Hotel Safety 101: 16 Tips For An Accident-Free Stay In Any Hotel

A near-miss accident in a hotel bathroom served as a wake- up call for me. It made me to always put safety first thus, allowing me to enjoy my business trips, and my family and I to enjoy our vacations more.

Hotel Bathroom

Read on to find out what the near-miss accident was and some of the precautions I take when staying in a hotel. 

ARRIVING at your hotel...

• Keep an eye out for your luggage and other personal belongings. Your luggage should stay with you at all times.
• If there is a hotel attendant who would take your luggage and keep it while you check-in, follow the hotel attendant with your eyes and ensure that they keep your luggage in a secure place like a package counter or room for use of hotel guests.

WHILE checking-in...

• Do not leave your credit cards on the counter where someone can easily snatch it or discreetly take a picture of it.
• Reception should show you your room number by pointing at it and not announce it aloud when other guests or people from the hotel can hear it. If they say it aloud and compromised your security, ask for another room.
• Make sure that they hand you your own credit after you've checked-in.
• Take two hotel calling cards. Keep one in your room and the other with yourself. This is useful especially, when you're in a foreign speaking country like China. This should help cab drivers know where to bring you when you're done going around the place. These hotel calling cards usually have their information in English and the native language of the country you're in. This worked for me once I was in Shanghai for a business trip.

RIDING the elevator to your room...

• Better to be the last one to get on the elevator. If you find someone suspicious riding it, let them go ahead and wait for the next elevator.

GETTING into your room...

Hotel door locks

• Check if all locks on your door are working. Use all locks when inside your room. 
• Look through the peephole when someone unexpected or expected knocks before you open the door. When it is someone unexpected and claims to be sent by the hotel security or any hotel personnel, call the desk first to check if it's true that someone sent them.
• Check if the phone is working.
• Get out of your room and familiarize yourself where the fire exit is.
• Check if you can open the fire exit door from the inside and look out while holding the door open to find out if the area is unobstructed should you need to escape in the event of a fire.
• Check if the bathroom has towels for you to place on the floor beside the bathtub to prevent slipping. Once, I was in a hotel bathroom and there was no towel I can place on the floor and I also did not have rubber slippers to step into when I got out of the bathtub. I slipped when my wet foot touched the bare floor. Good thing that I was able to keep my balance and managed not to hit my head on the tub or the floor. I stopped myself from imagining somebody finding me in a pool of blood. I learned my lesson here and tried to always be safety conscious.
• Check if the hair dryer won't get wet when you use it. I observed that hair dryers are usually stored near the bathroom sink. Ensure that they don't get wet to prevent electrocution.
• Use the hotel safe to store your valuables. Just remember to get them when you checkout.
• Put your cellphone, wallet and flashlight on the bedside table where you can reach for these in case of an emergency.

Hotel Emergency Exit Layout

Hotel Safe

Now, enjoy your stay...

How about you? What safety precautions do you take? Do these help you enjoy your trips more as they do mine? Share them with us in the comments and let's learn from each other.