To take an extra door lock to a hotel?

I stay in a lot of premier inns and they all have either chains, or deadlocks. My understanding of the deadlocks is that no standard key card, even the ones used by housekeeping, will open a door which is dead locked. The hotel has very small number of emergency master keys (maybe 2 or 3) held by staff like the duty manager, or head of security, which will open deadlocked doors if needed (such as a fire and rooms need to checked for anyone who couldn't evacuate) . I've been in other hotels which have also had deadlocks. I always use the deadlock as soon as I enter a hotel room and never felt the need for anything else.

I would usually say that you are being over cautious but Dh had someone walk in to his room last week (premier inn had given her a swipe). He had just got out of the shower and the poor woman was probably more traumatised than him!

I work away a lot and have never had a problem but it is now something that I will consider.

PS I do stay in some dodgy counties and cities, and find the dodgier the country, the more likely the hotel is to have better security.

One of my colleagues was a victim of a high profile kidnapping and beating recently, so I am pretty hot on hotel security. He was kidnapped outside of our safe zone though.

I know many more colleagues who have been in hotel fires though.

Please don’t wedge your door shut. The risk of not being able to escape in a fire, or for rescuers not to be able to get in, actually makes me want to cry.

Double lock the door, use the chain / bar.

I travel for work and every single hotel room I have ever stayed in has had a separate physical lock - a chain or bolt or one of those flip over bars. In 25 years of professional travel the only person I have heard of assaulted in their room had someone come in through their sliding door to the garden, which was not locked.

I check all the doors in my room when I first get into it, and there are always extra security latches. I mainly stay in high end chains. The only places I have not found these locks have been low budget B&Bs.

You just set the alarm up so it goes off if the door is opened.

I find this bizzare, what’s the odds of someone smashing her hotel room door down and raping her? Has that ever happened?

Is it a really dodgy hotel? I travel for work regularly and it wouldn’t cross my mind to do this but to be honest I stay in chain hotels large ones in main cities nothing rough or dodgy,

And come to think of it, one of the hotels where I walked into an obviously occupied room with a genuine, working key card was a Hilton.

TBH I don't think any hotel is completely safe but I always have felt safe in the ones I've stayed in.

I used to work away a lot, never had an issue with anyone getting in to the room- but did have a fire in a hotel in the middle of the night- which was a little scary. Whatever you get as an extra safety measure (which I think is a great idea) make sure you can get out quickly too

I wouldn't be too sure about Hiltons.

See this thread on what happened to one woman staying at a Hilton on expenses.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5084579-sister-just-had-some-guy-walk-into-her-hotel-room

Maybe it depends on the hotel type - I'm usually in chains like Radisson or Hilton because they're always central, clean and feel safe - my expense account is pretty good.

My advice is to make sure the receptionist doesn't announce your room number! They should pass it to you written down. I have refused a room when they have said it out loud, and told them that they now need to (silently) allocate me a new room.
I also compliment those who do it correctly.

Real housewife of Cheshire Tanya also.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/real-housewives-cheshire-star-tanya-4975906.amp

Ah that makes a bit more sense. I was thinking of the usual hard floor.

I travel a lot for work and most hotels I've stayed in recently have only had the kind of lock that automatically opens when you turn the handle from the inside. It wasn't very reassuring when someone tried to get in my room at 4am last month. Undoubtedly drunk and mistook their room but it still didn't do a lot for my blood pressure.

I'm going to look at a wedge now.

Does anyone else remember this post from last year? The OP of the thread was woken by the hotel receptionist in her room at a Travelodge. She posted footage of his behaviour after the incident. He was known to the police and hadn't been DBS checked.
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/uk/4853593-hotel-safety
I found her account horrifying and would definitely consider a wedge or lock if I was travelling alone. A similar thing happened to a friend who was holidaying in France as a student - although in that case the hotel receptionist was hiding in her room when she returned in the evening so an extra lock wouldn't have helped. Just because these incidents don't make the news, doesn't mean they don't occur.

Try it at home. Roll a towel up and push it tight against the bottom of the door (assuming carpeted floor btw) and then try and open your door and see what happens.

I don't think there's many high profile cases, except that poor woman from X factor, she was raped by a hotel porter. Lucy Spraggan. Horrific situation, and the X factor staff didn't offer much support, if any at the time.

That's horrific, however I don't think it's the same risk profile as an anonymous female traveller. She was already a celebrity at the time and the hotel staff could find out exactly who was staying in which room. It's a deplorable act but comparable to a crime committed by a stalker or acquaintance who knew their target would be alone in that hotel during a specific time. It was essentially pre-meditated and compounded by the fact the guests were all "famous" with the Xfactor behind it.

I travel a lot on my own and have a portable lock, i like it for peace of mind. I’ve had people come in to my room in the middle of the night on several occasions in the past, and even if its an innocent mistake its still terrifying having a stranger come in to your bedroom at night!!

We just move a chair in the room to the door. If no chair a shoe, bag ....

I don't think there's many high profile cases, except that poor woman from X factor, she was raped by a hotel porter. Lucy Spraggan. Horrific situation, and the X factor staff didn't offer much support, if any at the time.

I don't recall a single high-profile case in the media about a traveller who was assaulted by in a hotel room by a complete stranger
There was a news story last year about an x factor star who was raped when a hotel porter used his key to enter her room. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jul/15/lucy-spraggan-reveals-she-was-sexually-attacked-during-x-factor