When you stay at a hotel, do you place your belongings and valuables in the in-room safe, or do you not bother using it? I’m curious to hear the varying approaches that people take. I’ll share my take below, as I’m starting to realize that I might just be in the minority…
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Using a hotel safe is no doubt a best practice
Just objectively speaking, placing your valuables in the in-room safe at a hotel is a best practice, and it has several benefits. On the most basic level, it provides the best protection you can get for your personal belongings compared to just leaving them in the room otherwise.
Admittedly it’s also worth considering how many valuables you’re traveling with. If you have expensive jewelry or a lot of cash, then you absolutely should put everything in a safe. However, if you’re like me and rarely have anything valuable with you, then I think there’s less point to doing so.
There are some other benefits to using the safe as well, though. For example, it’s helpful in terms of keeping track of belongings, since you can place your most valuable things in one place in the room, rather than having them scattered around.
So if someone asks me if they should use the hotel safe or not, I think objectively it’s advisable. That being said, maybe I’m just a maverick who likes to live dangerously, but I almost never use a hotel safe.
Why I don’t usually use the in-room hotel safe
It’s interesting how polarizing use of hotel safes can be. Going back a decade, I had basically never used a hotel safe before. I actually didn’t realize at the time that many people use them religiously, as it never occurred to me to do so.
Nowadays I have more mixed feelings on in-room safes. When I’m traveling alone, I generally don’t use safes. Meanwhile when I travel with Ford, he uses them every single time for basically all of his valuables, so when we’re traveling together, I figure I might as well throw my stuff in there as well.
I will say that where I’m traveling also factors into whether I use the safe, assuming I’m alone. If a place is known for having a particularly high crime rate, I might be more likely to use the safe.
So, why do I believe that using safes is a best practice, but don’t usually do so myself? There are several factors at play:
- I don’t really travel with valuables, aside from some tech gadgets; I rarely have a significant amount of cash or any expensive jewelry, so worst case scenario my passport and credit cards could be stolen, and it’s not like my big laptop fits in most safes anyway
- Most hotels have cameras in the hallways, so it’s not like hotel room theft is that easy; I also usually have the “do not disturb” sign on except brief periods where I get housekeeping, so that eliminates periods where hotel staff may try to enter the room
- Over the years we’ve also seen stories of hotel safes being robbed; after all, someone has the master code for that, and the safes can malfunction
- Speaking of malfunctioning safes, I can’t count the number of times during my travels with Ford that we’ve had issues with getting the safe to work, or even getting the safe to open; I remember one hotel stay a couple of years ago where the safe broke, and they had to drill into it
I guess to sum it up, in-room safe use is one of those areas where I’ll roll the dice, because I don’t view the risk as being terribly substantial. If my credit cards get stolen, fortunately they have great fraud protection. Meanwhile I haven’t heard many stories of housekeepers being involved in passport trafficking rings, so I don’t view that as a major concern. That’s just my take, and that’s not to say others should do the same.
Bottom line
A vast majority of hotels have in-room safes, so that you have somewhere you can place your valuables. Using in-room safes is of course a best practice, especially if you’re traveling with cash or other valuables. However, I can’t say that I actually end up using hotel safes all that much. Up until now that hasn’t been an issue for me… knock on wood.
Do you use hotel safes when traveling? If so, under what circumstances, and what do you put in them?
I carry a portable travel safe and chain it to an immovable object, such as a radiator or sofa bed frame. Inside, I put all my documents, cards, and electronics (including laptop and iPad). It won’t stop a pro, but I think it will slow down someone with sticky fingers. I used to use the in-room safe, but stopped doing that when a hotel safe broke the morning that I was leaving for a flight. I was also surprised how easy it was for the hotel staff to open it.
Many years ago I had the entire safe stolen from my room at the hotel Opera in Madrid. Someone had broken the room door while I was out, went through everything in the room, and evidently when they couldn’t open the safe, decided to take it with them (it was technically bolted to the wall, but not strongly enough)!! No cash or monetary valuables in the safe but sadly I did have my passport, some...
