Do you ever feel unsecure in your hotel room?
 

Have you ever stayed at a hotel that made you feel a little unsafe? Perhaps there was just one lock on the door, or your room was on the first floor or at one of those motels where the hotel doors face the parking lot.

What do you do to make yourself more at ease and more secure? Do you have any rituals like lighting candles to make it more home-like..., etc.

I have traveled a lot lately and some hotels more than others, but still hotels in general make me feel a little less secure than I do when I am in my apartment.

I stayed at one hotel (I was so proud to get such a deal on the rate) that I felt extremely unsafe.

First, the room smelled - not identiable, but not nice.

Then it didn't look that clean.

But, what bothered me most were the two holes in the wall. They apparently had been used for a large mirror or picture, but they gave me the creeps.

Luckily, I only spent one night there. I didn't use the shower (decided to wait until arriving at the next hotel that evening), and I slept in my clothes that night and when I changed in the morning I did it "locker room" style (nothing showing at any time). I also put a chair up against the door.

That's the only stay that ever gave me the willies. All my other hotel stays have been quite non-threatening.

Interestingly enough the only times I have had a real bad feeling was twice at roadside motels in the U.S. Never happened when traveling abroad.

suze, I had the same experience with a roadside hotel in the U.S. We had been checking every exit in Alabama and finally found a place near Mongomery. The lobby looked nice, so how bad could it be? Well.... PRETTY BAD! Walking into the hallway off the lobby, it was dark, gray, lit by dim lightbulbs and reeking of roach killer. There was a single bed and then a pull-out couch with a spring that reached out to stab anyone who got close to it. Doors were slamming up and down the hall all night long as hookers plied their trade. With all that was wrong with the place, we were afraid to leave anything important in the car and we were not all that comfortable ourselves inside!

hey my *cat* wouldn't sleep in one of them!!! she kept marching around the edges of the bed all night long.

i ended up there only because i was on a road trip washington to california and didn't reserve ahead when some kind of event was going on and everywhere was filled.

looking back next time i would sleep in my car at a rest stop instead.

never in all my years of funky hotels in mexico, amsterdam, etc. have i seen a room so scary. i am certain a murder had been committed there ;-)

Carry a rubber doorstop. Most hotel rooms open inward. If you put the rubber doorstop under the door, no one can enter if you feel like the locks aren't enough protection.

Thanks for the doorstop info! I never thought of that and I think it will definately make me feel comfy during those times when I am in rooms that aren't as comfy as home...like rooms that don't have peep holes...grrr...that is sooo annoying. :(

only on the odd occassion have i been un-nerved by staying on my own, but find a door lock like this http://nomadtravel.co.uk/store/custo...roductid=19514

helps!

If you get a wooden doorstop (just like the rubber but made of wood), you'd be protected against vampires too. :) :)

Seriously, a rubber doorstop is a great item to pack. It doesn't take a lot of room but provides a lot of piece of mind.

Don't let the hotel fool you becuase it is in a nice area, or well respected name. While in Bellevue, WA last August, 5 rooms on a floor were robbed, all from the person going from balcony to balcony and gaining entry through the sliding glass door. This was all while the occupants slept. According to police , person was very organized. My advise is that you latch every security device in the room including the glass door to balcony; many hotel travelers forget about those.

I always pack a small flashlight & at night keep it w/my watch around it, on the nightstand in easy reach of the bed.

Someone has a small device you can buy that hangs on the doorknob and has a loud alarm if moved. Maybe Brookstone, maybe one of the travel speciality companies. I've actually had a hotel employee walk into my room while I was sleeping. My traveling companion left a day before I left and I believe he thought the room was vacant. Rather disconcerting!

Wow. Thanks for the info on the Bellevue, WA hotel. I live in Seattle (across the water from Bellevue) and consider this area very safe. It is a great reminder that bad things can happen anywhere.

A rather elderly couple I know had someone come in the windows of their second story hotel room in London a few years ago. Beat up the man and robbed them - during the night! Very scary. Anything can happen, but I always take precautions against the more likely intrusions, such as door alarm and door stop, and I don't leave everything in my purse or on the table. I sleep with at least one credit card.

Yes, in a hotel in Milan where I kept going out, carefully locking the door and coming back to find the door unlocked and ajar. And one morning woke up to find the door unlocked and ajar - I was glad that I'd put my (wooden) doorstop under it before I went to sleep so at least it hadn't opened all the way.

Reception weren't at all helpful (as I was paying E180 a night I was pretty unimpressed that they didn't sort it out) and I never did work out what was going on as the unlocking didn't always coincide with housekeeping making up the room.

I felt very unsafe at a little old fashioned motel in Minnesota. it was on thehighway on the outskirts of town. It was populated mostly by big trucks and their drivers. I stuck out like a sore thumb. My room was secured by a rusty looking lock on the outer door and a little hook and latch on the inside. I didn't have a very restful sleep. The sheets were older than me and and had pictures of cowboys painted on them. I can laugh about it now.

Only time I remember, with all my international travel, was while on a business trip in my home country, the U.S.

I'd been doing business trips for a couple of years, and I'd been to DC a dozen times before. Hotel rooms were scarce, and I got booked in a dive motel that I didn't feel safe in. It was just a very uncomfortable feeling, it was a run-down place, the area was the type where businesses have bars on their windows, I didn't even feel safe walking from my car to my room at night.

It was a two-night trip. Well, I checked out that morning, and got a new hotel room. It was too expensive to be 'allowed' for business travel, but my company was understanding (given that someone high up knew the place I was at and could understand why I didn't want to stay there).

So leaving is always a good option. Oh, and that first night? I stacked furniture in front of the door. :)

I second, or third, the rubber door stop idea and I always travel with one. I don't travel solo often, but do usually rent apartments in Europe and never quite know who has a key, so it is an easily packed item that gives great peace of mind.

Yes--one time, at a hotel in Ft. Myers, FL. Can't remember the name of the hotel, it was a large place with two buildings--but the type that can be entered from the parking lot. I had gone to see a concert and a friend dropped me off right outside of my room. There was a group of men chatting with eachother, and they started making cat-calls. They saw what room I went into, and saw me go in by myself, so naturally I was a little nervous. I had noticed a hotel security van parked further up by the main building, and I called the front desk and notified them of the situation and asked if they could have the car patrol around my room; they were very understanding, and, yes, I woke up a few times during the night and peaked out and saw the patrol van there. Felt a lot safer!

Does anyone know where I can get a door alarm, door lock, or rubber doorstop in CANADA? I have found some of these items on websites but none seem to ship to Canada. Please help if you can, because these items would definitly make me feel safer!