Valuables in Hotel Room
 

Okay, mainly out of curiosity here, do you leave your mild valuables (semi precious jewelry, laptop, etc.) in the room, do you put them in the in room safe (which I've never understood, because aren't those more or less portable) or do you leave them behind the front desk?

Do you keep your passports/airline tickets with you at all times? Hmmm......

I keep passport and tickets with me at all times. If anything happens to them I want to know it immediately - not put them in the safe and discover they're gone 2 days later. (And nothing ever has - in 60+ trips to europe and hundreds in the US).

Don;t travel with any but toy jewelry - except my ring which I never take off. Laptop goes in the undie drawer - and its never been disturbed - also in over 100 trips.

but did you count your undies?

Never count your undies before they're snatched (as in stolen).

I leave all of my valuables including screaming child, out on the bed when I leave my room.

The monkey watches all.

Hit send to soon,

just kidding travdog, we leave everything in the room safe.

Not only do I travel with copies of my passport but leave copies with parents, inlaws, and animal sitter.

We travel on e-tickets so airline tickets aren't an issue.

The only time I use the front desk safe is if the room safe isn't working properly or there is no room safe.

GT: Screaming child should keep all burglars away from your room!

In all seriousness, I have left my passport in the in room safe. I don't take any expensive jewellery other than rings that I never remove.

I would be very curious to know, of all the travelling done here, how many people have actually had items of value stolen out of their hotel rooms? I would bet the percentage would be very low. There certainly isn't anything to gain for cleaning staff to take things, they would quickly lose their jobs if found out. And, I think it is probably rare that someone breaks into a room. Please comment, has anyone ever had valuables stolen from their room?

Being a former road warrior, flying over 100,000 miles a year and about 100 nights a year in hotel rooms, I have NEVER had one single item stolen from my hotel room.

On the other hand, I've left many phone chargers in my wake.

A screaming child would keep everyone away!

I've never had anything stolen either in my many years of travel. At one hotel I left tip money on the bed for the maid for 3 days and each day it was left on the nightstand. Also, I was told that in Hong Kong if you don't leave any tip that the maid will take something from your suitcase or room in lieu of tip money. Has anyone else heard that? I came home from Hong Kong and noticed a couple items I purchased were mysteriously gone. Hmmm...made me wonder.

You and me both, GoTravel! I now travel with a plastic padded envelope attached to both my phone & computer chargers. It is pre addressed to me and has a $3.80 stamp, and says please return if I've left this in your hotel!

I also have address labels stuck on all my chargers with my name address and toll free phone number.

Maybe its because of the bright pink envelope, but I've not left any behind since I started this!

One of my bosses had his camera stolen from a Hawaii hotel room. I don't know any details, and it was in 1992. Never heard from anybody else about stealing in a hotel.

I always carry my passport with me when outside of USA, usually in the waist belt. Never take laptop nor expensive jewelry. I don't take along what I can't afford to lose: my husband is left at home.

Icuy, I hope it's your BUSINESS address you're leaving behind, not your home address which screams: nobody's at home, feel free to enter!

When there's a safe in the room, I use it; when there isn't, I usually just put stuff (e.g., jewelry case)away in a drawer. The only things I bother to stash with the front desk (again, if there's no safe in the room) are passports and tickets. I heard long ago that one should never travel with anything that's irreplaceable, and while I've broken that rule before, it's a good one to keep in mind. And lastly, the only thing that I've ever had taken from a hotel room is a brand-new lipstick. I agree that maids have little to gain from stealing from rooms, and I assume the one who stole from me was, or will be, caught eventually, and lose her job.

My husband leaves his expensive camera and laptop in hotel rooms, sort of disguised in "odd places." I don't take expensive jewelry, wear my rings. My sister has traveled way more than I have, and neither of us has ever had anything stolen from our rooms. Important papers/tickets are carried in a zipped innerpocket in my purse.

Have never had anything stolen from my room - but a co-worker actually caught a maid stealing ner nightie (of all things). Perhaps the maid thought no one would notice - or report a missing nightie - but my colleague was furious - it was a Dior special gifted by her hubby - god only knows why she took it on a businees trip.

The hotel said they fired the maid - who knows - they really couldn;t do anything else considering the fuss my colleague made - since we had like 300 room nights booked.

I love hotel room safes and leave everything in them...well, the stuff that fits...cash, passports, jewelry, etc. If there's not a safe, then I "lock" everything in my suitcase. That may be stupid after I've read some of the posts.

My husband, however, leaves his lap top, cell phone, etc. in plain view and has never had a problem.

Maybe he's due.

If I have any valuable jewelry, I keep it with me (in purse) as well as the camera. But we do use the in-room safe for other items. I've learned to travel mostly with my costume variety that won't be missed if lost or stolen.

Now, speaking of items stolen, I have $50 removed from my purse in the cabin of one of our last cruises (Royal Carribean). Ironically our cabin stewardess had become ill and had a sub, we figure he took it. As you can tell, I don't carry much cash, and my hubby even still tipped her at the end of the cruise, although we weren't 100% positive it wasn't her that took it.

Back in the 80's my husband had a hotel safe broken into while in Rio, at a very expensive hotel. He figured it was an in-house job....stole lots of jewelry from his, ahem, traveling companion at the time. Spent a whole day at their "police department" but nothing ever came of it.

