I’ve spent hundreds of nights in hotel rooms and cruise ship cabins — and always felt pretty safe.
Well, until yesterday.
Where was I staying?
My home in a safe, Los Angeles neighborhood (well, safe for now).
I watched a YouTube video about several hotel room robberies on the Las Vegas Strip. Some thieves are now very daring — even robbing rooms while the guests slept a few feet away. In an ironic twist, there’s even a way criminals can use a “Do Not Disturb” sign to pick some hotel room door locks.
Check it out below. (Here’s the direct link if the embedded video doesn’t work.)
(And here I thought I was clever leaving the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door handle and the television on in my room when I was out and about.)
Many people on the video’s YouTube page claim to be hotel employees or have security backgrounds. Pretty much all of them insist these are inside jobs — the thieves know someone with a master room key. But why don’t the hotels have cameras in the hallways? Many commenters say it’s a liability for the hotels.
What Precautions Can We Take?
The YouTube folks had some helpful(?) suggestions.
There were some comments about locking items in the hotel room safe. But even those don’t always work. (I generally keep valuables with me or lock them in a suitcase or bag with AirTags hidden inside.)
Someone else suggested putting valuables under your mattress. (Ew?)
Commenter @chrismurray3140 wrote, “This is why I push all of the furniture up against the door when I go to sleep in a hotel.”
I can’t tell if he’s being facetious; the “all of the furniture” makes me think he is. (Can I get some help moving the dressers in front of the door?) That said, I’m not against rolling the desk chair to the door before I retire for the night the next time I’m at a hotel. Someone else suggested bracing the ironing board behind the door. Another person said they push their suitcases against the door. Perhaps these methods won’t physically keep a thief out — but they may make some noise and scare away a criminal.
Or I could spend $10 or $15 and get some of those door-stopper alarms. (Great — two more things for me to forget in my hotel rooms!)
What safety tips do you have? Does this affect your feelings toward hotel safety? Please share your thoughts in the below Comments section.
Anyway, sleep well!
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I spent 14 years as a security director for an unnamed hotel giant and still do large scale corporate security, so I come from some knowledge around this. First, thieves know the TV trick, it is useless. As for DND signs, all they do is tip the thief off that the room has someone checked in. Las Vegas pioneered the hotel door pusher thief decades ago and they are very good at what they do. Hotel door locks are not high security, a smart thief can use a dog leg tool, 35 mm film, or a cheap drill and have it open quietly in under a minute. The only way the DND would open a door is if the lock was improperly installed. Certain hotel chains (those with names that rhyme with chariot) have a stance that cameras in halls are a liability and can be an invasion of privacy, especially if they happen to see into a room. At most you will see cameras in elevator lobbies. The best tool you can have for this new breed of thievery? A simple rubber doorstop that you can get in a three pack for around $7 on Amazon. That and NEVER leave valuables in the room, not even the in-room safe. Hotels in the US are required to have safety deposit boxes at the front desk, if you don’t leave your valuables in one of those then liability is usually limited to $250-$500 IF you can prove the hotel had some fault. Even in those boxes liability is usually limited to $10,000 unless you can get the hotel to sign a bailment agreement…good luck with that anywhere other than ultra high-end casino hotels with vaults on property.
WOW — thanks so much for this comment, Rob!!
Most of the brand hotels have a swing bar door lock that you can use when in the room. Prevents entry even if door is opened with a key or card. Doesn’t solve for when you leave the room but if you high value items, you should request a room with a working safe or ask the front desk to place on their safe ( and getting a invoice list of the items in the hotel safe).