it to the hotel staff so they can fix these issues. Something you may want to consider is having a small, high lumen flashlight in your possession just in case the lights go out, you won’t be in total darkness. A high lumen flash light can be bought just about anywhere these days. You can find them on-line in a price range from $3.00 up to $170.00 depending on the make and size.
Make your room unattractive to thieves. Make it look as if someone is always in the room. When you leave your room, always leave the television on. Place the “Privacy Please” sign on the door. This can deter people even if you don’t answer the phone or a knock on the door. When in a hotel room I usually only ask for towels. I can make my own bed if need be and I bring my own toiletries so I really don’t need housekeeping in my room when I’m not there.
Check the security of your room. Is there a safe in the room where you can store your valuables? Familiarize yourself with the safe and how it works. Is the safe adequate? If not, check to see if the hotel front desk has safe deposit boxes in their area it may be a little inconvenient but they are usually safer.
Check the room door security. Is there a dead bolt lock and a security chain on the door? Are they in working order? And does the door lock immediately behind you when closed? Is the “peephole” clear so you can see when looking through?
Don’t have your room key laying around when out in public or even when on the hotel property. You don’t want someone taking the card and gaining access to your room or putting charges on your room bill.