My husband like to invent "odd" places to "hide" his laptop - but it is hard to imagine that someone would not find it quite easily if they were interested.

I am far more concerned about my valuables that are left at home than I am about the stuff I bring on my trip. (Like the contents of my house!)

We always use the hotel in-room safe when traveling internationally and are reluctant to stay at hotels that don't have this amenity. I only carry copies of my passport and leave the originals in the in-room safe. I also make copies of our air or e-tickets. My wife leaves her engagement ring at home although we do wear our wedding rings. She brings only casual jewelrey. I do not wear an expensive watch.

I have a hidden pocket in my suitcase that I put my laptop in when it won't fit in the safe.
I leave my suitcase open with assorted items of little value in the case. they would have to actually take my case apart to find the laptop and of course they will not do that because they would have no reason to think something is hidden in there.
I have never had anything stolen, in a hotel, checked baggage, or valet.
Hotel meeting rooms are a danger though.
We had 4 laptops taken during a short break where we went to a break out room for food. Very common, according to the company who insured the laptops.

We don't ever leave anything around the room when traveling. Cameras, purses, any jewelry, all go into a locked suitcase if no safe is available. Passports go in the safe too, copies into money belts.

Most rooms have safes, (in Hyatts anyway, bolted from the inside into the armoire or floor,) but for Super Bowl in Houston, a Renaissance, our room didn't. That was also one of the first times we flew when we couldn't lock our luggage, so not having a safe was a real inconvenience--an annoyance even. I don't like schlepping things to the front desk for whatever reason. I guess because I'm used to the convenience of the in-room safe.

E- yes I do use my business address and cell phone..I use it for everything these days..even my driver's license after I got hit by another car and the police gave my license address to the other driver (who was definitely someone I didn't want showing up at my door).

But that is a good reminder to everyone.

We once stayed at a hotel that had a fire alarm at about midnight. We'd just gotten back from a wedding reception, I had taken off my rings and was looking for hand lotion when the alarm was sounded. We walked out (aaargh!) and locked the door. Of course the rings were gone when we returned an hour later. We reported it, the management was not very interested. They filled out some paperwork but I never got my rings back.

This thread brings back memories.

Many years ago, I was living temporarily in a hotel for several weeks. A leather jacket was stolen from my room. There was no forced entry and I was sure that it was a hotel employee. I contacted the manager and the police and I asked that the maid's locker be searched. I also requested, that the maid that cleaned my room, that day, not be allowed to enter my room again. My jacket remained missing.

About 5 years later, I got a call from the police. My leather jacket had been found and a receipt with my name was in the pocket. They told me that after a maid quit, they cleaned out her locker and found my jacket. Apparently, I had stirred up too much interest for her to get it out of the hotel.

Craig, why would you make copies of your E-Tickets?

GoTravel - I make duplicate copies of my itinerary too and all hotel confirmations. I probably overdo it a bit but its just a general precaution I take to prevent hassles if any of these things gets lost (or stolen). I'm pretty sure the airlines recommend you bring your e-ticket with you (along with ID) when you check in even though you don't actually need it.

Craig, I do the same. :) One copy goes in the suitcase, one in the carry-on.

Some years ago we were travelling in South America-husband was on business. We were leaving the hotel in Sao Paulo when I realized some of my jewelry was missing from its case-nothing too expensive-a pearl ring and a couple of gold necklaces. Husband started looking under the bed when he spied everything very neatly lined up in a corner by the bed leg. We imagined the cleaning people were accusing each other after discovering their loss.

bounty...

That is a great scheme on their part. If you complain while still a guest....the items can be found and they won't be in trouble.

After you have checked out, they can easily retrieve the items when "the coast is clear"

Dishonest....but clever.

Yes, it's quite a clever scheme, Dick. I guess they have to do these things as they are so poor!

I only bring jewelry that I wear every day and never leave it behind. We have left cameras in the room safe and haven't encountered any problems. That being said, about 15 years ago we were in the Bahamas for vacation. Our first room had a problem with the bathroom so they changed our room. This second room had a problem with the sliding door to the small balcony. I was tired and didn't feel like changing rooms again so I figured, well, the door screeches when forced open, but what the heck, I can live with that. The morning we checked out of the hotel there was a comotion in the lobby. Seems there was a cat burgalar who figured a way to scale the balconies and entered rooms through open sliders. I mean, who would expect someone on the balcony when your on the 15th floor? Our sticky screechy door saved us from losing anything that evening. (I now keep the door locked at all times.)

I saw an investigative tv show where they installed hidden cameras in the hotel rooms and caught a lot of maids pilfering some dollar bills out of the purses left in the room (not all--just enough so you won't miss it). They look in drawers, under mattresses, etc. for valuables. They said don't bother hiding valuables as the maids know every nook and cranny in the hotel rooms and know just where to look. Locked suitcases wasn't a safe place.

I will never forget an experience I had in Washington DC a last year. My daughter and I tagged along on a conference that my sister was attending so that I could show DD around town. It was bitterly cold so I hired a driver to show us the highlights. Our first stop was the capitol and as I went to check the time my heart stopped when I realized I'd left my watch in the room. My husband had given it to me on my 40th so we raced back to the hotel. My heart sank when I went in the room and it was gone. The room had been made up so I went looking for the maid. I found her--wearing my watch!!