To Trust or Not to Trust Hotel Staff, that is the question

/ Bulldog Travels

Be honest!  Do you place the “Do Not Disturb” door hanger on the door just to keep cleaning staff out of your room and your valuables safe?  Do you hide your jewelry when you know the maid is coming?  Do you carry valuable items with you for fear hotel staff may be particularly nosy?  Do you partake of the in room safe some hotels provide?

I go back and forth on this issue.  I try to trust that people are inherently good and remind myself not to be paranoid.  But, with a law enforcement background, I can’t help but be honest and rational about the realities that are out there. Some people are desperate and bad things happen.  I never want to put myself in the position to be victimized so I tend to “hide” items or limit the amount of cleaning or access to my room unless necessary.  Being the victim of theft would put an instant damper on any vacation especially if one brings along expensive camera equipment, computer equipment, money, travel documents, or other sentimental valuables.

I feel more comfortable in some places versus others.  I have always felt very comfortable in B&Bs, VRBOs, and AirBNBs.  But commercial hotels and small hotels especially in bad areas always gets my “spidey sense” up and I tend to be more conservative.  I try to trust my instincts.  They rarely steer me wrong.

What are your thoughts?  Have you had any bad hotel experiences?  Or have you experienced self-inflicted paranoia, like me, where you are probably overly concerned?

Dirty Little Secrets of a Hotel Maid

Does the Hotel Maid Look Through Your Stuff?

16 thoughts on “To Trust or Not to Trust Hotel Staff, that is the question”

  1. I haven’t really had any bad experiences in the case of Hotel Staff stealing my stuff (I’ve had bad experiences in other ways, but not this one), I guess that’s because I always take precautions 😛 And yea, I guess I feel safer in B&B’s or moderate hotels rather than extreme high or low end hotels….
    Though these days my parents have been opting for the “rent a cottage for 3-4 days” thing, so I feel safe leaving my belongings in that type of place too 🙂

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  2. I haven’t got anything worth stealing. I just leave stuff out on the top so that anyone can see that it isn’t worth looking any further. A friend of mine always leaves a tip on the first day on the basis that they will look after your stuff after that.
    Only place I was ever robbed was on the streets of Barcelona and Kim had a camera stolen on the Athens metro.

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  4. I generally trust the places I stay at but I always utilize the safe if they have one. I’ve been lucky and haven’t had anything stolen. The one bad incident I did have was at a B&B in Georgetown. I parked my car next to the B&B and someone keyed it all the down the left side and the hood. $3000 in damage. We were looking at property there but after that experience I’ve come to loathe Georgetown.

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  6. I am probably overly concerned but I am definitely a ‘hider’… hehe. I’ve got things stuffed away all over the hotel room when I travel:) Key is remembering everything when you leave!

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  8. I don’t have any problems with my belongings so far. I am afraid more of losing my travel documents like passport, Permanent Resident card, and bank cards. These items must be placed in secured area. Other than that, the hotel maid is welcome to try my perfume 😉 Really, I don’t mind if they want to – as long as they don’t finish it 😀 One thing perhaps I wonder if they try out drinks from the fridge..but hopefully they will not 🙂
    The most important thing is my room should be clean and ready when I return from day trip or scuba diving 🙂

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  9. After seeing the agony a friend went through when her passport was stolen on a sleeper train (along with the rest of her backpack) I’ll always make sure my passport is locked up. I try to avoid bringing any other valuables and keep cash on me or in the safe.

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