Hotels and Motel Safety

How does a family find reasonably safe accommodations in hotels and motels?

Well, my opinion is that SAFETY IS THE FIRST REQUIREMENT! I believe all vacations should include planning for safety.

I strongly recommend that reservations be made only at hotels/motels that offer controlled entrances and interior corridors. In other words, if they only offer rooms that open to the parking lot, I will not even consider them.

Consider requesting a room on the second or third floor. Room windows that are above ground level are a little more difficult to break into than those on the ground floor. Always keep the windows locked when they are closed. Definitely keep them closed whenever you are not in the room. Consider keeping them closed all the time if you have young children in the room. Accidents take seconds and can have disastrous results. Now, I recommend staying on the second or third floor in case there is a fire. The lower floors require fewer flights down if there is an evacuation. Of course, consideration must be taken if you have someone with mobility issues, or someone in a wheelchair. In those situations, it may be more appropriate to request a ground floor room.

Consider requesting a room near the stairs. Again, if there were a need to evacuate, being close to the stairs reduces the time it takes to escape.

When staying in the room, select a location to keep all your critical items, meaning those items that cannot be easily replaced if you were to lose them. For example, room keys, personal keys, pocketbook, wallet, ID's, etc. This way, if you wake up during the night in a dark room, with the fire alarm going off, you can grab your items as you evacuate. We'll cover evacuations in more detail later.

Upon arrival, be sure to check that there is a smoke detector in the room. If it doesn't have a flashing light, request that it be checked by staff.

If you have young children, consider packing outlet covers in your luggage. Should you be fortunate enough to find you have extra outlets, plug them so that little fingers don't find them.

If you are carrying valuables, keep them with you, or turn them in at the front desk for safekeeping. Now, that may not always be feasible, like with your laptop. Do you really want to leave it in the care of the front desk? Not me. I suggest using a laptop security cable and anchoring it to a heavy piece of furniture. Be careful of tables. It will do no good to wrap the cable around a table leg and have the table lifted. Personally, I like to wrap it around a shelf of the TV armoir, or the frame of a sleeper sofa.

When you are in your room, be sure to use all available door security options. Some places offer deadbolts, others have security bars, some have both. Also, put the "do not disturb" sign outside your door.

Many hotels now will write down your room number instead of announcing it. This is a good thing. I would ask for a new room if my number were announced where others can hear it.

Take a few moments after checking in to READ the safety information provided for you by the hotel. You will probably find some information on the back of the door. The rest will usually be in the information left on the table or desk.

Plan to stay safe on any trip.