Written by It’s always disheartening to read about people who have their valuables stolen from their room while on vacation. This is the last thing someone should have to worry about.
I have no evidence of this, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if many people let their guard down while they’re at a hotel. Don’t get me wrong, we SHOULD feel secure but the truth is that a hotel can’t 100% guarantee our safety or the safety of our valuables. I’ve read a lot about how people left out their valuables while they went out to explore, only to return to their room to find everything missing. In another instance, the hotel made a mistake and assigned one room to two different guests and someone walked into the room while they were sleeping.
To protect your valuables, please use the safe in your room if there is one available. If not, lock your valuables in your luggage before you leave for any extended amount of time. Make the best use of your available resources. Anything is better than leaving things out in the open.
Always make sure you close the door securely when you leave the room. Don’t just assume the door will lock shut on its own. Hotels always advise this next tip, but it seems it’s often overlooked. When you’re in your room, always use the additional locks and bolts on the door. This will help prevent someone from walking in on you and/or your family.
A few (minor) extra steps can be the difference between a safe and memorable vacation or a disastrous one. In the event that something still goes wrong, you can at least look back and know that you did all you could instead of wondering what you could have done differently.
Safe travels, everyone!
I can personally attest to the scenario where two guests are assigned to the same room. I was at a very respectable hotel in a large American city. I checked in at the front desk, and proceeded to "my" room. When I got there, I found another person's stuff already there! But to put this in perspective, I've been traveling full time for over 12 years, and that's the only time that happened to me (I've also never heard any colleagues mention it).