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Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

securitymagazine.com

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Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#21

Post by FateOfNations »

system2 wrote: post #14
Loranubi wrote: post #8

Who are these tips for? I value my privacy and safety, but for tourists or normal business travelers these seem paranoid.

Writer keeps mentioning 3rd world countries. I am assuming this person is traveling to Syria or some other country with active war going. I can't imagine doing these while saying at a 4 Seasons hotel.

Not necessarily a war zone, but definitely countries with higher crime where foreign visitors are often targets. I wouldn't discount the Four Seasons. It advertises that you are well off and are a potentially lucrative person to rob or kidnap (for the ransom insurance money that many employers of international business travelers have).

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#22

Post by tomcam »

saagarjha wrote: post #20
tomcam wrote: post #5

> I find the fire escape plan, and I follow it. Yeah, actually try this sometime. I do this regularly and it's amazing how often floors are locked from the stairwell, and more than once I have found floors skipped--you take the 4rth floor stairwell down and end up in a basement kitchen or something. Also he neglects to mention in the "Book online" section that it's always safer to book directly from the hotel website…

I find that a lot of fire escapes are alarmed. How would you test these?

Also true!

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#23

Post by graderjs »

WelcomeShorty wrote: post #18

It is about the same routine I follow. Specifically the "walk the emergency routes" since muscle memory can help you a lot when under stress. Missing one point: take a couple of business cards from the hotel with you. Whenever you need to get back, it most often makes it easier for people (cab drivers) to get you there without too much discussion and misunderstandings. Other points: - To be sure you have some clean w…

Why do not order room service, what's the risk there in your opinion?

I like the stuff about personal photo next to the bed as well as using the in-house services and tipping. That's smart man!

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#24

Post by bboygravity »

parker_mountain wrote: post #15
tomcam wrote: post #5

> I find the fire escape plan, and I follow it. Yeah, actually try this sometime. I do this regularly and it's amazing how often floors are locked from the stairwell, and more than once I have found floors skipped--you take the 4rth floor stairwell down and end up in a basement kitchen or something. Also he neglects to mention in the "Book online" section that it's always safer to book directly from the hotel website…

> These days their prices are competitive or better than the aggregation sites, and with better terms I travel extensively for work, and this is simply not true. Literally last week, I saved $40 by booking through hoteltonight in Chicago. Once you get close to the date of the stay, prices become squirrely and weird. This is definitely true if you're booking more than two weeks in advance, though.

Definitely true for Europe. I pretty much live in hotels and so far 100% of my bookings where either cheaper (usually) or the same price (rarely) on the hotel's own webste vs aggregators.

Regardless of my "genious discount level 9000" or "save up 10 nights and get 1 free" and all the other "discounts" that you actually paid for indirectly on aggregators.

The only place where this didn't hold true for me so far was a hotel in Indonesia, where the price quoted at the hotel desk in person was higher than a certain aggregator. The people at the front desk suggested I'd book online and I did :)

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#25

Post by anakaine »

parker_mountain wrote: post #15
tomcam wrote: post #5

> I find the fire escape plan, and I follow it. Yeah, actually try this sometime. I do this regularly and it's amazing how often floors are locked from the stairwell, and more than once I have found floors skipped--you take the 4rth floor stairwell down and end up in a basement kitchen or something. Also he neglects to mention in the "Book online" section that it's always safer to book directly from the hotel website…

> These days their prices are competitive or better than the aggregation sites, and with better terms I travel extensively for work, and this is simply not true. Literally last week, I saved $40 by booking through hoteltonight in Chicago. Once you get close to the date of the stay, prices become squirrely and weird. This is definitely true if you're booking more than two weeks in advance, though.

I've tried probably a dozen times within the past 6 months to book both domestic and international hotels. Not once when looking at many dozens of places was if cheaper to book directly on the hotels website, even months in advance.

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#26

Post by graderjs »

threatofrain wrote: post #9

The most interesting advice here is to leave the TV on with a do-not-disturb sign. I think people will be less likely to rob you that way. All the other advice is kind of whatever, like not being on the top floor in case someone is sweeping for you floor-by-floor.

I think not being top floor is just like if there's a fire you know what I mean or if there's some sort of attack top floor you are stuck.

Personal I like the top floor cuz you can't hear people banging around on the floor above you and it's normally a bit quieter... But now I'm going to rethink it. :) :P xx ;p

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#27

Post by graderjs »

jraby3 wrote: post #19
esperent wrote: post #3

Kind of cool to read but these are not any tips that a normal (non-paranoid) person will need to follow unless they are traveling to some seriously dangerous locations. Except maybe the tip not to use the hotel safe or leave money under the mattress, those are good. But do normal people really need to write their name down on pieces of paper and pass them across the desk with a wink to avoid their name being said out…

He doesn’t mention where you should keep your valuables. It’s easy to say where not to, but then offer a suggestion for a safe place to store stuff like a passport or cash.

Yeah that was my next Google search. I've got you covered.

https://www.luggageandsuitcase.com/where-to-hide-valuables-i...

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#28

Post by graderjs »

starky wrote: post #16
esperent wrote: post #3

Kind of cool to read but these are not any tips that a normal (non-paranoid) person will need to follow unless they are traveling to some seriously dangerous locations. Except maybe the tip not to use the hotel safe or leave money under the mattress, those are good. But do normal people really need to write their name down on pieces of paper and pass them across the desk with a wink to avoid their name being said out…

I honestly can't think of many times where I actually told my name to the front desk anyway. Usually I have a printout of the reservation or hand them my passport since they need it anyway. It is easier for the front desk to type what they see than try to type what you say or spell out loud, especially in foreign countries that don't necessarily have experience with your name.

I normally just verbally ask staff, "can you just write my room number down and not say the floor out loud." I don't want random people who happen to be around the front desk counter at the same time knowing what room I'm in... come on.

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#29

Post by graderjs »

saagarjha wrote: post #20
tomcam wrote: post #5

> I find the fire escape plan, and I follow it. Yeah, actually try this sometime. I do this regularly and it's amazing how often floors are locked from the stairwell, and more than once I have found floors skipped--you take the 4rth floor stairwell down and end up in a basement kitchen or something. Also he neglects to mention in the "Book online" section that it's always safer to book directly from the hotel website…

I find that a lot of fire escapes are alarmed. How would you test these?

Well you got to push it to find out if it's just a sign or if it's actually an alarm. Haha :)

Re: Hotel safety tips from a former intelligence officer

#30

Post by nextlevelwizard »

jamisteven wrote: post #12
esperent wrote: post #3

Kind of cool to read but these are not any tips that a normal (non-paranoid) person will need to follow unless they are traveling to some seriously dangerous locations. Except maybe the tip not to use the hotel safe or leave money under the mattress, those are good. But do normal people really need to write their name down on pieces of paper and pass them across the desk with a wink to avoid their name being said out…

In 2010 I was working at a large hotel / convention center in Nashville, at about 8pm we were preparing for a massive event where a company had bought out one of the venues, the entire hotel was booked solid. In the days prior to this, we had torrential downpours and heavy rain but this was normal, until it wasnt. Out of nowhere we get reports that the underground tunnels in the hotel used for employees to get around…

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.
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