Hotel safes, and why not to use them.

Security measures provided by the hotels usually include safety deposit boxes in each of the rooms. However, many visitors wonder whether a hotel safe in your room… is truly safe. Why?

Access control issues

Of course, each time a visitor checks in, a new combination for the hotel room safe is created. However, for maintenance and emergency reasons the hotel staff has the master code for all hotel safes which sometimes is a very predictable combination of numbers.

Also, many safes can be opened easily due to their default settings left by the manufacturer. So, even though access to your valuable items in a hotel safe might seem exclusive… it truly is not.

Outdated technology

Just like any other appliances, hotel safes are being developed in terms of their type, technology and quality. Improvements are constantly introduced both in traditional and electronic safety deposit boxes. Sadly, very often hotels cannot afford to introduce such technological advancement, neither can they afford proper maintenance of modern security solutions.

Easy access point

Some locks are keyed and some are keyless. Similarly, a safe may come with an electronic keypad or with a traditional lock. As professional locksmiths warn, if your hotel safety deposit box doesn’t come with an electronic keypad, a potential burglar has an easy point of access and a way to break in. Often a burglar starts by holding the safe and manipulating the lock to steal your valuables once the safe is open for a while. He can even use brute force or drill the weak point to break into a hotel safe.
Keep in mind that electronic safes can also be susceptible to theft, especially mass-produced ones.

Obvious targets

Burglars normally know where to look for safes. In households, they are normally kept in fairly easily accessible places, such as a bedroom closet. Similarly, it is quite obvious – especially for an experienced burglar – where to look for a safe in a hotel room which has a very limited space.

Although nowadays a lot of hotels are equipped in safes suitable for storing your laptop, documents, money, jewellery or other valuables items, try to avoid doing it.

There are many ways to keep your valuables safe during the holiday – these include notifying your bank when and where you’re leaving and carrying your documents and money in a theft-proof bag or a hidden pouch with secure straps and locking cables (preferably worn in front of you rather than on your back, especially when you’re on public transport).

To prepare for the worst-case scenario, have a backup plan to recover from theft. Print out a copy of your credit card, driver’s license, and plane ticket and leave in an envelope with a family member, or scan a copy to the cloud—just make sure it’s encrypted or password-protected,

Remember, if you become a victim of theft on your holidays, you should notify the police and the hotel staff as soon as possible.