The Hotel
Des Conway has over 20 years' experience in police and commercial security. He uses his additional research and commercial security experience to ensure his own and his family's safety while planning and taking holiday and business trips. Through this and his other security handbooks he is committed to helping people keep themselves and their loved ones safe, wherever they are.
The Hotel
When you reach your hotel or other accommodation, the reception area is usually bustling with activity. Guests checking out, new guests arriving, staff rushing back and forth, visitors milling around and mixing with delivery staff. In that rush, nobody will take much notice of a guy walking out with a suitcase and camera bag, even if that suitcase and camera bag are yours and were taken while you were distracted trying to make sure your room has a sea view.
You probably feel safe in that busy hotel foyer, but it is a security threat to your luggage simply because it is so busy. Nobody is going to notice a guy in shirt and slacks picking up a case and walking off with it, because there are dozens of people doing that every day. As far as anyone watching is concerned, he is just another guy carrying a suitcase and camera bag. People will only pay any attention when you call out in distress asking where your bags have gone, but then they will be looking at you because of the disturbance you are making. Nobody will run out to look for a guy with your bags until you have found a member of staff to listen to you, explained what has happened and described the missing bags.
Some thieves actually specialise in raiding the approaches to hotels, hotel reception areas and hotel rooms, preying on guests and their valuables as they arrive and depart.
Many larger hotel chains have implemented quite extensive security measures, but the thieves are still there. From room burglars to luggage thieves through to plain old muggers who operate on stairs and in lifts and corridors. Beware!
The hotel operators can cause you problems as well. At reception when you are booking in find out exactly what is available in the room, and if you don’t want it consider asking for it to be removed or disabled. When checking out I was rather surprised to be told that I had to pay a considerable minibar drinks bill. Being absolutely teetotal I knew I hadn’t opened it, let alone used anything, but I couldn’t prove that. I argued the point, but didn’t really have any evidence to back me up, so I paid and considered it an education fee! It was an expensive lesson, but I now ask for the minibar to be locked, emptied or removed.
Hotel – countermeasures
Check in, but keep your bags close to hand while you do it. If you are alone, stand them against the reception desk and lean over them if you have to, then nobody will be able to touch them without you knowing.
If you find that there are services available in the room that you do not require, ask if they can be disabled, locked or removed to avoid any confusion or inflated bills later.
Always keep your hotel door locked and use the door peephole to check who is outside before opening the door.
Remember to check the rest of the room for security.
Check that the locks work.
Check connecting doors. Some rooms are designed so that large families or groups of guests can have several interconnecting rooms. Make sure that any connecting doors are solid, secure, lockable and locked from your side.
Check to make sure that staff members have taken action over any facilities that you did not want, such as minibars. They seem to be a common cause of disputes over final bills!
Check the security and operation of the patio doors or window, especially if you are on a ground floor, lower floor or facing a flat roof. You don’t want a room with such a weak patio door or window that thieves or intruders can choose when they enter your room.
Check for any possible access from neighbouring balconies. Even if you are on the tenth floor, if anyone with access to the room next door can get into your room from the balcony of the room next door, you have no security.
Women alone should pay particular attention to door chains and window security. When abroad on hot nights, windows are often left open to get a little air. Make sure that there is no access from outside the window for an intruder to come into the room while you are asleep.
If travelling alone, you could make sure that somebody knows what your plans are. For example, if you are going to go exploring in the old town or on a day trip into the rainforest, leave a message with the hotel receptionist saying where you are going, how you are going to get there, who you will be with or will be meeting and when you expect to return. In that way the hotel management will report your absence if you fail to return as scheduled.
When you are alone, stay aware of your surroundings. For example, if a group of people in the lift make you nervous, don’t take the lift. Make an excuse about leaving something in your room or wanting to get something from the hotel shop if you want to save face, but always trust your instincts.
Don’t carry your hotel key in a bag. Leave your key at reception. If the bag is stolen at least you still have your key so you can get into your room and the thief won’t know where you are staying or have access to your room with your stolen key.
Use The Hotel Safe
Most hotels have a safe available for the guests to use to secure their valuables while they are on the beach, etc. Depending on what you have and what you want to do I would suggest that you use it, but only when you have inspected it.
I stayed at a hotel in Florida where there was a strong box in each room. Guests were invited to use the safe to store cash, passports and small valuables. One day, three rooms were raided and the valuables were stolen from each ‘strong box’ using a key. Unfortunately the key was not a security key. At some stage, the thieves had managed to get hold of the keys to those boxes, then get spares cut at the local hardware store so that they could come back and empty the valuables at their leisure.
Hotel safe – countermeasures
Don’t take valuables with you if you don’t really need them. That gold and diamond necklace might look stunning if you get invited to a formal reception, but do you really need to take it on holiday with you? If you calculate that you might need £500 spending money for your holiday, don’t take more than £1,000 with you!