Many years ago I had the entire safe stolen from my room at the hotel Opera in Madrid. Someone had broken the room door while I was out, went through everything in the room, and evidently when they couldn’t open the safe, decided to take it with them (it was technically bolted to the wall, but not strongly enough)!! No cash or monetary valuables in the safe but sadly I did have my passport, some camera films and a mini disc player. 6 months later I was contacted by the hotel to inform me that the police had found the safe and they returned my passport. I was always convinced it was an inside job but couldn’t prove it.
My wife and I always use the room safe. We put in passports, extra cash and extra credit cards. My wife will put some jewelry in, but she rarely travels with the really good stuff.
I usually use the hotel safe. One trick I might add so you don’t forget to take your valuables. . I put one shoe in the safe as well. A great remote.
Kind of interesting nobody seems to have insurance policies that require unattended items to be stored.
I use hotel safes for anything I want insurance to cover if I don't have it on me. My insurance will only cover things if I have made best efforts to prevent theft including using hotel safes when available.
I always lock it if I'm not using it. I figure a thief that can't get access to it (if that can happen) will give up before they find the good stuff. Also, in this day, why can't a safe manufacturer make a safe that is easy for a subset of hotel staff to open when the code is forgotten or the guest left it locked, but can't be opened by googling the model number?
"On the most basic level, it provides the best protection you can get for your personal belongings compared to just leaving them in the room otherwise." The BEST protection is using the hotel safe via reception. If I was traveling with very expensive jewelry I would. In terms of using the room safe I will almost always use it, especially in foreign countries when I am travelling with my passport, several credit cards and a...
"On the most basic level, it provides the best protection you can get for your personal belongings compared to just leaving them in the room otherwise." The BEST protection is using the hotel safe via reception. If I was traveling with very expensive jewelry I would. In terms of using the room safe I will almost always use it, especially in foreign countries when I am travelling with my passport, several credit cards and a decent amount of emergency cash. Ill also throw my ipad in there. These are the prime targets that room thieves would covet. People are out of their mind if they leave passports or credit cards or cash out open in the room. Hotel room theft is a very real problem. It doesn't happen all the time but why tempt fate with something like your passport and risk getting stranded in another country.
Hi Ben,
My wife and I regularly use hotel safes. Most in our experience in recent years DO fit laptops, which is the primary reason we use them (as well as securing our passports). It also seems that hotels are getting better at standardizing how you open and lock them, so there seems to be not as much hunting around and pecking as our experience once was. We travel about 2-3 months a year,...
Hi Ben,
My wife and I regularly use hotel safes. Most in our experience in recent years DO fit laptops, which is the primary reason we use them (as well as securing our passports). It also seems that hotels are getting better at standardizing how you open and lock them, so there seems to be not as much hunting around and pecking as our experience once was. We travel about 2-3 months a year, mostly international.
Love your blog--you obviously put a great deal of hard work into it! Thanks!
I'd say that while it is good to use an in room safe for any valuables (think passport or tech stuff or whatever) you may not want to just have lying around, its probably just a first line of defense against grab and run type burglaries. At least in many (all?) EU countries, hotels explicitly state in fine print that they assume no liability for the contents of the room, including the in room safe....
I'd say that while it is good to use an in room safe for any valuables (think passport or tech stuff or whatever) you may not want to just have lying around, its probably just a first line of defense against grab and run type burglaries. At least in many (all?) EU countries, hotels explicitly state in fine print that they assume no liability for the contents of the room, including the in room safe. There typically is some statutory liability though through national laws, however, this is capped at a certain monetary value.
If you're travelling with expensive jewelry or something else especially valuable, better properties (as in full service/luxury) will usually have guest safes on request, which in many cases are explicitly insured against theft up to a certain sum. Also, those classic safes would require the use of two keys - one being in the possession of the hotel and the other being with the guest, so "inside job" theft is not easy.
I still remember when we stayed in a casa particular in Havana and the owner was showing us around the room. He arrived at the safe and realized the PIN hadn't been reset, so he just casually took out his override key and opened it in front of us :)
Some have mentioned The Lockpicking Lawyer channel on Youtube. I wholeheartedly recommend watching some of his consumer safe and gun box videos. It'll blow your mind how ridiculously flawed these things are.
True this is why you should use the main hotel safe if you have something really valuable. That being said using a room safe can deter the more casual thieves that are just looking to grab something quickly and get out. Of course the hotel will have a way to get into locked safes. People forget their pin codes or leave them locked and check out all the time I'm sure.
