Hotel safety tips for women traveling alone
For hotel safety when traveling alone, keep your room number private by asking the clerk to write it rather than say it, use every lock on the door when you are inside, and confirm any unexpected knock by calling the front desk. On arrival, find the two nearest fire exits, and keep your phone, key and shoes by the bed.
Why it matters: A few check-in habits keep your room and room number private.
Steps
- At check-in, ask the clerk to write your room number rather than say it aloud.
- Ask for a room that is not on the ground floor and not at the end of a long empty corridor, if you have a choice.
- Check that the door, the deadbolt and the security latch all work; ask to move if not.
- Walk to the two nearest fire exits and count the doors on the way.
- Use the deadbolt and latch whenever you are inside.
- If someone knocks unexpectedly, call the front desk to confirm before opening.
- Keep your phone, key card and shoes where you can reach them in the dark.
Stop and call a professional if
- someone insists on entering after you have refused and called the desk: call hotel security and your local emergency number
Common mistakes
- Saying your room number aloud in the lobby or on the phone in public.
- Opening the door to someone who says they are maintenance without checking.
- Not knowing where the fire exits are.
Teach this to someone
A one page sheet for showing a friend, a teenager or a parent: what to say, what to show, and one question to check it landed.
Teach: Hotel safety tips for women traveling alone
What to say
For hotel safety when traveling alone, keep your room number private by asking the clerk to write it rather than say it, use every lock on the door when you are inside, and confirm any unexpected knock by calling the front desk. On arrival, find the two nearest fire exits, and keep your phone, key and shoes by the bed.
What to show
- At check-in, ask the clerk to write your room number rather than say it aloud.
- Ask for a room that is not on the ground floor and not at the end of a long empty corridor, if you have a choice.
- Check that the door, the deadbolt and the security latch all work; ask to move if not.
- Walk to the two nearest fire exits and count the doors on the way.
- Use the deadbolt and latch whenever you are inside.
- If someone knocks unexpectedly, call the front desk to confirm before opening.
- Keep your phone, key card and shoes where you can reach them in the dark.
Where it stops
Stop and call a professional if someone insists on entering after you have refused and called the desk: call hotel security and your local emergency number.
Check question
How should you get your room number at check-in?
Answer: Written down by the clerk. Writing it keeps it private from people nearby.
Your checklist
Saved only in this browser.
Quick quiz
Three questions. Your score is saved only in this browser.
Related skills
Sources
This skill is general practice and draws on no single published source.
Written in our own words from the sources above. It is general information, not advice for your situation; where a professional, your doctor or your lease says something different, follow them.
Last reviewed . First published .