can we discuss HOTEL ROOM SAFETY?

It's never occurred to me to do any of those things... do people often have someone hiding in their wardrobes?

I’ve never done any of that. I just can’t live my life in fear. I do keep the door locked when I’m in the room , both deadbolt and the metal knobby slider thing.

I do use any door latches, etc, provided. But nothing extra, and I have never heard of anyone doing a "hunt an intruder" routine. I have never felt unsafe in a hotel room as a lone traveller.

I use door latches, but that's all. Also, her tip of leaving the TV on loud when you go out wouldn't work at many hotels these days, where you need to put your keycard into a slot to activate electricity in the room. If you take your card out to leave the room, the TV will turn off.

I do sometimes wonder how I managed to get to my advanced years without doing many of the things others do. I’ve never even checked for bed bugs. Putting a chair against the door, imho, is not safe in the event of fire.

I've never done any of those things, except I do lock the door obviously. And I use that slider thingy when I'm sleeping. 

I have never done any of those things other than use the multiple locks on the doors, but probably should have in a few places. 😆

I have stayed in too many Motels in odd places to ever say I would never.  There are some places and/or times (rural small towns) where you really don’t have a choice as most places are Motels and not Hotels.  To get a hotel type accommodation you would have to travel much further or off course. If ever dealing with a fire I think I would prefer the Motel style but understand a Hotel accommodation being considered more secure.

The only safety precaution I take is I always register for 2 guests, not one. There is no extra charge for that.

I’ve never heard of that happening. I’ve also never taken any of those measures (except using the flap to hold the door closed) when in a hotel room, even as someone who was terribly afraid and anxious of people breaking into the home when I was young.

I think that is a bit excessive. As for the bedbugs - speaking from someone who had them in her house (not from a hotel but my son picked one up at school), they are VERY hard to actually see unless they are mature. The babies are clear and can be as thin as a piece of paper. Doing a quick check of the mattress will only get you so far because they actually live on the floor and then climb up to the mattresses. The best way to avoid them is to have your luggage off the floor (preferably in the shower or bathroom). We got them in 2019 and spent thousands of dollars and weeks of entire house treatments to eradicate them. We had to buy all new everything for my son's room and had to throw out all the area rugs in our bedrooms. I never want to do that again.

I don't do any of the listed things, but I always check for the stairwell locations in case of fire.

I'm way more concerned about being shot when I leave the hotel than about anything happening to me while I'm inside it.

I just watched Dateline or 60 Minutes this past weekend that had a segment on this exact thing. It was shocking how many front desk employees at hotels just gave a key card to anyone that asked without asking for id or looking up the room info to see if their name was on the room. They interviewed women that had men come into their room and were raped or assaulted. They did an experiment with their own reporter and producer. The female reporter checked in by herself. Later the male executive went to the front desk and told the employee he had locked himself out of his room. All she did was ask for the room number then gave him the key card. He went up to the room and got right in. It was frightening!

I'll be honest, when I travel alone it is usually for business. I will go up to my room and change from my work attire to evening clothes without putting the deadbolt on or the flip thing. I think I will only be in there for a minute. After watching this show, never again.

The program did show using a wedge that an alarm sounds when activated and another device that goes in the door lock.

I figured I would be the only one to say that is extreme behavior. I have stayed at hotels alone all my life (and some with my spouse or kids).. I do the eyeball glance around the room (more just checking it out to see what it looks like).. I always check the bathroom for grossness factor. Generally I believe the shower curtains are usually opened, if they have curtains. When I turn down the bed I just glance for anything non-white looking. I don't go wiping down the room or anything like that either. I generally stay at mid-range places.. Hampton Inn, Drury Inn, places like that. Unless there are no options, I always stay at places that have interior doors (not doors that go directly into the parking lot) And generally not the low budget places. I always lock the door and that is it.