I don't see why anyone would want my passport, which I leave in my backpack where I keep it while actually traveling, and I generally carry around 10-20€ worth of cash these days unless I go to some very obscure place, and that stays in my wallet. Just like Ben, I don't really have anything of value I leave in my room when leaving.
You aren't really clear about what you do with valuables. Do you leave your passport laying on the dresser? As a seasoned traveler I have to figure that you travel with several hundred to a couple thousand dollars in cash for emergencies. What do you do with that?
I personally don't use it when travelling - I view using it as beacon to staff that I am travelling with valuables and they know where they are. My laptop I generally just keep on the desk whereas my passport and spare cards/cash I hide under clothes in my suitcase (therefore reducing crimes of opportunity).
Does no one hide their "basic valuables" in a locked suitcase? I then leave all the other bags (also locked) in the room. It is unlikely to see a hotel employee stealing an entire "empty" suitcase and to randomly crack suitcase locks hoping to find something appears to be a fools errand. If you really paranoid use tamper tape ....
I saw this interesting story years ago on a TV travel show. I can't remember the context, whether hotel employees were involved or not, or whether a specific hotel/hotels were targeted. It would have been either CNN or BBC in the late 90s or early 00s..
Room safe thieves would dab a tiny amount of clear gel or some other unobtrusive substance onto the keypad. So when an unsuspecting victim punched in their PIN,...
I saw this interesting story years ago on a TV travel show. I can't remember the context, whether hotel employees were involved or not, or whether a specific hotel/hotels were targeted. It would have been either CNN or BBC in the late 90s or early 00s..
Room safe thieves would dab a tiny amount of clear gel or some other unobtrusive substance onto the keypad. So when an unsuspecting victim punched in their PIN, the numbers would be apparent upon close visual inspection as the substance had been rubbed away by the user's finger. Apparently, the thieves' visual acuity was enough to work out the exact number sequence by the density of the remaining substance! Thus gaining access to room safes. The simple fix was for users to wipe down the keypad before and after use with a damp face cloth or tissue.
That was a low tech heist technique in the late 90s/early 00s. Certainly more imaginative than gaining access via a master key.
I definitely use it even though I know way too many ways it can easily get broken into. But I do it ever since I was in my room once many years ago and a couple walked into my room because front desk gave them a key. When I confronted the front desk they simply apologized and said they don't make that mistake often. To which I said NOT OFTEN?!? so its not the first...
I definitely use it even though I know way too many ways it can easily get broken into. But I do it ever since I was in my room once many years ago and a couple walked into my room because front desk gave them a key. When I confronted the front desk they simply apologized and said they don't make that mistake often. To which I said NOT OFTEN?!? so its not the first or last time.
I generally keep my passport and 1 credit card in there in case I lose my wallet. I also keep my laptop in there which I can location track.
Using it every time is fine, and not using it at all is fine, but using it only occasionally can lead to an uncomfortable situation where hours after check in you realize you forgot your passport in the in room safe. Ask me how I know.
That's why some swears by leaving one shoe in there so that you won't forget.
I personally always leave some type of cable bedside next to my wallet. I never forget my wallet and I've trained myself enough now that when I see a cable next to my wallet I think of safe. It's like training a dog except it's myself. Lol
I use the in-room safe for electronics but for any real valuables, I always use and recommend hotel lock boxes, which are still available in most 5 star properties at the front office (Particularly in Europe).
Haha. I feel bad for you. Those are actually worse, under your t/c you assume all risk. Ie anything is gone tough luck. This is a common misunderstanding. Same as safe deposit box. You assume all risk. I'd. Much rather keep in my bag or room safe. Than showoff my goods to the front desk.
You assume all risk for stuff in the in room safe because it's not monitored. Safes at the front desk actually usually come with a protection because they are under constant CCTV surveillance so any claim can be investigated.
Yes. Simple reason if something happened to valuables ie passport you have taken reasonable steps to safeguard your possessions. Otherwise it’s tough to defend not using a safe and an item goes missing from your room. We also test the safe at least three times before locking anything in it. Decades of travel and never a problem.
I use the safe when it's available for passport and camera equipment. I view this as more important in a large hotel with lots of staff coming and going.
