Hotel/Motel Safety:
Given that many people travel on vacation or business, I thought a quick posting on Hotel/Motel Safety would be of interest. By following the below noted suggestions, I believe it will increase your chances of a crime free stay:
· Before you go, plan your vacation and do the research on the hotel/motel that you will be staying at and where it is located. If its in a high crime area, no matter how nice the hotel, maybe its safer to pick another hotel/motel.
· Take pictures of any credit cards, passports, plane tickets and any other important documents that you will be taking and take a copy with you and leave a second one at home. Consideration may be given to doing the same thing with any valuables; jewelry, laptops, cameras etc. If any of these items are stolen then it make it easier to report to the police and help them with identification.
· Never stay on the first floor. If at all possible , stay between the 12th-15th floor. Reason; it’s high enough from a crime prevention standpoint, but not too high that in an emergency (such as a fire) it makes it dificult for first responders to get to you. Most modern fire truck aerials can not reach above 12-15 floors.
· Where ever possible, stay in a hotel that has a 24hr front desk person or security staff on-duty.
· Hotels that use a reprogrammable key-card entry, rather than a key, are preferred. But remember the card’s magnetic strip, once programed by the front desk, will often contain personal information about you including credit card information, so keep it close. Also upon checking out, I would recommend that you hold onto the card and destroy it yourself (by cutting it up or using your home shredder).
· Once you get into your room, check to ensure that all locking mechanisms on windows and doors are working, as well as the room’s phone. If any of these are lacking, ask for another room. A hotel that offers a good solid core door with a one-way peephole is always best.
· Invest in a portable lock and door wedge alarm that can be located here: http://studenttravel.about.com/od/womenstudenttravelers/tp/inroomsafety.htm
· Remember to never open the door to someone you don’t know, check them out first via the peephole or a verbal challenge.
· If the room has a mini-safe, utilize it for valuables, important items and documents such as credit cards and passports. For items that don’t fit in the room safe, utilize the Hotel safe or safty deposit box that is usually located at the front desk. Given that laptops and smartphones are so prevalent, don’t try to hide them in the room. Most staff knows where these items are usually hidden, and the dishonest employee or criminal will always look in these places. Also remember, an unattended lap top can easily be compromised via the dowloading of malware (spyware) from dishonest staff for the purposes of identity theft or financial crime.
· When out of your room ,for whatever reason, hang the “don’t disturb” sign on the door and turn on the TV, low volume, to make it appear that it is occupied. You can always call house keeping later on when you are back in the room if you need fresh clean towels or more toilet paper. Most hotels are very use to this.
· Always know where the fire exit is and how many doors it is away from your room should, in an emergency, you need to escape and the halls are full of smoke.
· If someone does break into your room while you are inside, remember that most only want to take your property (valuables), so give them everything because property can be replaced, your body cannot. If however they want your body (for a sexual assault) or your life then FIGHT.
· Be very carful about using a hotel’s Wi-Fi system, given how prone they are to being hacked, and never conduct any type of financial transactions or sharing of personal information over the hotel’s Wi-Fi.
Darren
The Urban Sheepdog
