Hotel Safes: Do you use them abroad if yes and if not why?

I use them always.
I put in them:
My US passport
My Italian passport
My Tablet
My Work computer
Extra credit cards
My wife's jewelry
Wads of cash, thousands of €

When I stay in hotels, I do. I leave anything in them that would cause me worry, inconvenience, time, stress, or sadness if it were to be stolen.

Never. Anyone who can short out the electronic system can break in to the safe. The safe can be reset with a master code as well. I would never ever leave cash or passport in the hotel; I always keep it on my person. You could also opt for a suitcase that REALLY locks and put items in there, it is less likely to be removed from your room by a pilfering staff member.
http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/how-secure-is-that-hotel-safe
http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2013-12-05/three-cautions-before-you-use-a-hotel-safe

I use safe. Never heard that anything was stolen from it in any hotel. Actually nothing was ever stolen from me in a hotel even if it was not in safe. I think that likelihood having stolen something is higher when I take it with me than if it stays in hotel.

I use hotel safes and have in over 30 years of traveling never had anything stolen from a safe in a room where I was staying. I have however forgotten a piece of jewelry that I accidentally wore on a trip in one. I leave my passport, extra cash and my extra credit cards and any confidential work documents that I might have with me on the trip. If the safe is big enough I also put my work laptop in there if I have it with me.

Never in all my years of travel, all over the world (and therefore have never left anything in a safe by mistake.) And, I have never had anything stolen from a hotel room.

Always use them. Never had, or have heard of, a problem. I put the same things Roberto and JHK listed. I agree with Ilja, much safer in the safe than with me.

I always use them. I put my tickets, passport, jewelry, & i-pad if I'm not taking it with me in them.

In all my years of using various travel forums, this one, Trip Advisor and Fodors, not once has anyone reported having something stolen from a safe. If this should happen, imagine what this would do to a hotels reputation?

Having managed a hotel, I know that they can be opened by management, but the code and key are kept very secure. Can a locksmith open them? Of course they can, but does this ever happen?

No -- I don't carry anything worth stealing. Passport, cash and cards are strapped to my body. Jewelry that goes on a trip probably came from the thrift store.

Always used a room safe, all over the world and never had a problem. The fear is worse than the reality when it comes to tales of thefts from safes.

while we do use them ,if you check youtube for these types of safes, you will see how easy they typically are to get into. so they offer 'some' protection only. when there is no safe, or while travelling by car we use a portable safe ( by pacsafe)

We've used them in every hotel room abroad (and sometimes in the U.S.) which provide them and have never had a problem. Stored items may include passports, extra credit/debit cards, cash, electronics (like an ipad) and insurance documents. Neither of us travel with jewelry but if we did, pieces of value not being worn would go in there as well.

We always set our own code, test it before placing anything in the safe, and unload it the evening before departure. We also travel abroad with a pacsafe bag.

Yes if you mean in-room safe.

I put extra cash and credit card, passport if I'm not carrying it (depends on country)
and electronics like iPad in it. I test a code first to make sure it works.

I know a money belt is a bit safer and I wear one for my passport when needed but those things get bulky and heavy. Plus obviously you can't keep an iPad in a money belt!
Things like iPads are going to be either left in the room or carried in your daybag. I dont need mine during the day so it's risky to carry it - bag theft, loss, or dropping. So it stays in the room. I figure it's safer in the safe than in my luggage. Whsts more likely : thief in room (random person or hotel guest/staff) or thief in room who happens to know how to break into safes? More thieves can grab luggage or find iPad in drawer if presented opportunity (like if housekeeping left the door open) than can break into a safe. I'm not likely to be targeted by high end James Bond villain safecrackers. Just random opportunists.

No, never used one - whether in the US or overseas. I don't carry anything valuable so I don't worry about it.

I do use them for extra cash, iPad, if I have any jewelry with me. Not my passport because I carry that with me in a moneybelt. My concern with hotel safes is leaving something in them. To avoid that, I usually put something I will have to get that evening, like my contact case, in the safe so when I go looking for that I will remember to take my other items out of the safe.

I don't use the safe; I wear my jewelry (and I don't bring my good stuff when travelling anyway), passport & extra cash & cards are in my belt-loop pouch and I don't bring any electronics besides my iphone, which is always with me. Not so much that I fear the safe but more that I really have no use for it.