In a small hotel it doesn't seem so important as there is likely to be just one housekeeper. So I wouldn't, though that doesn't mean that I leave stuff just sitting on the desk either.
I always put my passport and my main wallet with extra credit cards in the safe. In previous years I would put my Macbook and iPAD in there as well, but as those devices are now a few years old, I don't bother.
When I have paid or unpaid visitors overnight for rooms, I normally have my valuables (watches, wallets etc.) in the safe and only have required cash around.
I keep my glass eye in there overnight.
A family member of mine had hundreds of dollars of cash stolen from a hotel safe years ago in Boston. When he returned to his hotel room after being out for the afternoon, his pin did not work. He contacted the hotel staff and when they used the master pin to open the safe, his cash was gone. He filed a police report but did not recover anything.
Since then, I have usually avoided the...
A family member of mine had hundreds of dollars of cash stolen from a hotel safe years ago in Boston. When he returned to his hotel room after being out for the afternoon, his pin did not work. He contacted the hotel staff and when they used the master pin to open the safe, his cash was gone. He filed a police report but did not recover anything.
Since then, I have usually avoided the safes. When I do use them, I take a picture of the safe with my contents in it before locking it.
I never use it and have never had in issue over hundreds of stays. My view is the risk for an employee to steal at a 5 star property is too high so it doesn't really make sense for them to do it (especially in the Mid East and some Asian countries where the penalties are stiff).
The safe is definitely not Fort Knox, but it will stop casual theft and slow a determined thief, so I use them instead of leaving stuff lying around the room. Passport, cash, credit cards and laptop.
One similar question is, if there are no in-room safes, how many people ever leave valuable with the front desk? In my case, very rarely. Seems like asking for trouble.
I hide my wallet, keys, passport, thumb drive, etc, in a small metal locking gun case designed for a pistol. They usually come with a wire cable and can be placed in many spots, some not requiring the using the cable.
If the room has a tall free standing cabinet rim molding, I will place it on top near the back. It is out of view. You could hide the same items without the...
I hide my wallet, keys, passport, thumb drive, etc, in a small metal locking gun case designed for a pistol. They usually come with a wire cable and can be placed in many spots, some not requiring the using the cable.
If the room has a tall free standing cabinet rim molding, I will place it on top near the back. It is out of view. You could hide the same items without the case.
Closets sometimes have a top shelf where extra pillows or a blanket are kept. If there is a large metal pipe running through the spot, connect the cable around it while hiding the case in the blanket and pillow. Or, just hide the items in the folds of the blanket.
If the refrigerator is in a cabinet, place the case behind the fridge. Same can be done putting valuables in a zippered bag.
Some bed frames may have a metal bar. At the head of the bed, hide the case between the mattress and box spring with the cable around the bar. Bit of extra work, the mattress can be a bit heavy.
I usually pack the case in my luggage with it open. If TSA sees it in their machines, they can easily see nothing is inside.
Always use it. Passport, laptop, iPad, extra cash, credit cards I don't need go in there.
I was using a room safe in a hotel once. It had a digital keypad. Anyway, something failed in the electronics so I called the management because I couldn't open the safe. They sent a guy up and he had the safe open very quickly using two very common tools.
Those safes are not as secure as you think. They may discourage the casual thief though.
Highly recommend The Lockpicking Lawyer channel on YouTube. The vast majority of consumer-grade safes and locks aren't very robust at all.
Use the safe for my laptops and passport.
Company policy mandates that company laptops must be locked away and never left in the open when not in the room.
Never use them.
I just pack my stuff in my bag before leaving the room, and put my own lock (has both code and key options) on the bag.
Anything can happen anywhere, but for me it's been a 100% effective strategy since the '80s, so I'm sticking with it.
I dont think I've ever used a hotel safe. The chance of me forgetting about it and leaving something there is much greater than the chance of someone stealing something from my room
Sure I understand that hotel safes aren't 100% secure, but it's better than nothing. I'm not stupid enough to lug around huge sums of cash, gold, or jewelry anyway. I use the safes to store extra credit cards I don't need to carry (such as airline/hotel cards or cards I keep just for travel benefits but don't put spend on), travel gift cards, passport, backup phone, small amounts of currency from countries that I'm presently...