If your room or hotel has secure storage for guests’ valuables, check it. Check to see what sort of state it is in, and how complicated the keys and lock are. Ask if it is easy to get a duplicate key cut. Ask if they insure the contents of the safe. If they say they do, ask what their insurance limit is. When I was in Malta they imposed a maximum limit for the loss of items stored in a guest safe equivalent to about £15. That showed me that they had no faith in their guest safes, so I didn’t use them. When I got back I reported my findings and the travel agent said that in future he would warn travellers about potential security problems at that hotel.
If the safe looks secure, use it.
Hotel Fire Safety
You have decided that the room is secure, but just as important is your safety in an emergency.
Fire safety – countermeasures
Usually in hotel rooms there are notices explaining emergency procedures.
If there is no fire evacuation notice in your room, go to reception and ask for one. If they say there is no alarm system and no emergency or evacuation procedure I would leave and find a decent hotel. I would also complain to the travel agent and claim compensation. I will not stay at a hotel that does not have fire precautions. (But from my research before I went I would have already requested a safe hotel.)
Read a copy of the emergency evacuation procedures, and make sure that you understand them. Ask a member of staff to explain them if you don’t
Make sure that everybody in your group or party understands the procedures.
When you have read the instructions, you should explore the hotel. When I book into a hotel I tell the receptionist that that is what I am going to do. If they object I say that if they have nothing to hide they shouldn’t object. If they object or tell me I cannot look at the emergency exits, I ask to see the manager and ask why not. Then I find a decent hotel to stay in and report the suspicious activity to the local fire authority, the travel agency, the embassy and anyone else who will listen.
When I explore, I find the nearest emergency exit and stairs and go down to make sure that the doors are there, the stairs are not blocked, and the door at the bottom actually opens to safety, not a locked yard containing pool equipment!
When you explore the fire exit, open it and go out to look for the rallying point. In the absence of an official rallying point, pick a family or group rallying point. For example, tell your family that in an evacuation you will all meet next to the big palm tree on the left. (Pick a rallying point at a safe distance from the hotel and away from anywhere that fire engines, etc. will be arriving.)
When I am satisfied, I go back and explore at least one alternative escape route, in case the nearest route is blocked by fire.
Remember that in a fire, you may be in the dark and feeling your way out of your hotel room in thick smoke. Think ahead. When checking the fire exits, try to count how many turns and doors there are between you and the fire exit. For example, out of the door, turn left, move to the right-hand wall and exit through the third door on the right, which leads into the stairwell. With that information I can find the fire exit in thick smoke and darkness.
Remember the standard fire evacuation rules.
When you hear the alarm, rouse anyone in your party and make sure that they are awake, aware and leaving. Then you should all get out, rousing other people on the way.
Try to make sure that everyone has put on shoes and decent easy pull-on clothes. You don’t want to have to walk through debris or hot ashes in bare feet. If any member of your party is infirm or disabled, help them out of the building or assign members of your party to make sure that they are taken out of the building.
If there are children in your party, check that they are all present. Then check again. When you have them all, hold their hands and chaperone them out of the building. Children get scared and hide away under beds and in closets.
Do not use lifts during an emergency evacuation.
Don’t stop to take anything with you. DON’T try to take cases and other bulky items. They will only slow you and everybody behind you down. Depending on the weather, take a coat.
Consider taking wet towels or woollen blankets with you. They can be used to wrap around your face to make breathing easier in thick smoke, or to wrap around your head and shoulders to protect you from flames and heat if you have to pass near to the fire.
Close doors and windows behind you if it is safe to do so, because closing them will slow or halt the progress of any fire and keep your room safe.
Don’t try to fight a fire. You are not trained, you don’t know what is burning and you don’t know if there are other fires that may block your escape route. Get out!
When you reach any door, test the door and door handle with the back of your hand. If they feel hot there may be fire on the other side of the door. Using a rag if necessary, very carefully crack the door open, standing well back. Check for fire in the escape route. If all is clear, go. If there are signs of fire, use another escape route
If your escape is blocked and you cannot get out, retreat to your room (better still a room that looks out onto a car park or other clear hard area where fire engines and their evacuation ladders can drive up to the building). Shut the doors, and pack wet towels around the bottom of the door to stop smoke entering the room. Try to use the phone to tell reception that you are trapped and give them the floor number and room number Wave out of the window and shout for help to attract attention. Do not try to climb out – wait for rescue.
When you get outside, try to reach your meeting point and check to see that all members of your family or group are present.
If you need medical attention, accept it, but if possible ask a member of the group to attend the meeting point to pass on the information that you are out and safe.
Hotel Accidents
Statistics show that more people are injured in hotel falls than in drowning accidents. At first sight that seems strange, but a combination of factors make it a reality.