Have used them for years all over the world, never had anything taken out of them, never accidentally left anything in them. Forgot the combination once and had to call the hotel desk to get into it, oops. Never heard of anyone having something stolen out of a room safe. I put everything in there that I would normally carry in a money belt while traveling because I don't usually wear a money belt while sightseeing around a town. My laptop or anything else too big for a safe is left in my suitcase (usually unlocked) in the room.

I never use them because I think I have better odds of forgetting something in the safe then being a victim of theft. On my last RS tour, a tour member left her passport in the safe. The tour guide arranged for the hotel to ship it to another hotel and everything worked out okay, buy it was definitely stressful for the person traveling without her passport!

The two star hotels I usually stay in do not have safes. The rooms have a bed, a chair and a bathroom. However ! On cruise ships there are safes in the cabins and I do use them, for my passport, credit cards, cash, travel docs. etc. Never occurs to me that my cabin safe might not be safe. What is the world coming to?

I have yet to read a post on this forum where someone had something stolen from a hotel room. I use the safe.

I've never used a hotel safe abroad or in the US. When in Europe we carry all credit cards, passports, and cash on us. Otherwise, we just leave everything in our room, and have never had a problem. And I never worry about what I leave. While I wouldn't be thrilled to have my laptop stolen, it's not like it's worth a fortune.

It depends.

I will put stuff in the safe if I think I need to, but I rarely need to. I don't have extra cash or electronics or jewelry with me on vacations. I carry all of that along with my passport when I am out of the room. I use a money belt that stays out of sight and I only have a camera and my phone for electronics.

When I travel on business, I keep my laptop with me at all times because I never know when I might need it. I am not sight seeing on these trips and have almost no time to do anything except work. I don't use the safe on these trips at all.

Never use them. Mostly because the risk of something being stolen from your room if kept in your luggage is extremely rare and nothing I bring along is that valuable anyway. I do not leave valuable items laying out. Not because I fear the maid will steal it (her job would be short lived if she did that sort of thing), but because doors are left open while cleaning and anyone passing by could see and take it.

As to thefts from safes: There are all kinds of warnings and paranoid ideas about how hotel staff sneak around unlocking room safes and stealing their contents. If that sort of thing happened, it would destroy a hotel's reputation instantly and would be very easy to catch the culprit (the manager). It just doesn't happen and is one of the most overblown travel fears out there.

Never used the safe, be it in Europe (vacation) or the US, (professional/job related or vacation). . True, the 2 star hotels and Pensionen I stay at usually do not include a safe as one of the amenities, although some do now. I still don't use it. I don't travel with valuables anyway, ie, no electronic stuff, the passport and cash stay on me, I never had anything left in the room taken in Europe, such as cash, passport, camera, etc or left on the table in plain view, Neither in the US.

Yup, if there is one.

Sometimes if there isn't one I'll use the one at reception. Depends on what I want to put away.

Sometimes if there isn't one I put stuff into the luggage.

Sometimes, especially in France, Germany and Italy, I just leave electronics on the desk, often charging.

I've been traveling on my own or with my wife for nearly 50 years. I've never had anything taken from anywhere. We did leave my Mother-in-Law's passport in a room safe once and and had to drive half an hour back to Haarlem to retrieve it after we noticed. We had left the safe open, the room had been cleaned and the room had been given to a couple who had gone up, changed and gone out. I went up to the room with manager and he walked to the still open safe and retrieved the passport. No problem.

I don't use them but it's only because I'm likely to forget and leave something at the hotel. I keep my limited cash, cards and my passport on my person (no money belt, instead I use bluffworks travel clothing with hidden pockets).

DJ

Try this: place something in the safe and go tell the hotel staff you can't get it out. See how long it takes them to get it open. I'm expecting it will be a matter of minutes. Then decide how safe it is.

A room safe malfunctioned once while I was staying in Peking. Despite working fine for three days previous, on the morning was to check out and catch a flight at the airport the safe wouldn't accept my code. Naturally I was in a panic about this, and notified the front desk, they took the situation very seriously and sent a staff member up to the room. She had this special electronic box with a USB cable, she plugged it into a jack hidden into the handle and entered some sort of master code in the box thingy. The safe wouldn't accept that code either, so the CPU in the safe was apparently fried. She then got on her walkie and called for a maintenance guy who showed up with a toolbox. He got out this strange mechanical device which was inserted into a hole into the center of the door and was able to manually crank it open. In total it took about 15 minutes to straighten everything out.
Lesson learned test out the safe before you use it, and don't leave it locked the night before you check out.

