“I mean, when you pay $400+/night for hotel stays you wouldn’t be so concerned about property security, would you?” asked FlyerTalk member YWang after $900.00 in cash was allegedly stolen from a wallet left in a hotel room during the celebration of a wedding anniversary. “I guess this is a very painful lesson we learned.”
Indeed.
Some Potentially Bad Advice Regarding Valuable Property in a Hotel Room
Realize that the room rate of a hotel does not necessarily correlate with safety or security. Crime can happen in upscale hotels as well as seedy budget motels…
…but what concerns me is how many FlyerTalk members recommended in this discussion using the safe in a hotel room to keep valuable items secured — and while that may lend an extra layer of security to valuable items as opposed to leaving them out in the open on a nightstand or desk in the hotel room, it is far from a safe and secure option. Please read this article to find out why; as well as watch the video accompanying this article.
Better Advice to Keeping Your Valuable Items Secured
Keep your important papers on your person — as I always do — or take them down to the front desk and ask the agent to store them in the hotel safe.
Do not take more cash than you need. I take just enough cash in case of an emergency — otherwise, the credit cards I take with me usually more than suffice whenever I need them, as they are usually a more secure option of payment. If your credit card is stolen, you have significantly more recourse than you would with cash pertaining to losses; and for credit card holders in the United States, you are typically liable for only the first $50.00 in charges when a credit card is stolen — and my experience is that I have never had to pay that $50.00 whenever my credit card number was stolen.
Although I usually attempt not to use it, I would rather pay the potential surcharges incurred on my bank card when using an automated teller machine rather than leave excess money in my hotel room with a chance of it being stolen — or worse, potentially be robbed of it when carrying it on my person. Those extra charges probably look quite good rather than have had the money gone forever in the case of anyone who had their cash stolen or lost.
Use the hotel safe. If you really must have extra cash immediately available when you travel, you can take a chance by storing it in the safe in the hotel room if it is equipped with one — but there is no guarantee that you will see it again in there either.
Rather, take any valuables you have and have the front desk clerk or manager store your items in the hotel safe instead — although YWang claims that the hotel was not equipped with a safe — and be sure you get an official signed receipt as proof that the hotel indeed does have your belongings, just in case there is a dispute. This option may be less convenient, but it is far more secure.
Summary
Although YWang was given a partial credit by the hotel, it did not cover the amount of cash which was purportedly stolen. At least members of the staff of the hotel property were immediately informed; a claim was filed with the parent company of the hotel property; and a report of the incident was created by the police — but despite taking those actions, recovering all of the cash is likely not possible at this point.
The most important lesson to learn in this case is to never leave your valuable items unprotected — whether in a hotel room or elsewhere.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
