To take an extra door lock to a hotel?

[MrsSchrute]

I'm travelling alone for work next week, staying overnight in a hotel.

I'm thinking of buying an extra lock to secure the hotel door, I've read too many threads on here about people walking into hotel rooms to feel totally relaxed!

Am I being overcautious? Have you used an extra lock? Is there one you would recommend?

I'm a housekeeper in a budget hotel. We don't have chains on the door as they are classed as a fire hazard due to people not being able to get them open in the event of a fire alarm/smoke in room.
A door wedge, a door alarm that hangs on the handle or roll a towel up to wedge behind the door will make opening the door difficult. Even a chair under the handle is fine to keep safe.
If you don't have or want to do any of the suggested, ask reception if they have a door wedge, I've been asked before now for a door wedge for a single lady and at my company, there is policies in place for single ladies staying by themselves.
Hope this helps.

Where do you stay?
They almost all have bolts, chains or little nicks/wedges that you pull out?

When I am in a cheap hotel on my own I put my suitcase up against the door before go to sleep : if anyone opened the door it would fall over with a clatter and wake me up:

I've never had to evacuate in an emergency but I did have someone get issued a key to my room at midnight and try to get in. I bought an extra lock after that frightening night.

I travel a lot for work and I’ve literally never stayed in hotel room without a chain/bolt. I’m not saying they don’t exist but I don’t think you can say ‘most’ don’t.

This. I ‘locked’ our bathroom door like this for years.

Get a wedge. If you ever forget it, put a chair tilted against the door so it would fall over if pushed with several clattering things perched on the chair.

Its not just mistaken keycards, it is actual staff that could be the intruder.

I've not yet had anyone walk into my room, but twice I've been given a key card and opened the door to see an obviously occupied room - belongings all over the place. Nobody visible, though in one case they might have been in the bathroom, as the bathroom door was closed.

Chair under the door handle? I did this when I realised our corridor went to an outside door, which the staff liked to leave open not sure why for a smoke or whatever but rather scary.

I have stayed in hotels without chains/bolts.

Can someone explain how the towel works? Would the door not just push the towel away?

Yes, if it is a big door gap then they can push it from the other side, sometimes you cannot rely on just a wedge.

I have a little metal lock that slots into the door frame that I bought from Amazon. I though a wedge could just be pushed out from the other side.
I've only had hotel staff walk in once, without knocking, in the middle of the day when I think they assumed I was out.

FGS just use the bloody lock provided!! I’ve stayed in a million hotels and all the colleagues/friends who go on about people wandering into their room have never locked their door! You wouldn’t go to bed at home without locking your front door, would you?!

That sounds horrific!! I get that it was an innocent mistake but in the moment you must've been absolutely terrified. I hope the hotel apologised

We just stayed in 3 different holiday inns, and in 2 of them, the chain/extra lock bit was broken off.

I always put my suitcase/a bin/something noisy if it falls over in front of the door, but a wedge would work too. I don't know about these external locks, I can't see how they can fit every hotel door.

This isn't meant to sound goady but I'm genuinely curious what the statistics are for the number of solo female travellers assaulted in their hotel rooms by complete strangers (ie nobody they knew personally or would have known they were staying there).

It feels like everyone is terrified of hotel rooms and make them sound like the most dangerous places ever. Yes, housekeeping or other guests may stumble inside or attempt to open the wrong door by accident but these aren't criminals by default. The nature of a hotel where hundreds of humans are staying in close proxity to each other means room mixups will happen. It would be psychologically abnormal for a normal person looking for their own room to suddenly decide to commit rape just because they happened to enter the wrong door where a woman was staying.

Many stories of "someone tried to open my door" and "someone entered my room by accident" come with the subtext that they escaped sexual assault by a hair. But if it was an honest mixup of keycards, why would another hotel guest who simply wanted to go back to his room even consider assaulting another guest? That person was probably equally mortified to stumble into a stranger's room.

The design of a hotel is also completely anonymous. So if you make sure that nobody sees you enter and exit the room, and don't make unnecessary small talk with other guests, then who would know there's a single female staying there? As a male hotel guest, it would be ridiculous to contemplate assault as all your details and ID are on file. Hotels have CCTV and it would be the easiest job in the world for police to compile a list of suspects.

As a frequently solo female traveller, I actually feel safer inside hotels because of the anonymity. Literally nobody knows who's behind any of the doors. As long as you take basic precautions like making sure nobody sees you enter the room and locking the door from the inside. The genuine risks of solo travel would be people who know you personally. Work colleagues, friends of friends, dating partners, social media followers who know exactly that you're alone in the city and also where you're staying.

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 (also whilst alone in the room to begin with, so not including cases were someone was invited back to the hotel). Happy to stand corrected, but I think it's just something that doesn't happen very often, if at all.

OK, and I've never had a car accident, but I still wear my seatbelt. I don't think that putting a lock/wedge/suitcase in front of the door is anything but an easy, sensible precaution.

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

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.

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

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!!

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.