I've used hotel safes for years and only once have had any problem. At the end of a Carnival cruise, we were packing up the cabin and discovered the safe wouldn't open. Turned out they had already reset the codes. I think I either told one of the stewards or made a phone call and it was opened promptly.

I have little to no fear of leaving valuables in such safes. The scenario in which a thief would break into the room and into the safe is extremely unlikely. And if the hotel employees who would have the best chance to access the safe were to do so, it's a headache that hotel management doesn't need. It would be easy enough for them to determine which employees were likely suspects. Would it be a potentially bigger headache for me if my important belongings were taken? Sure, but I choose to believe the odds are very much against that happening.

When traveling abroad, I will always use the in-room safe if one is available. I am not comfortable carrying extra cash and my passport around with me. I also store things like any prescription medications (if I'm using any on that trip, usually travel-related meds anyway), the iPad and maybe the cables for recharging my phone and iPad.

I have never had an issue with missing anything from the safe. I have met people who claimed to know someone who lost his passport that way, but that is third hand information at best.

I always make sure the safe opens/closes easily before I use it, though. I had one where the key operated lock just fell out once when I was testing it out. And once we stayed in a place where you had to pay a deposit at the desk for a key that worked in the safe, despite the number keys on the front of it.

I use them during foreign and domestic travel. Anything I won't need during the day.

I used a room safe one time, and never again. Even though I tested it several times before putting my neck wallet with money, credit cards, and pass port in it, the next morning, it wouldn't open. By the time the manager had tried his pass code and then used a tool to take off the face, I had missed my morning connection. Same place, several days later, I returned from the day out to find the maid's key still in the lock. So much for security. The only security I value is having all of my stuff with me in my neck wallet. I don't want to spend my day out wondering who's gained access to my room and is leisurely breaking into my room safe.

Still waiting to hear someone had something stolen from a hotel room, safe or not. This is a complete non-issue.

Richard, I was at a hotel once where a thief robbed two rooms by testing to see if the doors were completely locked (old hotel - doors had to be pulled hard to lock). People had their bags rifled while they slept and lost cash and phones. Yes, this is not a first hand report, but I was there in the morning while the police were interviewing the victims and hotel staff. This proves nothing regarding the initial post.

Ah yes, the hotel scam. Arrange a tour for your guests and then steal all their stuff. Guess that would put a lot of hotel concierges out of business.

How long would a hotel be in business if this is how they operated? I have never heard of such a weird scam unless you were staying in a hotel in some underworld neighborhood filled with mafia and gang members.

Not on a land vacation but I do on a cruise. In goes my passport, wallet and cell phone, Not to be seen for a week or more! We lock valuables in our luggage which we figure is safe enough.

We took a tour of China; one of our fellow tourists left all her money in her safe and remembered only after we flew to Xian. Luckily her friend spotted her all the cash required for the rest of the tour AND our guide made a bunch of calls and she got it all back in the mail -- two weeks after her return to Canada.

"The hotel arranged for us take mules to the bottom of the canyon and back. Since they knew we were gone, we were easy targets."

So, are you saying that the hotel was complicit in the theft, that they arranged for the theft because they knew you were going to be gone all day? Do you know this for a fact? Were they prosecuted? Are they still in business? Just curious.

The original post is a common one and every time it's asked the answers come down on both sides of the issue, usually running about 60/40 in favor of using hotel safes. I doubt that's ever going to change. Some people use them, some don't. They are almost always a safe (as the name implies) place to leave valuables when you are going to be out of the hotel room for extended amounts of time and one should not be afraid to use them. Most often complaint is that it's easy to leave things behind that way but there are ways to remind yourself to check it before leaving. Another complaint is that they occasionally malfunction, which is usually easily remedied and it is recommended that you test it empty before putting something in it.

I use them mostly to deter casual theft.

Years ago I was attending a conference at a resort in Florida. When I got to the check in area it was a huge mess. Long lines, harried staffers, angry customers. Apparently a large group that was scheduled to leave that day did not and Florida law allowed them to stay. Anyway I finally get checked in and off I go to my room. Upon entering I could see that someone was still using it and immediately left. Had I been dishonest I could have easily taken some valuables.

So that's why I use them. Last thing I do before leaving a room for good is check the safe. If I'm traveling with someone they double check me.

Stan,
It sounds like that hotel had really comfortable beds.

Mrs. EB...what was stolen? Did you report it to the authorities? Do you think the mules were in on it too?