Here's Why You Should Check Hotel Door Locks Before Unpacking
If you're checking into a hotel, heed these words of warning about the doors
Travellers have been sharing their top tips online, and one that you might not expect is that many have suggested that you should check the lock on your hotel room door before you settle down in there.
Obviously, most hotel rooms have doors that lock, be that with a key card or a physical key.
However, it’s something that we’d all tend to take for granted and wouldn’t give that much thought to when checking in.
Apparently, you should.
This information – which isn’t meant to scare you, just inform you – was shared on Reddit, where people revealed stories of their own room related mishaps and mix-ups.
On the subreddit r/LifeProTips, one user simply shared how everyone should make checking their room door the first thing that they do when arriving into a new hotel room.
Don’t just flop down onto the bed or run the shower to check it, there’ll be time for that afterwards.
The user said: "Check your hotel room door locks BEFORE you unpack.
"Before you get settled in, make sure your door has a working bolt you can engage from the inside and if the bolt is broken or doesn't exist or the lock is in overall poor condition, ask for another room.
"Your hotel costs should include this basic level of security."
Since it was shared, this particular pro tip for life has been upvoted 6,000 times and received hundreds of comments from people with their own stories to tell on the matter.
One person said: "I once stayed in a hotel and they had physical keys for the rooms.
"The morning comes round and this woman just unlocks my door and walks halfway through the door, screams and runs out.
"The keys all opened every door... she was using the room opposite and obviously forgot which one was hers."
Another commented: "My aunt and her friends had met a guy at a bar who had followed them back to their motel (without them knowing).
"In the middle of the night he convinced the front desk he knew the girls and so they have him a key to their room.
"My aunt is a fairly light sleeper and woke up to this guy snoring on their floor.
“She screamed, the guy woke up and tried to explain, she gave no s***s and kicked him out. Then she ripped the front desk a new one."
Another told the tale of how they discovered their room door had been secretly wedged open, without their knowledge.
They said: "My hubby went to the bathroom, meanwhile I locked the deadbolt behind us. It opened when I checked. I locked the deadbolt, door opened. Rinse and repeat.
"I found the plastic 'no smoking' sign, paper advertisements and junk crammed into the door jam slot - you know, where the handle locks into the frame?
"So, it sounded like it locked, looked like it locked, but nothing locked. I pulled everything out and locked the door for real and tried to stop hyperventilating."
Yikes, what was that about?
It doesn’t bear thinking about.
Someone else said: "My mum and dad were checked into a room. When they opened the door (with the key card), there was another guest showering (thinking the door was locked - a reasonable expectation of privacy on the guest's part).
"The clerk somehow issued the same room key twice."
There you have it folks – it’s worth remembering to check those door locks before you start unpacking that suitcase.
You’ll feel better for it.
Featured Image Credit: PexelsTom Wood