Why Your Valuables Might Be Safer From Theft Inside Your Luggage Than In A Hotel Room Safe

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The last time you stayed in a hotel, did you lock your valuables in the room's safe? If so, you may have felt a little better about going out on the town. You might even have used the hack of leaving a shoe in the hotel safe so you remember that you have something in there. Maybe you left your laptop, your jewelry, or even your passport in there when traveling overseas. However, your things may not be as secure in that safe as you think. Whether the safe locks with a key, a card, or a code that you put in yourself, the hotel staff has access to it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, for the most part. If you lose the key or card, or forget the code you used, they have a way to get inside so you can retrieve your items before you leave. However, if there is a bad actor around, you may be in trouble. In fact, your items may be safer in your suitcase (with a few caveats) than in the safe itself, as it may not be the first place that a thief would look. 

You never know who is in your room. One person on Reddit's r/travelhacks page said that they returned to their room while it was being cleaned, and the door was open. They took their luggage out, but realized that someone else could walk in and do the same. If you happen to have programmed the safe with an easy-to-guess code like 1234 or 0000, it's possible that anyone could have access to your valuables. In fact, the number of people who have access to your room is one of the most horrifying details about hotels, from housekeeping to management to maintenance workers. However, there are hacks to keep your items safer in your suitcase than in that hotel safe. 

Nothing is foolproof, of course, but your suitcase can be a more secure place for your valuables if you take certain steps. First, stash your items in your dirty laundry, as people are less likely to rifle through it. Next, secure everything with a TSA-approved lock on your suitcase, which is a good idea when you're traveling anyway. You can choose a code or get one with a key. It's less likely that someone is going to drag an entire suitcase through the hotel than pocket something small. Even better is a TSA-approved lock that comes with a cable, so you can wrap it around something heavy, like the bedpost or large furniture. For instance, the TSA-approved ZHEGE Luggage Padlock with Flexible Cable on Amazon comes with two locks and one cord. You can use the cable to lock the suitcase to something with the cable with one lock, and use the second lock to keep the zippers shut.

Another thing you can try is keeping the Do Not Disturb sign on your door at all times. That way, other guests and staff don't know if you're in there or not. (Leaving the TV on can help with that as well.) Even though your room won't be cleaned each day, you can feel more secure. If you need extra towels, you can simply ask for them. Finally, just in case (and to help you sleep better), you should put pictures of all the valuables you brought, your passport, ID, and travel documents (and the code for your TSA lock if you use one) in a password-protected folder that you email yourself so you can get things replaced if needed.