HOTEL SAFETY TIP: SUCCESSFULLY STAYING SAFE IN HOTELS

Hotel Safety Tips for Travelers

Whether it is for business or for pleasure, we sometimes have need to move away from home and stay in a hotel. The safety of ourselves and our property while in the hotels remains our own responsibility. Hotels are definitely going to experience a boom this festive season and as you plan for your vacation, you should not forget to plan for your safety as well. This is the reason i have put together these hotel safety tips. Read and stay safe!!! 

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Before your trip

• Copy all credit cards, airline tickets, passports and important documents, front and back.

What to look for in a safe hotel:

• If possible, select a hotel which has installed modern electronic guest room locks. The majority of these locks automatically change the lock combination with every new guest so there is little chance of someone having a duplicate key to your room. If you lose or misplace your key, ask to have your room re-keyed immediately.
• Is each room equipped with a dead bolt lock and a peephole?
• Fire sprinklers in hotel rooms, hallways, and meeting rooms likewise for smoke detectors. If each room is not equipped with a smoke detector, are sprinkler systems installed in the hallways or is your only hope the local fire department.
• Each room telephone should allow outside dialing.
• Secure locks on windows and adjoining doors.
• Well-lit interior hallways, parking structures and grounds.
• Hotels that have limited access to hotel structure, generally the more limited the access; the less likely a trespasser will enter.

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When arriving and checking into your hotel room

• If you arrive in a bus or cab, stay with your luggage until it is brought into the hotel lobby.
• Keep a close eye on your luggage, purse, etc when checking in.
• If the lobby is busy, thieves will often take advantage of the distractions to take your things with them.
• If you are staying in an older room which still has the older guest door locks with metal key, one of first signs of how a hotel treats the issue of security is to observe how hotel room keys are controlled. If it is checkout time and a pile of metal room keys are laying on the front desk, the hotel is not too concerned about your security. Anyone can take and key lying on the desk. This is not a big concern if the hotel is using electronic key cards but is if the metal keys have the room number embossed on it.
• Ask the front desk personnel not to announce your room number. Rather, tell them to write it down or point to it. If the desk clerk should do this, explain the problem and asked to be given another room. You never know who is listening. Your room number is a matter of security, and the fewer people that know your whereabouts, the better. There’s no need to announce it to the entire hotel lobby.
• When registering, sign only your last name and first initial. Don’t use titles or degrees. Makes it harder to determine gender, marital status or profession. If you are a women travelling alone, you might consider booking your room as Mr. and Mrs.
• Don't leave your credit card lying on the check-in counter while you complete your registration. Also make sure the credit card that is handed back to you by the hotel clerk is really yours.
• Instruct the desk not to give out your name and room number and ask for them to call you if someone inquires about you.

Room Selection

• Maximize safety and security. Select a room located between the 4 and 6^th floor Avoid rooms above the sixth floor--the maximum height that fire-department ladders can reach. 
• Whenever possible do not accept a hotel on the ground floor that has doors and windows that open to the outside. Hotels with interior hallways tend to be generally safer. For security in motels, avoid ground floor rooms off the parking lot. If you can't get a room on a higher level, take one facing the interior courtyard.
• Guestrooms that are as close to the elevators as possible are safest but tend to be noisier. You might also want to find out if the room is located next to a vending area; those also tend to be noisy.

Elevator safety

• Observe all passengers in elevators
• It is wise to board last and select floor buttons last
• If possible position yourself near the elevator control panel and if attacked, push as many floor buttons as possible. Keep your back to the sidewall.
• If someone suspicious boards an elevator, exit as soon as possible. 

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When checking into your hotel room

After checking into a room, examine the following:

• Examine the guest room lock and be sure it is functioning properly.
• The closets and bathrooms are checked to make sure no one is hiding.
• All windows and outside doors are checked to ensure they lock and operate properly
• The lock on the adjoining door is checked to ensure it is locked and works
• The telephone is checked and you know how to make a outside call
• Look for information in room about fire safety and read to become familiar with nearest fire exit / stairway. Locate nearest fire exit. Find one at each end of the hallway. How many doors away? Does the door open easily? Are the exit signs illuminated? If the lights are out, be helpful and contact the front desk to let them know. Is the stairwell clear of debris?
• When you enter your hotel room, make sure the door closes securely and that the deadbolt works. Keep the deadbolt and safety bar on at all time. It cannot be stressed enough that you should never prop your hotel room door open. Anyone could walk in.
• Place your room key in the same place every time, preferably close to the bed.
• If you have to leave the room in a hurry due to an emergency, you won't have time to be searching for your key. Also, you'll need the key to get back into the room.
• When inside a hotel room, for whatever length of time always use the deadbolt. If the room does not a dead bolt or heavy-duty security clasp but has a chain, twist it to take up the slack before latching it.
• The door to your room must never be opened by anyone unless the guest is absolutely known.
• If you receive a phone call to your room and the person states they are with the hotel and need to come to your room and repair something, use caution. Always get the employees name and call the front desk to verify that it was a legitimate employee who called you and they do in fact need to come to your room.
• Never leave your key in the lock inside your room - some hotels still have these - they can be pushed out from the other side with a pin. The crooks simply slide a piece of newspaper under the door, the key drops on the paper and the crook slide the paper and the key back under the door.

Place that all-important flashlight next to your bed.

• It's much too dangerous to be stumbling around in a dark hotel in the middle of the night if the electricity goes out. Also, if you have to evacuate in the event of a fire, the flashlight will help guide you down a smoke filled hallway.
• If you lose your key, ask for a new room or have the lock or electronic key card changed. 

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When you leave your hotel room for the day or evening

• When you leave your room, always leave the television on.
• Ask maid to make your room up during breakfast. Place “Do not disturb" sign on door. If you want maid service, call to housekeeping and tell them to make up the room but leave the sign on the door. The sign is valuable when you aren't in the room because it gives the impression you are still inside.
• At night, leave a light on and drapes should be partially opened as if someone was inside.
• Always use the security vault in hotel. The in-room safe is adequate sometimes. The ones least recommended are those that take standard keys. Preferred are those that have an electronic combination lock. The front desk deposit boxes are usually safer but more inconvenient.
• Don't display you guest room key in public or even inside the hotel or at the swimming pool. Crooks have known to walk by casually, observe the number in the key if stamped on it and make false charges in the hotel restaurant, bar or store and using your room number.

Laptop safety while staying in a in hotel room

• Laptop computers or other expensive items can be easily stolen from hotel rooms. The only way to protect them is to leave them at the front desk in a safety deposit box or to secure them in your room. If you want to take the easy way by leaving them in your room use a security cable to a fixed object in the hotel.                                                                                                          DO YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND AND BUILD ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS? CLICK HERE NOW