- Unfamiliar accommodation
- Balconies, which most people are not used to
- Sea views
- Hot nights, which send you to the balcony in search of fresh air
- A party spirit and too much alcohol
It doesn’t take too much imagination to see a drunken holidaymaker falling from their balcony or hotel window.
Hotel accidents – countermeasures
Be aware of the problem. Accept that it happens far too often.
Be aware that cheap and free-flowing alcohol, hot thirsty days, hot and humid nights and a stumble or slip on a balcony or beside a hotel window can kill you.
If you don’t remember what you did last time you were drunk, you are at risk. Cut back on the alcohol. Take a room without a balcony, or take a room on the ground floor!
Acclimatisation
You may well have to acclimatise to the temperature, humidity, sunshine, different pace of life and sometimes a radically different culture. From your research you should know what to expect at your destination, so take a day or so to adjust.
Acclimatisation – countermeasures
Different time zones on top of jetlag may leave you unexpectedly tired even though local time says it is only half past eight in the morning. Pushing yourself so that you don’t ‘lose a day’ of your holiday could leave you too ill to enjoy the last week of it. If you feel like sleeping, take a sleep.
During the flight it is easy to become dehydrated, and that has an adverse effect on your condition. Try to make sure that you drink plenty of water during your flight. Tea and coffee may be flavoured water, but avoid them and avoid alcohol. Drink pure cool water if possible.
Temperature and humidity can vary wildly around the world. An aircraft can take you from UK summer to a polar ice cap in just a few hours. Be prepared for the condition you will find when you arrive. Take the right clothes for the weather and temperature that you expect to find on arrival.
Familiarise yourself with the strength of the tropical and subtropical sun. It’s the same sun that we see, but the strength is radically different. You might be able to go sleeveless all summer at home, but half a day of an African sun can leave you severely burned and hospitalised. Even modest exposure to strong sunshine can result in skin cancer later in life. Cover up by wearing long-sleeved shirts or blouses and cover your legs too. Factor 30 skin protection might not be cool in the clubs in Leeds, but in Barbados it could be a lifesaver.
Exposure to the sun irreversibly ages your skin!
Some companies refuse to allow a holidaymaker to take a camper van out on the road until 24 hours after a long-haul flight. Be sensible – don’t expect to get off a long-haul flight, collect the hire car and drive three hundred miles to your holiday destination. If you do have a long drive to make when you arrive, consider booking into a hotel near the airport to give yourself a day to acclimatise and recover from the flight, then you can safely start your journey fresh the next day. Don’t risk falling asleep at the wheel of an unfamiliar car on an eight-lane Florida highway!
Be aware of the different cultures. Don’t assume that the culture in your destination will be the same as it was when you were there in 1995 or even what it was like three months ago. Governments and laws change. A country may decide that they don’t want skimpily dressed bikini-wearing girls walking down their streets any more. Newly enforced religious laws might require women to cover their heads and wear long skirts. In some countries the possession and use of alcohol is strictly prohibited. Make sure you know what you are going into and be prepared to obey the law and culture of the land.
Don’t Flash Your Cash
It is never a good idea to let people see how much money you have. In countries where the average annual wage might be a tenth of what you have in your pocket, flashing your money around carelessly is inviting theft. In some countries laws are made by the gang with the most guns, in others the police are people who are a two day journey away and they don’t really care it a foreign tourist is shot and relieved of his holiday cash.
Cash – countermeasures
Don’t take any more money than you need.
Only change traveller’s cheques for cash when you need the cash.
Never carry all of your cash in one pocket. Spread it around in different pockets. In that way you never have to pull out of your pocket what looks like a lot of money. If you are robbed, they hopefully only get the contents of one pocket!
Don’t carry expensive cameras, watches or jewellery for the same reason. Remember that your flashy bauble could be worth five years’ average wages to a local thief, so he may go to any lengths to get it.
Stay alert, and avoid areas and situations where you may be at risk.
Try to carry smaller valuables in an inside front pocket or in a money belt under your shirt. Never carry anything in a hip pocket, because it is an open invitation to a pickpocket.
Wrapping a couple of rubber bands around a wallet, purse, or even passport or traveller’s cheques keeps them tightly together. It prevents them from falling out of your pocket when you bend down, or lay your jacket on a seat. Most importantly, rubber bands mean that a pickpocket cannot easily slide your wallet or purse unnoticed out of your pocket. You will feel the pull of the rubber bands.
Tour Rep/Hotel Staff Advice
I suggest that you always seek advice from tour reps, holiday company representatives, hotel staff and people who have been in the hotel for a week or more. You should already have collected a lot of information from other sources when you were researching and planning your trip. Confirm that information with some current local knowledge. Make sure that you know which areas are safe for tourists and which are not.
