Read the comments on a “hotel safety hack” post, and you’ll notice that the commenters fall into two camps. One agrees with the hacks, another thinks people who promote or look for such information are simply paranoid.

The latter camp must be fortunate enough to have never experienced a single frightening or suspicious incident on their travels.

No matter how many stars an accommodation carries, safety never ceases being a concern. Big city, small town – the location doesn’t matter. Even an upscale area perceived as “safe” can pose certain risks.

Perhaps you yourself have encountered some instances where things could’ve gone very differently had they escalated. You were simply decidedly lucky that they didn’t.

A man pounding incessantly on your hotel room door just after midnight, shouting loudly, thinking that his friend had locked him out. He later quickly scampered when you cracked your door open a little and he saw that you were, in fact, not his friend.

A drunken couple repeatedly trying to open your door, befuddled as their key card kept getting rejected. Lying still in bed, you heard their curses turn into giggles as they belatedly realised their room was actually the one next to yours.

The phone ringing at exactly midnight. Groggy, you were slow in reaching for the receiver; the ringing stopped before you could pick it up. Unbeknown to you, this was a blessing in disguise – you have unwittingly thwarted a scammer’s plan to ... well, scam you.

Admittedly, these little anecdotes are pulled from my own experiences.

Sure, I’ve come out of the other end unscathed the few times I’ve woken up to such hotel shenanigans. But I’ve learned that it’s best to remain vigilant no matter where I’m holed up for the night.

So, if you fall into the first camp mentioned earlier, make judicious use of the information you find online. Practise the ones that are applicable to you when you travel.

If you fall into the second camp, these “tricks” might seem like overkill, but you certainly won’t think so once you find yourself in a compromising situation.

No matter your stand on this, allow me to share here a few hacks and tips that you might consider applying the next time you travel.

Better safe than sorry.

Be colourful

Even if you already have a lock on your luggage, use zip ties or cable ties to further secure it. The brighter the colour, the better.

Isn’t the point to be discreet? ... you may wonder. Well, in this case, the loud colour is what will immediately alert you to a tampering in your room.

Black or white is the most common colour for these ties. So bring neon green or orange ones that are harder for the thief to replace once they’re cut off.

If that bright yellow zip tie you used to secure your luggage before you left your room is now missing or has “magically” changed into a plain black one, that’s a dead giveaway that the bag has been tampered with.

This might not seem like much, but it does add an extra layer of deterrence.

It also acts as an indicator of whether you can safely leave your belongings in the accommodation. A mysterious colour change is a red flag telling you to switch hotels, if possible.

Don’t hold that holder

Most hotels use key cards nowadays. These, of course, come in a handy key card holder – the little cardboard sleeve that additionally displays your hotel name and room number.

While this may be helpful to a forgetful person, it poses a huge risk when it falls into the wrong hands. Now the potential intruder who’s taken it not only has your key card, but also knows exactly which hotel room to target.

To avoid this, never bring the holder with you when out and about. Just slip your key card into your wallet or a secure zipped compartment in your bag.

Take a photo of the holder if you must. In case you fail to memorise your accommodation details, you at least have a reference. Just hold on tight to your phone though.

A caveat: This only works if the key card itself isn’t emblazoned with revealing details.

Roll that bottle

One of the tips that flight attendants often share on social media involves a plain ol’ water bottle. If you’re not carrying any, you can usually grab one from the room’s mini bar.

Do this when doing a preliminary sweep of your room. Take the water bottle and roll it under the bed. It doesn’t matter whether the bottom part of the bed is bare or it’s obscured by a skirting, what matters is if it has a gap large enough to fit a person.

Once you see the bottle roll out the other side, then you’re safe. But if it stops midway underneath, most likely there is something – or someone – blocking its path.

Do not attempt to peek. Make a quick exit and seek assistance from staff.

Another caveat: This works if the hotel provides bottled water. Some hotels have moved away from this, providing filtered water straight from the taps instead. In which case, you can use any cylindrical object – a sunscreen spray that you keep in your backpack, for instance.

Wedge with towels

Flight attendants also swear by several “towel hacks”. You’ve likely seen these circulating online or on social media.

Basically, once you’re ready to stay in for the night, take one of the hotel’s hand towels and use it to further secure your hotel room door.

How? If the door has a swing bar lock, more commonly known as a door latch, you can wedge the towel in the swing bar before latching it. This reinforces the door, making it less likely to yield to any force pushing or pulling on it.

If the door handle is a lever type (horizontal handle), simply stuff the towel between it and the door. There are videos of handles being opened using long wires that snake in from the door gap below.

Adding the towel helps prevent this from happening.

Speaking of door gaps, towels can also be used to seal these. Towels placed at the bottom of the door can deter not just lockpicking tools but also sneaky cameras small enough to be pushed through a door gap.

For extra security, wet the towel. In case of fire, it not only prevents smoke from entering but will also act as a smothering agent. It does so by blocking the fire’s air supply, preventing the fire from drawing oxygen from your room.

A damp towel is also a good indicator of smoke pressure. If you notice the towel turning yellow or brown, that signals the presence of smoke outside your hotel room.

Hold the phone

Another thing you should do when doing that preliminary inspection is check to see whether the hotel room phone is working.

You can’t risk fumbling around for it in an emergency only to realise it’s not connected to the front desk.

Later, when you’re all tucked in for the night, it’s time to ignore the phone.

That is, if you’re suddenly woken up in the middle of the night by its loud ringing, do not immediately reach for the phone. (Wait until the ringing stops, and then call the reception to check whether they really tried to get in touch with you.) 

This is a tactic often used by scammers. Usually, it’s to catch you off-guard. In your sleep-addled state, you might give away important information – like your credit card details – without much thought.

They might also prompt you with questions that require you to answer “yes”, which they will record and later use to authorise fraudulent charges.

They also do this to check occupancy and gauge sleeping pattern. Once they know your room is occupied – meaning there are belongings to be stolen – and what time you usually go to bed, they can easily plan on breaking in when you’re at your most defenceless state.

‘Hanger’ it

Also a popular hack online: the hanger trick, and all you need are a couple of hangers from the wardrobe. Hopefully your hotel doesn’t provide those non-removable hangers.

This works relatively similar to the towel hack, as it slows down attempts of pushing the room door wide open.

Take one of the hangers and hook it onto the hotel latch, hook the other one to the first hanger and the door handle. If this is sounding too confusing to visualise, don’t worry, there are plenty of videos online that demonstrate the hack.

If your hotel room also provides “trouser/skirt hangers”, aka hangers with clips, you can use them to close curtain gaps. This prevents shady characters from spying on you with their little eye – or worse, little camera.

Remember the shoe

There’s a simple yet practical trick that ensures you immediately know which way to head in case of an emergency.

When you take off your shoes for the night, place them in a position that points to the nearest escape route.

Even as you hurry to put on the shoes when evacuating, your body is already positioned facing the correct direction, making you less likely to forget which way you should be headed.

Here’s a bonus trick that doesn’t involve safety, but it does involve the safety box – and your shoe, of course.

To avoid accidentally leaving your valuables in the safety box come time for check-out, put one of your shoes inside it. You’re not likely to leave your hotel room with just one shoe on. Just don’t forget that you put it in the box though.

Also, wrap the shoe in a shower cap before putting it in the safety box. Remember, hygiene is important too during your hotel stay.