Hotel Room Security

Some hotels can monitor when and with which key a room is entered, and there are usually room cleaning procedures to help thwart intruders. Out-of-the way hotels in foreign countries and hotels in less developed countries often do not have secure door locks. In some cases, the hotel staff may actually target you and your belongings. Your level of security awareness and the precautions you take must be adjusted for each city and area you visit, but there are standard minimal precautions that apply almost anywhere. Here are some tips to protect yourself and your belongings when you travel:
•Don't leave valuables in your room when you are absent - professional thieves and hotel staffers are usually aware of every possible hiding place. Use the hotel safe, and get a receipt for what you leave there. Although some hotels provide a safe in each guest room for storing valuables, be aware that there could be insurance issues if you use a guest room safe rather than the main hotel safe (e.g. your credit card loss/theft policy may not apply if you use the room safe).
•When you are in your room, lock the door, use the chain lock, and use your door peephole to identify people who knock at your door. Overseas, there may be no chain lock and no peephole, so you should carry a good quality traveler's door lock, a doorstop alarm that wedges against the base of the door, or a motion detector.
•Do not open the door for unexpected visitors. Call the front desk to verify that maintenanceworkers are truly from the hotel.
•Some hotels and motels that do not have their own dining facilities allow food to be delivered to your room from outside the hotel. It is best to have such deliveries made to the lobby. Also, be careful about the leftovers you leave on the tray outside your door. A single drinking cup with lipstick marks and/or remnants of a single meal can alert passersby to the fact that you are alone in the room.
•Before you go to sleep, make sure that your deadbolt lock and chain locks are in place and that all windows and sliding doors are secured. To make your room appear occupied when you leave, place the DO NOT DISTURB sign on your door and leave the TV or radio on at an audible level. At foreign destinations, this may be difficult as housekeeping may have instructions to remove DO NOT DISTURB signs in your absence.
•Most security specialists advise you to keep your room key with you at all times so that no one (including hotel staff) can see by checking the front desk that you are not in your room.