Hotel Room Security Risks Most Travelers Miss (and Simple Fixes)

Your hotel room isn’t nearly as secure as you think.

That little peephole, the chain lock, the in-room safe… they all look like protection. But thieves know ways around every one of them.

The good news is that most of these risks have simple, cheap fixes.

Below, I’ll walk you through the security risks most travelers never think about, in the order you’ll run into them, plus a practical fix for each one. A few small habits can turn your hotel room into a fortress.

First, a quick word on paranoia

The goal here isn’t to make you afraid of hotels.

During my years of full-time travel, I stayed in probably over a thousand hotels, and I never had a serious incident. Part of that is because I take precautions. But I don’t do every single thing on this list.

That’s because more security usually means less convenience. Everyone lands somewhere different on that scale.

So read through these, pick the ones that make sense for you, and skip the ones that feel like overkill.

1. Check the neighborhood before you book

That gorgeous hotel with the amazing pool might be hiding a not-so-gorgeous secret: a sketchy neighborhood. And you might not find out until you arrive.

Two quick checks before you book:

• Drop the address into Google Street View and take a virtual walk around the block.
• Search the reviews for words like “safe,” “dangerous,” and “neighborhood.” Most booking sites let you search reviews by keyword.

Look for patterns across several reviews, not one picky person’s complaint.

2. Think about which floor you’re on

Ground-floor rooms near exits are prime targets for thieves. They’re easy to get into and easy to escape from.

Some security experts say the sweet spot is between the 3rd and 6th floors. You’re high enough to be hard to reach, but not so high that you’d be stuck in a fire.

Personally, I like higher floors and don’t worry much about this one. But if you’re traveling solo or just want extra peace of mind, it’s an easy request to make at check-in.

3. Watch what happens at the check-in desk

The front desk is where a lot of personal information gets shared out loud. And it’s a place where people can linger without anyone noticing.

Imagine checking in late at night, alone, and the clerk announces: “Okay, you’re in room 210, up those stairs and at the very end of the hallway.” Meanwhile, a stranger in the lobby is listening to every word.

How to protect yourself:

• Ask the clerk to write down your room number instead of saying it out loud.
• Don’t let them write the room number on the key card or on the little card sleeve. If a pickpocket grabs it, they know exactly which door it opens. In some hotels, they can even charge things to your room.
• Ask for two keys, even if you’re traveling alone, so it looks like you’re not.
• Be aware of who’s nearby when you share other details, like your home address or what car you drive.

And since someone could charge things to your room, always look over your bill carefully at checkout.

4. Beware of “hotel” messages asking for payment

After you book online, you might get a message that seems to come from your hotel. It says there’s a problem with your card, and you need to “re-confirm” your payment through a link.

Sometimes these show up by email. But scammers have also sent them through the Booking.com app itself, right inside the real message thread with the hotel. That’s what makes the scam so convincing. A scammer even tried it on us once.

Booking.com says it will never ask you for your card details by message, email, or phone call.

How to protect yourself: If you get an unexpected message about payment, don’t click the link. Look up the hotel’s phone number on its official website and call to check.

I break down exactly how this scam works, along with other common ones, in my guide to the travel scams that catch smart travelers off guard.

5. Cover the peephole

That little peephole is supposed to protect you. But it can be used against you.

Thieves can buy cheap gadgets that reverse a peephole, so they can see into your room from the hallway. They can check whether you’re inside, whether valuables are lying around, or simply spy on you. In some poorly installed doors, people can see through without any gadget at all.

The fix costs a couple of bucks. Grab a peephole blocker, or just cover it with a strip of duct tape.

Pro tip: I always travel with a bit of duct tape wrapped around my deodorant stick. It takes up zero space in your bag and comes in handy for all sorts of things.

6. Don’t trust the chain lock

Here’s an uncomfortable one. Many hotel chain locks can be bypassed from the outside in seconds, sometimes with nothing more than a rubber band.

And chain locks aren’t the only weak spot. There are several known tricks for getting past the different locks on hotel doors.

How to protect yourself: Bring a portable door lock. It’s small enough to toss in your luggage, and it adds a second lock that can’t be opened from the outside, even with a key card.

7. Block the gap under the door

Look at the bottom of your hotel room door. See that gap?

Thieves can slide a long bent rod called an “under-door tool” through that gap, hook the inside handle, and pull it down. On many hotel doors, turning the inside handle also releases the deadbolt. So a thief can open your locked door without ever touching the lock.

Three simple fixes:

• Jam a towel behind the inside handle so it can’t be pulled down.
• Use a deadbolt strap, which loops around the handle and the deadbolt and stops the handle from moving.
• Wedge the door shut with a rubber door wedge, or a door wedge alarm that blares if someone tries to push the door open.

8. Treat your key card like a credit card

Hotel key cards aren’t as secure as most people assume.

In 2024, security researchers revealed a flaw dubbed “Unsaflok” in a popular brand of keycard locks. Starting from a single ordinary key card, they could forge cards that open any room in the building. Around 3 million doors at roughly 13,000 properties were affected. And there are guides online showing how to copy some types of key cards with nothing more than a phone.

You can’t fix the hotel’s locks. But you can make your card harder to get your hands on.

• Keep it in a front pocket or a zipped pocket, away from pickpockets.
• Don’t leave it lying on your pool lounger or your restaurant table.
• Never accept a card with your room number written on it.

