Manage Your Hotel Safety
There's plenty you can do to keep hazards at bay!

The last thing you want to think about as you travel the world is hotel 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 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, guest houses or backpacker lodges, which often leave much to be desired when it comes to hotel 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 safety isn't something you can ignore.

You can, but at your peril.

Personal Hotel 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.

Younger travelers tend to opt for hostels because they're cheaper and more sociable 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 safety precautions can still be taken. Here are just a few common sense 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.

• 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.

Make sure you're not trapped
macfanmd via Flickr CC
• 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.

• 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 in case of fire) so you can sleep with your windows open.

• 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. You never know when it might be useful in an emergency.

• If you're staying in a particularly seedy place - and it may well 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. This was not hotel room safety at its best!

• 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.

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