Imagine visiting this lovely hotel or perhaps a budget hotel and boom in the middle of the night. the worst happened. What are you thinking? This is why you need to be extra cautious when you are visiting a hotel. there have been cases of rape, stolen items, kidnapping, overexcited staff burging into a room without an invite.
Avoid Untrustred Travel/Hotel sites:
This is one of the popular scams online. It operates in several ways, some hotel aggregator will offer you ridiculous offers to destinations you are about to visit. If you are lucky, you will you may be offered less than what you were offered. For the unlucky ones, they lose their money. Always watch out for fake hotel aggregators.
Avoid Free Wifi
On no occasion should you connect to a free or untrusted Wifi. When connecting to the hotel wifi, ensure you are using a VPN (Virtual Private Server). The VPN serves as extra security and ensures your information is secured on the network.
Double Check the rooms
Before you accept to stay in a room, ensure the windows and doors locks work well. Also, always check the locks on the windows and door every time you enter the room to ensure it’s not tampered with. If you notice any change, always speak with the hotel management.
Keep Your Doors Locked Always
Always ensure you lock your doors always. Please make use of every lock option for double protection. Some hotels provide security chains, deadbolts, metal locks etc. Please ensure the doors are properly locked every time.
Do not Open the Door Without First Confirming the Identity of the person.
Ensure you use the peephole before opening the door for anyone. You should not open the door for anyone even if it is the hotel staff if you have no business with the person. If you are not expecting anyone, do not open the door. You may want to confirm from the hotel reception to be sure they are actually on official assignment. If you do not request for a service, do not open the door for the hotel staff too.
Book Online
Booking Online reduces your chance of giving personal information checking in. Also, it reduces the waiting time. Besides, it reduces the risk of giving out your credit card information, impersonation, credit card fraud etc.
Book Upper Floors
When booking a room, always request the upper floors. Upper floors are usually hard to reach for intruders compared to easily accessible ground floors. Upper floors provide some level of privacy compared to ground floors where someone can easily break in through the windows.
Make it a habit to always get a room within the middle floors, if it is a six-storey building hotel or less. Compared to the ground floors, it is not easily reachable. Secondly, rooms located on the ground floor are easy targets. The rooms that are within the third to the sixth floor are recommended. Rooms within this state are high enough to prevent someone from breaking in and also they can easily be reached by firefighters truck ladder in case of an emergency.
Be Security Conscious
Another safety tip when you visit a hotel is to be vigilant and security conscious. When you visit a hotel, do not throw caution into the wind. Watch out for illegal movements, unfamiliar faces that looks suspicious. Ensure that the doors are properly locked and the windows are well shut. You should also watch out for any security glitch and an escape plan in case of fire outbreak or an attack.
Know the Exit Points
Once you check-in, take a moment to walk around the facility. This is to allow you to understand the terrain and the different entry and exit points. And in the case of any incident, you can easily access a safe exit point.
Always keep the TV on
As a security measure always ensure the TV set is on whether you are in or out. It gives an intruder the impression that you are inside. When you do this, it will send a signal to an invader that you are inside and awake.
Always Pack For Emergency
When I check-in at a hotel before I go to bed, I make it a habit to fold all my clothes into my bag. Such that if there is an emergency, I can easily reach for my bag and exit. It will save me from losing my properties in case of an emergency.
Use a stopper or a jammer.
For double protection, it is advisable to use a stopper or jammer for extra security and fortification.
Be careful when using the hotel safes
keeping items in a hotel safe may sound like a good. It may be easily compromised. Ensure you do not use easy to guess passwords. If the safe looks like it could be compromised, do not keep very important documents in there.
Do not act Like a tourist
Whenever you stay at a hotel oversea, don’t make it too obvious you are a foreigner. Avoid acting like a tourist, you may want to act as if you live within that country. This will often ward off criminals who would think you already know about their schemes. Once they know you are a tourist you become a major target.
Ensure nobody is following you
This is one that people often take for granted. Whether you are entering a hotel or walking down the stairs, elevators etc. Where ever you go, ensure you are not being followed. If you are walking towards the elevator and you notice someone is following you, act like you forgot something, fake a phone call, try to lace your shoe or stand aside and watch them leave. If the person does not leave you should call the attention of the hotel security.
Do not walk to the Car park alone
This is often the place where most of the criminal acts take place. When approaching the car park, always park in a place that is well lit. Also, make sure you park in a place where there are other visitors and not in a lonely place. In the case where the park is lonely, cause some distractions that will make people focus on you.
Activate the Do Not Disturb Sign
Activate the do not disturb sign when you are out. It will give the impression that you are inside.
Use an Hotel with CCTV cameras
ake sure you use a hotel with a CCTV Camera within the facility. In case something goes wrong, it can easily be traced.
Get Travel Insurance
Even with the best safety and security measure, sometimes things may go wrong. This is why you should get travel insurance in case of loss or theft that may arise during the trip. Following all travel security and safety measures does not guarantee that things will go on smoothly. In case something goes wrong. You need travel insurance to cover you. It may be tempting to ignore these extra expenses. Please always add travel insurance as part of your travel expenses.
In the case of a fire incident, Do not use the Lift
In the case of a fire incident, please do not use the lifts, use the stairways instead. This is because you may get stuck in a lift if the power goes out.
These are some of the safety precautions you should watch out for when you visit a hotel.
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