I travel to Europe at least twice a year and had the unfortunate experience years ago of leaving my passports in the hotel safe. Today it almost happened again in Paris. It seems that many times when leaving the hotel we are pressed for time and I am occupied with hauling luggage to a taxi or metro.
Any thoughts, tricks or tips from the Rick Steves travelers?
I used to own a couple of AirBnb's in Europe and we collected a lot of passports. I suspect more passports got left behind than ever got pickpocketed in that country. Sometimes thanks to Schengen the tourists wouldn’t miss the passports for days and days and countries later. I am particularly absent-minded and once in Winchester I left my watch in the safe. The maid stopped me on the way out the door and gave it to me. First, nice of her; second, she had the pass key for cleaning … hmmmmm. Now the way I remember my watch and my passport is to always wear it and carry it.
You could put your toothpaste in the safe, that might help?
I never use hotel room safes, either.
The common advice is to put a shoe in the safe.
I don't use room safes - if I am not required to have my passport with me (in the UK for example), I leave it in my luggage.
If you do want to use the room safe, it's probably best to take everything out the night before and put it in your carryon bag.
When I use the room safe, I always empty it the night before check out.
I don’t bother to put my passport in the safe anymore. However (as Liz suggested), I read a suggestion once to put one of your shoes in the safe with your passport; it would be hard to leave a hotel room with only one shoe.
I always empty it the night before check out.
Same here.
I do use a safe if I am going to be there a while, but I always pack the night before, or at least set stuff out.
Bags all packed and into the hallway where they are watched by one person. THEN do what we call "the paranoia check"... everything we opened we reopen, backs of the door hooks, outlets inspected for cords, etc. One person, five minutes in silence. But I really like the shoe idea.
My passport has an airtag and i get "alerted" when I leave it. I did actually leave a rental apartment a few months ago and on my way to the train station the alert went off on my phone :) Taxi turned around and I ran up to get (I was leaving before my friends which is PROBABLY why I forgot in the first place, the safe was in their bedroom not mine. )
I do put extra credit cards and cash in the safe along with the passport. Sorry but IMHO luggage locks are totally useless and while I generally don't think the staff at most places will rob you I have a lot of concerns about my fellow guests LOL!
I don't think I've ever put anything in a hotel safe, but the advice to empty the safe the night before, put a shoe in it, or both sounds like it would work well to keep you from forgetting something if you do choose to use it.
I also try to pack up everything as much as I can the night before so that I'm not rushed that final morning. I will also put my bags by the door right before I'm ready to head out of the room. I then take a slow, circular walk all around the room, going into the bathroom, and opening drawers, cabinets, and closets one last time.
One other thing you can do is make sure that small items (chargers, cords, pouches) are as colorful as possible. Anything that's a neutral color can (and will) blend in with the furniture or bed linens. If it's a bright color, it's more apt to pop out and you won't miss it.
I think I've used a hotel safe twice.
I also do the "paranoia check" after everything is packed. Open all the drawers whether I used them or not, the closet doors, behind the bathroom door, behind the shower curtain. I pull back the sheets on the bed. I almost lost a wrist brace that was still in the bed one time. Luckily housekeeping found it before I left the hotel. Now I make a mental check for the brace and will put my hand on it in the suitcase to make sure it is packed. I try to pack as much as possible the night before. I also try to make sure any accessory bags are bright colors. Cords have a bright colored velcro wrap. After the car is loaded, I might take one last walk through.
Another option for hiding your passport or other valuables while staying at a hotel is to unzip the lining of your suitcase and stow them there.
I take a few post it notes with me and put one on door at eye level. It just says 'safe' But I rarely use the safe as I'm so paranoid about leaving something there. I do this at home, too if there is something in fridge I need to remember to take.
In addition to doing my packing and a complete sweep the night before, I try to contain my belongings to one area of the hotel room. As a solo traveler this is pretty easy to do but I still do a complete sweep the night before departure.
I saw a tip some time ago that I use for my charger cords and that is to put my personal item beside the electronic items so when I unplug them in the AM I can stash them right in my personal item - cords, cubes, adapters. I do this at home as well so I don't walk off without them.
I also don't use the safe.
Regarding safes...I have a little story. A couple weekends ago, I was in NYC with 2 friends. One of my friends came in and said she'd locked her special purse (sentimental for the opera) in the safe and she couldn't get in with her code. She'd called the desk and the "engineer" wouldn't be in until after we were heading out. I indicated she should try the default code of 0000, which I learned from a travel site, maybe even here. Anyway, she went in and tried it. The safe opened. She got her bag. She apparently called the desk back and told the woman her friend told her how to break into the safe and she was all set. The receptionist laughed, said that happened to her recently while on vacation, and she had done the same thing. Maybe my small group of over 70 year old women should form a theft ring. That could involve a lot of travel. LOL.
IMO, A safe is just telling someone where your important documents are, but not protecting them.
Also, in my risk management brain, if there is a fire in the middle of the night, will I want to be futzing with the safe? No, I don't. Besides, passports are relatively easy to replace. On the otherhand, my phone is gold to me...
But the bottom line, is do what makes you comfortable.
IMO, A safe is just telling someone where your important documents are, but not protecting them.
Agree completely. As far as I'm concerned, hotel safes aren't. The internet has taught a lot of folks how to open them.
I don’t use room safes either.
In Amsterdam my room had a “safe” that was just sitting on a shelf, but moveable and not attached to anything!
I do use a safe. To my surprise, I seem to be in the minority. But I keep my passport in my wallet. For that reason, I cannot check out of a hotel without my passport.
When I tour, I take with me a Visa card, some cash and an ID if I think I may need to show it. Otherwise, I don't like to carry my wallet and passport because when I do, I am checking my front pocket or zipped coat pocket every 90 seconds.
And I gather everything the night before checking out.
I never use the hotel safe. Always have problems with locks of any kind. If it’s possible to lock myself out of something, I will.
My passport, CCs, ATM and cash are in my money belt which at night is with my phone on the nightstand and during the day on me.