9. Check your room the moment you arrive

Before you unpack, take a minute to look around.

• Doors and locks: Does everything close and lock properly?
• Connecting doors: Is the door to the next room locked?
• Windows and balcony doors: Do they latch?
• Closets, bathroom, and under the bed: Just a quick look.

Connecting doors deserve extra attention. A deadbolt strap may not work here, because many connecting doors don’t have a handle. A portable door lock usually does. And if there’s a gap under the connecting door, roll up a towel and stuff it in, so nobody can slip a camera or tool underneath.

If you’d like to check for hidden cameras too, here’s my quick 5-minute hidden camera scan.

10. Think twice about the hotel safe

Your passport, cash, and jewelry go straight into the in-room safe, right?

Not so fast.

Every hotel safe has some kind of override, in case a guest forgets their code. And many hotels never change the factory default. Security researchers have found safes that open with simple default codes like 000000 or 1234. Some cheap safes can be opened by jiggling the handle and tapping the top. And even bolted-down safes can sometimes be pried loose.

Now think like a thief. Where’s the first place you’d look in a hotel room? Anything sitting out in the open. And the second? The safe.

Better options:

• Google your safe’s make and model. If there’s an easy way to open it, you’ll find it in a minute.
• Hide valuables in unexpected places, like inside a zipped couch cushion, inside rolled-up socks, or under the insoles of your shoes. Just write down your hiding spots and check them before you leave.
• Try a hanger safe. It looks like a normal clothes hanger but has hidden compartments inside.
• Use a portable safe. I’ve used a Pacsafe portable safe (10% off with code UNTETHERED) a lot. It’s a slash-proof bag you lock to something solid, like the bed frame, and tuck out of sight. Swap the TSA lock it comes with for a sturdier padlock.
• Ask about a safety deposit box at the front desk. How secure it is depends on the hotel, but it’s worth asking.

A portable safe really shines in places like vacation rentals. One place I stayed had nothing but a glass sliding door with a flimsy latch. In a spot like that, hiding places and a portable safe are about all you’ve got.

11. Be careful with hotel Wi-Fi

Hotel Wi-Fi isn’t always secure. Hackers can set up fake networks with names that look just like the hotel’s, then steal anything you send over them.

Three easy ways to protect yourself:

1. Turn off Wi-Fi auto-connect on your phone, tablet, and laptop, so they don’t quietly join a fake network.
2. Turn on a VPN before you go online.
3. Skip the Wi-Fi altogether and use an eSIM data plan on your own phone instead.

12. Unplug the smart TV and skip the USB ports

More and more hotel rooms come with smart TVs, smart thermostats, and other connected gadgets. They’re handy, but anything connected to the internet can be hacked.

One wild example: hackers reportedly broke into a casino’s network through a smart fish-tank thermometer and used that access to pull data on the casino’s high rollers.

You can’t do much about the hotel’s network. But you can take a few simple steps:

• Unplug the smart TV (or cover its camera, if it has one) when you’re not using it. The FBI has warned that smart TVs can be hacked and used to spy on you.
• Use a unique password if you log into Netflix or another account on the TV. Never reuse your email or banking password.
• Skip the USB ports built into hotel lamps and nightstands. Plug into a regular outlet with your own charger, or use a USB data blocker or a charge-only cable.

13. Ignore the pizza flyer under your door

Picture this. It’s late at night after a long travel day, you finally reach your room, and you’re starving.

And what’s that under the door? A flyer for cheap pizza delivery. It’s like they read your mind.

Unfortunately, this usually doesn’t end well. Best case, you get a soggy pizza an hour later. Worst case, you read your card number to a scammer over the phone, and the pizza never shows up. The scam is so common in some places that hotels leave warnings about it in the room.

The fix: Order from a well-known food delivery app instead, or ask the front desk what they recommend.

14. Watch out for front-desk tricks

Sometimes the biggest risk isn’t a high-tech thief. It’s a busy, rushed hotel employee.

Picture a guy rushing up to a crowded front desk, dripping wet from the pool. He says he locked his wallet and key card in his room, and he needs to get in right now to take his medication.

Will a tired clerk take the time to verify his identity? Hopefully. But not always.

How to protect yourself: Tell the front desk exactly who’s staying in your room. Some hotels may even let you add a password before they hand out a replacement key. That’s beyond my own level of caution, but it can’t hurt to ask.

15. Make your room look occupied

Thieves don’t want to walk in on someone. So make them think you’re there.

• Leave the TV or some music on when you go out.
• Hang the “Do Not Disturb” sign. A thief is less likely to risk a room where someone might be napping.
• Keep your plans to yourself. This one comes from a viewer who corrected a mistake I’d been making for years. I used to chat with the front desk on my way out and tell them all about my plans for the day. That’s friendly, but it also announces that your room will be empty for hours.

The bottom line

Hotel rooms aren’t as secure as they feel. But protecting yourself doesn’t take much.

Cover the peephole. Lock the door with something the hotel didn’t give you. Block the gap underneath. Don’t put blind faith in the safe. And keep your room number and your plans to yourself.

Pick the precautions that fit your comfort level, and you can relax and enjoy your stay.

If airports make you nervous too, here’s how airport thieves pick their victims, and how to stay off their radar.