Hotel Safety Tips to Make Travel Easier
Hotels are generally safe places to be when you are in an unfamiliar place. But safety should always be number one priority. Below are a few tips to help you with hotel safety.
Hotel Safety Tips
- Make note of the nearest exit to your room. If there is a fire, you will not be able to use the elevators. You should not use the elevator if there is a fire. You will need to use the stairs so take note of where they are. Walk to the nearest exit stairwell so the location is cemented in your mind.
You’re probably thinking, this could never happen to me. I was in Atlanta with a friend last summer on the 8th floor of our hotel. It was late afternoon and we were relaxing after a long day of activities. Suddenly, a deafening alarm went off and we had to evacuate the hotel. Another guest had burnt their popcorn in the microwave on the same floor as us. We smelt the smoke as we hurried down. Since we did not know where the closest stairs were, we instinctively went towards the only exit we knew, the elevator, and in so doing passed by the room with the burnt popcorn. Of course we bypassed the elevator and took the stairs closest to it but we could have needlessly put ourselves in harm’s way if there had actually been a fire.
- Turn the door handle after you leave you leave your room to make sure the lock works. A friend once told me at the end of his week-long stay at a hotel stay, he realized that the door lock never engaged. He had been leaving his room unlocked the entire time. He was lucky he didn’t lose anything from his room.
- This one is a personal choice but it works for me: I don’t use hotel cleaning. I don’t think the maids and cleaners are dishonest. But I do see that they leave rooms open while they clean and anyone can walk in and claim it is their room. I always leave the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door. This also eliminates the need to use the hotel safe.
- Use deadbolts when you are in the hotel room. No sense in making it easier for unwanted persons to get in.
- I usually leave the TV on when I am out of the room. This way, potential thieves cannot tell whether I am in the room or not.
- Above all, stay alert and use common sense.
Practise these hotel safety tips often and they will become a part of you. That way, you can stay safe even as you travel and have a good time.
Stay young and travel!
