There’s probably no better travel experts than flight attendants. Most are on the road and up in the air for over half of the year, staying in new hotels in different cities along the way.
For travelers, one of the most important aspects of your trip is staying safe, whether you’re out and about or in your hotel room.
That being said, ever wonder if your hotel room stay is completely safe? A flight attendant shares her top tips on keeping your hotel room safe while traveling.
TikTok Video On Hotel Safety Tips
This flight attendant has gone viral on TikTok recently with one of her videos on hotel safety. She frequently posts videos featuring top travel tips and hacks under the account name CiCi_inthesky – sharing everything from packing tips, how to use air tags, and the importance of using hydration stations at the airport.
The viral video currently has over 6.6 million views on TikTok, where she shares her top tips on how to know if your hotel room is safe and how to keep it that way. Here’s her expert advice:
How To Make Your Hotel Room Safe In Less Than 2 Minutes
- Keep the door open and check the closet(s), shower, and behind the curtains: CiCi says that when she first enters a hotel room, she props her door open with her bag and checks all main areas of the hotel room to make sure they are free of intruders.
- Check if the phone works: Once the hidden spots in the hotel room have been checked, she recommends checking to make sure that the hotel room phone works (you want to dial out if necessary, of course).
- Cover the peephole: After that, close the hotel room door and check to make sure to cover the little spy hole on the door. If your hotel room peephole may not have a cover, CiCi says not to worry. Just use a piece of tissue paper to cover up the peephole so that people can’t see into the room from outside.
- Put the ‘Privacy’ sign outside the door: Even if you leave the room, keeping the privacy sign on the door is another way to keep your hotel room safe.
Try A Washcloth To Secure The Side Lock
- Put a washcloth through the side lock: Once you’ve locked your room from the inside, you’ll also want to add a layer of security by using the side lock. To make sure it’s secure, CiCi recommends in the video to put a washcloth through the bar on the side lock before shutting it so that someone can’t disengage the lock from the outside. She explains why here in this video.
- Leave your bag or suitcase in front of the closed door: Whenever you’re inside the hotel room, CiCi recommends putting your suitcase on the ground right in front of the door. This will help avoid someone from using a hanger or wire to unlock anything from the outside. It also adds that noise factor for extra protection.
More Hotel Safety Tips From A Flight Attendant
- Keep the hotel TV on with the volume up: When leaving her room, CiCi keeps the TV on with the volume up, “not loud enough to disturb people, just a normal volume I would watch TV on regularly.”
- Check the fire exits: Also, she mentions that it’s important to know where all of the fire exits are in the hotel. The map of fire exits should be taped to the back of the room door.
Don’t Reveal Your Room Number At Check-In
Another recommendation that CiCi offers is about staying safe during check-in. When you are checking in, make sure the front desk person doesn’t say your room number out loud and that you don’t say your room number, either.
And when going up to your room, CiCi says that it’s important to “always be situationally aware as you go to your room. If your gut is telling you that something is wrong, follow your gut.” This doesn’t mean you have to look paranoid all the time but to just be mindful of what’s around, which is typically the best way to stay safe when traveling in a hotel or anywhere else.
