Hotel Room Safety:
For Women, It's No Joke!

The last thing you want to think about as you travel the world is hotel room safety, especially if you're backpacking. Such is the camaraderie of this way of travel that you'd often rather ignore potential safety risks.

But you will stay in hotels and hostels, and you will at times share rooms. Cheap hotels are often of poor construction, and safety and fire norms may not be as strict as you're accustomed to.

Your hotel room safety precautions will be different when you're on the road. You probably won't be staying in too many four-star hotels, with room phones, smoke detectors and 24-hour guards. On the contrary, most backpackers stay in hostels or backpacker lodges, which often leave much to be desired when it comes to hotel room safety, comfort or privacy.

In Dar-es-Salaam I stayed in a six-floor guesthouse and the owners locked it down completely at night to prevent theft. In a fire, it would have been disastrous - every window was grated, every door locked.

Hotel room safety isn't something you can ignore.

You can, but at your peril.

Personal Hotel Room Safety Tips for Women

The difference between cheap hostel beds and a hotel room is that you'll rarely be on your own in a hostel - most are made up of dorms or large shared rooms. I've often awakened with a different roomful of faces than the ones I went to bed with!

Younger travelers tend to opt for hostels because they're cheaper but that doesn't mean there is an age limit.

In Durban one day I woke up to the sight of an 80-year-old man serenely disrobing in full view - as though he'd done that all his life. While some hostels do separate the sexes, many do not.

If this makes you incredibly uncomfortable, don't worry, you'll become more used to unusual situations as you travel. And if you can afford it, many hostels and guesthouses have the option of single rooms, so don't hesitate.

Wherever you are, some basic hotel room safety precautions can still be taken. Here are just a few of my own hotel safety procedures:

• Cheap hotels tend to be small. Try to book a room on a low floor (not ground floor) in case of fire.
• Try to get a room that isn't too easily accessible from the street - facing a courtyard is better.
• Lock your windows at night if you're near the ground or if there is a balcony. If you think you'll be too hot with the window closed or if there's no fan, make sure you're above the second floor (but preferably no higher than the fourth) so you can sleep with your windows open.
• Make sure the lock on your door works. If it doesn't, use your own. Carry a padlock or combination lock in case your door has a latch - in many countries it will.
• When you first move into your room, check it out - and that means bathroom, behind the curtain, inside any closets and behind doors.
• Look for the fire exits. Make sure you know where they are - and that they're not blocked.
• Once you're sure you're alone, always lock your door when you're inside. It's harder when you're sharing and people come and go at all hours - but do your best. Leave the key in the lock when you sleep, but twist it sideways so no one can push it out and slip it back under their door.
• If for some reason the door won't lock, put something - like a chair - against it and balance something noisy on it. When someone tries to come in they'll wake you up immediately. A small rubber doorstop also comes in handy to keep people out.
• Never open your door unless you know the person behind it. Once a man is in, it's difficult to get him out.
• Avoid being seen entering and leaving your hotel alone. Wait for a group and just walk out with them. No one will know you don't belong.
• Always sleep with a flashlight next to your bed.
• If you're staying in a particularly seedy place - and it will happen - check for peepholes. I stayed for a week in a brothel in Malawi (and I was lucky to get that room!) and I spent most of it barricaded behind my door. I simply didn't feel safe wandering down the halls, and took showers early in the afternoon, when most clients had either gone or not come in yet.
• When you leave the hotel or hostel, make sure you carry the hotel's card or its address with you. In Zanzibar Stone Town, most guest houses give you a card with a map - the town is built like a labyrinth and you could wander all night trying to get back to your room.

Above all, trust your instincts. If the guesthouse or hostel doesn't 'feel right', leave. Plenty of others are vying for your business.

Keeping your Belongings Safe

Today's backpackers often don't travel light, and that makes hotel room safety a little harder.

Some of us rough it, carrying only the bare minimum to survive. Others are 'flashpackers', toting every entertainment or safety gadget under the sun. And some of us work along the way, which means laptops, cellphones, PDAs - many things worth stealing.

The first rule of the road is if you can't afford to lose it, don't take it with you. But if you must take it with you, try to keep it safe.

Even if people come and go in hostels, there is often a sense of shared vulnerability. Most people are fellow travelers and are equally worried about their belongings.

Still, the same rules apply to hotel room safety anywhere. To keep your belongings safe, follow a few simple hotel room safety tips:

• Keep your eye on your backpack when you check in, especially if the reception or entrance is crowded.
• If there's an in-room safe with an electronic lock, put your valuables inside. I prefer not to leave things at the front desk or in the hotel safe - unless it's a large reputable hotel. Small lodges or hostels may not have a main safe - your valuables end up in the manager's room or drawer.
• Don't leave anything in full view - temptation is temptation. Anyone can walk off with your laptop while the door is open during cleaning. And your everyday belongings may be worth someone else's life savings.
• Make sure your windows are locked before you leave. It's easy to slip in and steal.
• Always lock your backpack and fasten it to something solid. What doesn't fit in a room safe - like a laptop - can be locked inside your backpack and fastened to a pipe or railing.
• Wear your travel money belt to bed and take it to the shower with you. Just throw a towel over it to keep it dry!
• Leave a light or radio on when you leave the room. Anyone who listens at the door will think you're either in the room or coming back soon.
• If you do have expensive gadgets, don't flash them around where other guests or hotel staff can see them.
• Don't leave expensive clothes out to dry or air. A fellow traveler left her high-tech Nike Air-Max trainers on the doorstep - irresistible in a poor country. She spent the next week trekking in her flip flops.

TIP: Talk to other travelers. Word gets around. If hotels are unsafe and theft is rampant, travelers will spread the word!

Hotel Room Safety Devices - or Gadgets!

Despite all your precautions, a few gadgets might be useful along the way. These are some of the ones I've traveled with over time.

A wire lock - a length of wire with a lock at the end. You can use it to lock your laptop to the sink or your backpack to the water pipes. It's just nice to have along.

One of my favorites is the door stop alarm - wedge it under the door just inside your room. If someone opens the door from the outside, it lets off a shrill siren. It is battery operated, and easy to carry in a backpack. Failing that, a plain rubber doorstop will make it difficult for anyone to get in.

Another neat alarm for your hotel room safety is a door knob alarm. They're armed with motion sensors - if someone tries to get into your room, the alarm will ring, usually loudly.

A good piece of safety equipment I carry is a portable door lock. Just slip it into the door frame and presto, your door is locked from the inside.

And last but not least, if fear of fires grabs you, carry a lightweight smoke hood. They take up little room and can make the difference between life and death by giving you time to escape.

Accidents happen, but with all these precautions you'll be making sure you put all the hotel room safety odds on your side!