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Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

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Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#141

Post by Tade0 »

Hailing from a country which was squarely third world just 25 years ago, this struck me as odd:

> I open my laptop bag as if I am searching for something

Don't make anyone think you have anything of value on you!

Also don't carry a light, easy to steal bag. The laptop goes into your suitcase.

As part of my routine when arriving at a hotel I study the fire exit map, maybe use the local vending machine, paying with coins from my pocket - gives me time to have the elevator all to myself.

I used to carry an emergency high-value banknote in my back pocket so that in case the worst happened I would at least have some money on me. The thieves that robbed me in the past never wasted time on full checkups.

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#143

Post by ghaff »

Scoundreller wrote: post #128
talliedthoughts wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ask for a second key and leave it in the slot?

They get suspicious when I pay for X occupancy but request X+Y keys.

Hotels routinely give me two cards when I check in--and certainly will if I ask. I usually stick one in my wallet and one in my bag or whatever so I'm less likely to accidentally leave the card in the room.

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#144

Post by ghaff »

tiborsaas wrote: post #114
Shank wrote: post #7

Rather than a doorstop, I usually prefer a super grip lock [0] -- an extremely corny as-seen-on-TV product that you can lash around a door knob that uses simple physics to make the door impossible to open with the key on the other side. Naomi Wu mentioned this and Deviant Ollam has too. The basic premise is that it's less destructive than most "security door stops" and hotels tend to get angry if you destroy their ca…

I don't remember when I've been to a hotel without an RFID card door.

Cards you slide or insert were very routine until just a few years ago. Though, aside from AirBnBs or small developing world places, keys have been pretty uncommon for a while.

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#145

Post by mmmpop »

durnygbur wrote: post #127
refurb wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's a "perfectly safe country"?

any EU country, for example?

Ah yes.

Some dude tried to mug me in Dijon in 2018, but I must have been imagining things... or obviously a very uncommon situation! I should have travelled to someplace safe like Saint-Denis, or maybe stay safe in America and go to Chicago.

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#147

Post by Scoundreller »

ghaff wrote: post #126

This isn't hotel-specific but my tip is the following: Assume your smartphone gets lost/broken/stolen or your wallet gets lost/stolen (or a credit card gets flagged for fraud). Do you know where you're actually staying? Do you have a copy of your itinerary more generally? Do you have backup credit cards and IDs? I'm not super-fanatical about having printed maps etc. in a familiar city but I try to have backup of ever…

Yeah, at present, you’re not required to show ID to fly. Not sure how the Real ID project will affect this:

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/frequently-asked-questions/i-forg...

https://www.uponarriving.com/tsa-no-id/

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#148

Post by pmontra »

WelcomeShorty wrote: post #132
folli wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, I don't get the personal photo? Is this some kind of Inception thing, if you wake up due to intoxication, or what?

It happens to me that I wake up and do not know where I am (or why). The personal item helps me instantly knowing that I am on familiar ground. Happens to many people who travel a lot.

It happened to me once when I was moving to a new home. I was spending a few nights in the old one and a few nights in the new one. I woke up one night believing I was in the new one but the sources of the street noise outside didn't match the ones in the new house. It was very disconcerting. It took me a while to realize where I was.

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#149

Post by Scoundreller »

carlob wrote: post #112
nextlevelwizard wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What are you getting kept from by doing it? A dozen extra minutes of terrible hotel TV? I don't go to a hotel to be in my room. If I am traveling there is a reason to do so. All in all I think this paranoid fear of hotels and travel is something specific to US. I've never had issues with security in a hotel or even given it a a thought. In normal world you don't need to worry about this kind of stuff. My biggest wor…

Quoted post unavailable.

It really varies. Some places have the bare minimum of air conditioning to say they have it, but underbuild the system such that there’s no chance of recovering if you get back during the day while it’s still sunny&hot outside.

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#150

Post by Scoundreller »

netsharc wrote: post #115
nextlevelwizard wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How often does this happen? Once in a life time? This is the kind of stuff that makes you go nutty. Of course you _can_ try to prepare for everything and anything, but does it actually make sense to worry about being in a flash flood like that? I doubt it.

Your comment makes me think of this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rescorla#Corporate_securi... TL;DR: he got hired as a security officer for Morgan Stanley's WTC offices, and he made the employees regularly practice evacuations. > Rescorla wanted the company out of the building because he continued to feel, as did Hill, that the World Trade Center was still a target for terrorists and that the next attack c…

Simpsons nuclear plant fire drill video: https://youtu.be/XTElSJExL4U
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