The next time you book a hotel room, make sure it is not higher than the fourth level.
A travel risk expert has revealed the easiest way to keep secure in a hotel — and rooms below the second floor are also not recommended.
“The biggest item that is disregarded is the potential of fire,” Lloyd Figgins, a travel risk specialist and former soldier, told Sun Online Travel.
“When you arrive to a hotel, you’re in an unfamiliar setting that you assume is safe,” he explained. The issue is that if a fire alarm goes out, what should we do next?
As a result, Lloyd recommends “following the path of the fire escape, counting the number of doors between your room and the fire escape.”
“Make sure you stay between the second and fourth storeys of the hotel since the fire department ladder rarely reaches above the fourth storey,” he warned.
“Burglars target anything below this.”
To be extra cautious against burglary, the author of “Travel Survival Guide” advised guests to never announce their room number aloud when inside a hotel and to have hotel personnel write it down instead of saying it aloud.
“Hotels attract crooks because there are a lot of individuals with goods or possessions in their rooms or on them,” he stated.
“They can pose as other tourists in receptions and lobbies.”
“They are looking for people checking in alone because they can hear what room they are allocated — the receptionist says they are in room 301, for example.
“When they then see that person in the bar or restaurant, they know that room is unoccupied and [they] are unlikely to be disturbed.
“It is often the case that they have a way of gaining entry into that room, sometimes an inside job like getting cleaning staff to open the door for them, and know they won’t get hindered.”
Anyone who is concerned about becoming a target of theft while in their accommodation should invest in a door wedge to take with them on vacation.
“Even if you’re in your hotel room and [criminals] have the master key, the door wedge beneath will prohibit that,” Lloyd stated.
