Finally booked that holiday you’ve been talking about for so long?
Good for you!
You’re bound to be excited about escaping the daily grind for a short while – exploring the sights, relaxing by the pool, and topping up your tan – but it’s important to stay vigilant when on holiday.
If you arrive at the hotel before check-in, the last thing you want to do is haul your luggage around with you. Instead, why not ask reception if there’s somewhere safe you can leave your bags until your room is ready?
Below, we offer some tips and advice on how to protect your valuables – including simple things like stowing items in a hotel safe and keeping your room key in a safe place.
Keep cash and bank cards close to you
Whether you’ll exchange currency before leaving for your hol or you’re planning on taking your credit card with you, it’s a sensible idea to keep cash and cards close at all times.
As tempting as it may be, you mustn’t leave all your holiday spends in your hotel room. After all, someone could break in and help themselves.
Even if you don’t plan on leaving the hotel, and there’s a sun lounger with your name on it, it’s worth putting your money and cards in a pouch or money belt and not letting it leave your sight. Avoid putting them in the back pocket of your trousers or shorts for convenience, as that just makes it easier for pickpockets!
Lock your passport inside your suitcase
Once you’ve arrived at the hotel and you’re all checked in, it’s likely that you won’t need your passport until it’s time to go home.
With that in mind, it’s worth putting it in a safe place to ensure it doesn’t go missing – saving you the stress and panic of having to search high and low on the morning of your departure.
Our best advice would be to pop your passport (and any other important documents, such as your driving license, Visa, or medical card) in your suitcase and secure it with a padlock.
A combination padlock is often preferred, as you won’t need to worry about keys going missing or being stolen – instead, you’ll just need to remember the PIN.
Put your room key somewhere safe
Whether you have a room key or card, you need to keep it safe – not only so you can enter your room with ease, but also to protect your possessions.
You could keep your key in your pocket, so it’s easily accessible when you get back to your room. However, zipping it away in a bag will make it difficult for opportunists to steal.
Room cards can be kept safe in a wallet pouch or purse with your other bank cards. Or you could slide it into the back of your phone case (between your phone and the case itself). Either way, make sure you keep it close to you – even if you’re only nipping to the loo or the pool bar.
Secure valuables inside a hotel safe
Heading out for the day? If your room has a hotel safe, be sure to stash any money you don’t need, jewellery you’re not wearing, and electronic devices that you only need for the flight home in it.
Although many people worry about the security of hotel safes, locking your valuables out of sight and storing them in a safe is better than leaving them on display.
To assure you that your possessions are secure in a hotel safe, staff should pay close attention to the storage of keys and access cards.
If you’ve forgotten the code or lost the key, they should double-check your ID matches the name on the room reservation before supplying a key or master code for the safe. This will prevent unauthorised personnel from gaining access to your belongings. If your ID is locked inside your safe, don’t worry – most hotels take a photocopy of it when you check in, so they can always refer to this if necessary.