Sure I understand that hotel safes aren't 100% secure, but it's better than nothing. I'm not stupid enough to lug around huge sums of cash, gold, or jewelry anyway. I use the safes to store extra credit cards I don't need to carry (such as airline/hotel cards or cards I keep just for travel benefits but don't put spend on), travel gift cards, passport, backup phone, small amounts of currency from countries that I'm presently not in, and a usb thumb drive with encrypted emergency info like some key account access, photos of passport/ID, etc.
I use the safe for valuables like my iPad and MacBook if I'm leaving the room and expecting housekeeping to enter. I lock it, check that I can open it (better a surprise now than later when I'm in a hurry), then lock it again.
I then try opening it with codes 0000 and 1234. Several times I've found that a hotel has left the master code set as it was when the system was...
I use the safe for valuables like my iPad and MacBook if I'm leaving the room and expecting housekeeping to enter. I lock it, check that I can open it (better a surprise now than later when I'm in a hurry), then lock it again.
I then try opening it with codes 0000 and 1234. Several times I've found that a hotel has left the master code set as it was when the system was delivered (or set it to a stupidly easy-to-remember code). If one of those works (and it has, in several different hotels), I lock the valuables in my luggage instead.
Thank you for this. Never knew about this. Will definitely check next time.
I think Ben means "hidden" cameras in the hallway (in the "smoke detectors"). However, I've had housekeepers open the door while I was in the room even with both the do not disturb sign AND dead bolt on (by tapping their staff room keys twice which overrides the dead bolt), and only the latch stopped them.
Agree with Ben’s thoughts. Have stayed in a lot of hotels for 30+ years without incident (have not always used the safe). Therefore, I judge the risk of theft as near 0 (but not at 0). However, the degree of worry varies a lot from person to person. Therefore, the main value of a safe is worry reduction. It allows one to not think about it as much and enjoy one’s vacation more. I worry...
Agree with Ben’s thoughts. Have stayed in a lot of hotels for 30+ years without incident (have not always used the safe). Therefore, I judge the risk of theft as near 0 (but not at 0). However, the degree of worry varies a lot from person to person. Therefore, the main value of a safe is worry reduction. It allows one to not think about it as much and enjoy one’s vacation more. I worry slightly and my wife worries a lot, so we still use it because it takes minimal time to do so (low cost/benefit ratio).
When I need to use a safe for valuables, I always place them in a hotel safety deposit box. Not all hotels offer this, but all the ones at which I've stayed where I needed this service have them.
I use it, because it is still saver than leaving everything openly in the room. But I usually don’t travel with any valuables, I just use it to safeguard some of my credit cards and a little cash. Like this, the risk is split.
Never use it. A motivated person will get to it if they wanted. Always a gamble but i take few precautions other than not leaving passport out in the open
I use the safe for an entirely different reason. It may slow down a random hotel employee but it's not going to stop anyone who is a professional, but in that case the hotel's insurance generally has to insure items in the safe up to some value and my laptop, camera and tablet are all under that value, so I can make a claim against their insurance and not mine.
Much like you I don’t travel with valuables and carry very little cash, as eluded to master codes are readily available online so no I don’t use safes. I lock tech and passports etc in my hand luggage and then place that inside my suitcase.
You realise airlines are not liable for electronics etc in checked bags. Theft is common at many airports and you place for example, a laptop in the bag and someone tries successfully to access it and compromise your data.
Depends on the country, for instance Japan, I don’t use it… I sometimes even leave my wallet out in the open when I go to breakfast or the gym.
Other places, I always use the safe for passport & spare credit card!
Looking to learn good practices from others in the comment section!
Basically never use them. 2-3 months of hotel stays a year and no issue. Travelled with a friend this year who insisted on it so I went “sure I’ll use the safe” and put my laptop, some cards I didn’t need and other things in my hotel in Tokyo.
When I got my next stop in Bangkok I got an email from the hotel saying I’d left items in the safe and they’d removed them....
Basically never use them. 2-3 months of hotel stays a year and no issue. Travelled with a friend this year who insisted on it so I went “sure I’ll use the safe” and put my laptop, some cards I didn’t need and other things in my hotel in Tokyo.
When I got my next stop in Bangkok I got an email from the hotel saying I’d left items in the safe and they’d removed them. Luckily I was back to Tokyo a week later.
My lesson is learned I have returned to leaving all my valuables out for someone to take.