Advice – countermeasures
Do as much research as you can when planning the holiday. Contact the embassy or consulate of your destination country. Read tour guides and check the internet. Take a trip to the library – their staff are often quite helpful in finding out about a town or a country.
When you arrive, ask the taxi driver, hotel staff or holiday representative for current and local information. Circumstances may have changed since the books you read were written, and your supposedly middle-class holiday destination may now be riddled with drug dens and violent crime.
Check with hotel staff when you are planning a trip. They can tell you which places are safe and which aren’t. They can tell you what the latest tricks and common crimes are, and how to avoid being conned out of your cash. But don’t assume that hotel employees are not criminals themselves. They may be working with some of the criminals, so stay aware.
Ask other guests. I always look for guests who have already been there a week or so. They are the ones with a good tan, well-worn ski boots, etc. It usually isn’t too hard to identify them and if you get into conversation you get good advice from them They will tell you where they thought they were unsafe or where they think they didn’t get value for money. They will tell you where the best places and excursions are, as well as the ones you should avoid. (Don’t forget to pass these tips on to newly arrived guests before you go.)
Common Sense
Use the same common sense when travelling overseas that you would at home. Be especially careful about areas where tourists are likely to gather and stand out, so that it is easier to select and victimise them. Places to be on guard are crowded underground trains, major tourist attractions, railway stations, public lifts and escalators, markets, holiday fiestas and carnivals, etc.
Common sense – countermeasures
Stay on the main roads, where possible using brightly lit roads and paths. Never use short cuts, back alleys and unlit roads.
At night, try not to travel alone.
Avoid any local demonstrations or civil disturbances. Don’t even stay around to watch what is happening – some countries use military force to disperse demonstrators and bullets don’t avoid innocent bystanders and stupid tourists.
Don’t be argumentative. Stay out of political arguments and discussions that may be going on around you.
Never discuss your wealth, possessions, job, family or travel plans with or in front of strangers. In many countries kidnap and ransom is almost considered to be a legitimate family business, so you may end up chained to a beam in some back country cowshed hoping your family can raise £10,000 to get you out – and hoping the kidnappers let you go even if they get that cash.
In many tourist destinations you will be approached by dozens of touts, who offer best prices and cheapest accommodation, car hire, souvenirs, drugs, guides and ‘company’. Some are genuine but some will take you down some back alley and rob you – don’t risk it. You should have done your research and so should be pretty sure what hotel you want to use and what excursions to take.
Pickpockets have various methods of targeting their victims.
They often work in teams.
One will bump into you or ask for directions. Their job is to distract you while their colleague steals your valuables.
Some wait near a sign saying ‘Beware of pickpockets’. People walk past and read the sign, then subconsciously pat their pocket to reassure themselves that their valuables are still in place. Unfortunately that act has just showed the pickpocket which pocket contains the star prize!
If there is a distraction or natural crush in a crowd, look out for pickpockets.
Even if the victim feels something and catches the dipper, he or she will probably have passed the stolen goods on to another member of their team.
In some places if you feel a pickpocket and grab them the criminal gang will attack you, beat you, take everything of value and still escape!
Pickpockets may be male, female, small children or women carrying babies, and I have even heard of disabled pickpockets in Italy.
When wearing a shoulder bag, wear it across your chest so that there is less opportunity for a stray hand to slide into it without you seeing or feeling it.
When you have a bag, if walking along the street keep the bag away from the road and walk as far away from the road as you can, in order to prevent the bag being snatched by a cyclist or motorcyclist.
Position a bag so that any flap or zip is nearest to you. If the flap or zip is on the outside, a pickpocket in a crowd could get a chance to open the bag and take whatever is available. If the flap or other opening is towards your chest or stomach they won’t even bother trying.
Try not to look lost or confused. This makes you vulnerable and you could attract a range of criminals. Maintain an air of confidence. You may be lost but walk with purpose towards the nearest safe location where you can ask directions or hail a taxi to get you back to where you feel safe.
If you have to ask directions, try to ask somebody with an official role, such as a police officer, traffic warden, transport official, utilities or bank employee, etc. They should give sound advice and directions.
Make sure that you know how to use the pay phones in your destination country. It isn’t always as straightforward as you might think. You should also have loose change and the numbers of the hotel where you are staying and the British Consulate handy.
Learn a couple of basic words and phrases in the local language. ‘Hello’, ‘thanks’ and ‘please’ are good but also find out how to ask for the police or a doctor, for example. On the note you have made of the hotel and consulate phone numbers, write the numbers for contacting the local fire police and ambulance services,
Finally, if all of your precautionary measures and preparation fail and you are robbed, be sensible. When confronted by a robber, hand your valuables over. You shouldn’t be carrying much and you should be insured anyway. You have your traveller’s cheque numbers and details of your passport, etc., so give up your wallet or handbag – not your life.