I store my pistol in my hotel safe when I want to go out for a drink or have some wine with dinner.
@JChang
I don’t believe you and not funny. A responsible gun owner would never post this type of comment online.
I guess you don't follow Donut Operator -- he posted on X a while back about housekeeping who placed a towel under his daily carry and he was not a happy camper. Though, I don't know why he kept his daily carry on a side table while he was not in his room.
I rarely use the room safe for similar reasons - I don't travel with many valuables (other than my phone), cash, or very expensive jewelry. I like the idea of putting my passport in it, but I am more worried that I will forget it than it being stolen.
I always use the safe to store my laptop (14" MBP, the largest laptop most safes can safely accomodate imo) and, occasionally, my passport. No jewelry and no cash.
Never had an issue with the safe malfunctioning and never had anything stolen.
We always use the in room safe. I try opening and closing it a couple of times before using it to make sure it works. Then we put our passports, iPads, and my husband's medicine in it. We rarely have much cash or too many credit cards. You might be surprised but the staff will steal your medications even if they don't know what they are for. It's happened multiple times (US and Europe) so now it all goes in the safe.
Definitely agree with testing it a couple times after setting the combo. I use the safes, but on the last night of sleeping in the room, I open it before going to bed. That's just in case I can't get it open in the am before we leave - which can be a hassle if the right/any security person is around to pop it open. We store iPads, cash, and important paper stuff and passports (if any).
Same here. I do use them, and I do test them a couple of times right after setting my own combination but before putting anything inside.
Leaving the safe open the night before leaving is a good tip, I'll do this in future.
I agree with keeping medicine and passports in the safe. Both are hard to get replaced quickly (especially outside of your home country), and things can get pretty bad, pretty quickly if you are without some medication.
I tend to use them, depending on what I have with me that I want to keep safe. For business trips I rarely used it. But if I'm traveling with a passport, additional cash, etc, I'll use it; especially when traveling internationally. I know they can be easily opened with the right hardware, but generally it's only the staff with access to that stuff, and they still have to access your room. I figure it...
I tend to use them, depending on what I have with me that I want to keep safe. For business trips I rarely used it. But if I'm traveling with a passport, additional cash, etc, I'll use it; especially when traveling internationally. I know they can be easily opened with the right hardware, but generally it's only the staff with access to that stuff, and they still have to access your room. I figure it decreases crimes of opportunity. Some of the newer safes are so small you can't put a laptop in there, but I might put it in there if I'm traveling with one. Since I no longer travel for work I've been doing my best to avoid traveling with so much technology when I'm on vacation.
Lucky the type of guy to see if whoever stole is credit cards is still using the correct card for the correct category
I never use the safes. Generally don't have valuables with me and anything I do have (passport, cash) are on my person anytime I am out of the room. The only thing left in my room is my laptop and it won't fit in most safes.
I manage vacation rentals and when the safes aren't malfunctioning on their own, people use them incorrectly or forget their codes very often. The reality is that in...
I never use the safes. Generally don't have valuables with me and anything I do have (passport, cash) are on my person anytime I am out of the room. The only thing left in my room is my laptop and it won't fit in most safes.
I manage vacation rentals and when the safes aren't malfunctioning on their own, people use them incorrectly or forget their codes very often. The reality is that in hotels the only people likely to steal from your room are staff and most of them can get in the safe anyway. They are really a false sense of security. No way on earth I would be leaving any cash in them, there is no way to prove that it was ever there and putting it in the safe gives the hotel ammunition to say that it could not possibly have been stolen, it was in a safe.
Yes, I use the safe. Cash, passport and in poor countries even my laptop goes in there. Not foolproof, of course. But it still makes it a tad bit harder for anyone with wrong intentions.
People are people, and it can happen to you anywhere. I know someone who had a large sum of cash taken from their room at the Cheval Blanc in Paris. Letting your guard down because you're somewhere it "shouldn't" happen is foolish. While the safe can still be broken into, it's by far the safest way and it takes all of 30 seconds to use. There's no reason not to.
Agreed. The 30 seconds it takes to throw things in a safe is worth it. While it may be easy to replace credit cards/computers, using a safe saves significant hassle/time vs having to replace them all because an opportunistic thief took things that I left more easily accessible