Leaving valuables in hotel rooms

Safer and a lot more convenient than carrying it on you. Just carry what you need for the day, plus contingency.

Personally I think it is a greater risk (although that risk is very low) to leave it in the hotel room unless you can use a safe. But we have left camera, ipad, etc., simply locked in a suitcase with absolutely no problems over the years. But you also hit a point that many of us here rant against -- the constant drumbeat of thievery. It really is not that high. You are not entering a den of thieves that will strip you naked at first opportunity. The vast majority of tourists travel safely in Europe without a threat of thievery. Ya, pickpockets may be problem in certain areas at certain times BUT -- use a little precaution - like a money belt - and you will be perfectly safe!! We have spent nearly a year in Europe over the past 20+ years. Not even sure I have seen a pickpocket in all those years and haven't lost a thing -- But -- that is only me and it doesn't prove much. We could always be hit on the next trip. Even Mr. Steves was hit this spring in Paris. It can happen but not every minute or every day.

I never use a hotel safe because I would be the person that leaves everything in it upon checkout, or forgets the combination. I typically put electronics and anything valuable out of sight, but certainly anyone looking to steal something would find it. I don't want to take credit for this idea that I plan to implement. A smart and frequent contributor on this forum, suggested a small lock purchased in the travel department of your store to put on your suitcase to lock items inside when you are out of the room. I also do things like split my money and credit cards into different locations and I have paper copies of my ID and credit cards. (I'm also starting to photograph these items onto my smart phone) And having had an unfortunate incident in Barcelona, I always "plan" to get pickpocketed, which to me means that I back up my photos every night and that money/cards are split between people and I take precautions with everything I have of value. Further, I do not travel with anything all that important to me that is not essential to my trip. For example, I bring very little jewelry and with the exception of my wedding ring, what I do bring is costume.

I fail to see a reason why to worry someone would want to steal a car insurance policy. Scan it and keep it attached to email.

Yes. I leave all my items without much concern. Simple things like not leaving anything valuable sitting on top of a table in plain view is really all you need to worry about in a normal hotel room. Bury things under clothes in a suitcase, for example. Suitcase closed in the closet or under the bed not lying open next to the door. By all means use the in room safe if available but don’t worry about it if there is no safe. Obviously if you have a shared dorm or a room with broken locks then reconsider. Otherwise this really isn’t a concern.

Technically the safest place is a money belt but not everything can or should go in that. If your item isn’t in a money belt it is safer in the room. What’s more likely - pickpockets at a tourist sight/transit or a thief prowling around your hotel and finding your suitcase? I have heard first-hand of street theft but not ever of hotel room theft.

As for me I don’t use a money belt very often at all and find the whole fear of theft mindset way overblown. Be mindful of your belongings and get on with your trip.

How safe is it to leave items such as passports, car insurance policies, extra cash, etc. in hotel rooms if we're out and about during the day?

Not safe at all, IMHO.

(Well, except for car insurance policies...I agree, that's an odd one, I can't imagine that anyone would want to steal that since it's useless to anyone expect the person who rented the car, and then only in the event of an accident...).

I keep my passport and "money things" on me, always. Other valuables (electronics, camera gear) is either with me in my day pack, or if (and only if) there's a room safe and it appears reliable, then I may leave some of those in the safe.

I guess everyone has their own approach.. I would not generally leave any valuables in my hotel room unattended.

If the hotel room has a safe I use it. If it doesn’t have a safe, I lock my valuable( extra cash, ipad, Passports, etc) all in my suitcase with the same lock I use if I check my bag when flying.

In general I believe the hotels are safe. If a safe is available, we use it. If not, we will carry the most important items on us and lock the rest in our luggage. I usually wear shorts or pants that have velcro or zippered pockets (Eddie Bauer for example). Maybe I am naive or lucky, but I have felt safe in every hotel we've stayed at in Italy. Also felt safe in every city in Italy. I just love that country!!!

In more than 30 years traveling, I heard only a case of things being stolen from an hotel room: a colleague of mine had her video recorder stolen in a 5-star hotel room in the very centre of Madrid. As I usually travel with my laptop computer and mostly for business, I mostly I bring it with me, but I have left it in the hotel safe with credit cards, cash and passport countless times as well. Two safety hints:
1. never sleep your last night on a closed safe. Open it before going to bed. The last thing you need the morning of your flight would be a safe that does not open and having to summon the only person who knows the code. Opening it in advance gives you a safety margin.
2. all important details like bank account passwords and personal data are to be kept encrypted on your computer, with a strong password to be memorized and nowhere to be found around the computer. If your computer gets stolen, amen, a used computer is not worth very much anyway, but thieves should not have the occasion to mine much more important data. Also religiously backup all your work documents, encrypted if necessary.

I concur with Jazz+Travels. Virtually every smartphone can be used to upload a scanner program. I like Scanner Pro, and I am learning to scan any documents I need for emailing to my digital mailbox (Gmail) where I keep the documents in designated folders.

When I travel abroad, I carry my passport in my money belt, along with extra cash. This is the old carry the original/carry a copy discussion, but I have never found hotel rooms that safe. When traveling in Mallorca some years ago, our very safe hotel room was burgled. They left the travelers checks, but took a very decent bottle of Scotch. Since then, I drink the Scotch early in the trip and carry stuff I don't want to lose.

When I got pickpocketed on the Paris Metro, they got my pocket money but not my other documents or credit cards in my money belt.

Thanks to all for your very informative help. I did receive some teasing about the insurance policies. Rest assured I'm not really worried by that, I was just posting quickly and that was all I could think of at the time!
Thanks again!

I served at the Florence SMN station where on average at least 3 or 5 people (tourists) a day would report having their suitcase, purse, wallet or something stolen, on the train, off the train, in between on and off trains, while buying tickets, while waiting, while looking for train timetable, while eating at the bar, while waiting for a bus, while on a bus, while asking for directions, while sleeping on the waiting room, you name it.

But I have never personally known anybody who had their valuables stolen from the hotel safe.

I’m not saying it can’t happen, but it’s extremely rare compared to the almost 200,000 pickpockets/year. The least safe place is your body, in spite of what you might think.

But I have never personally known anybody who had their valuables
stolen from the hotel safe.

Same here. We've used them for many years both in the U.S. and abroad without any issue. It's part of our program to unload the safe the night before departure but if you're worried about forgetting to do that, then put something you would miss - - like one of your shoes - in it as a reminder.

Also, always program your own code, and test it a couple of times before putting your stuff in it.

Great idea about the locked suitcase, thanks! We stay in Air bnb's, so rarely a safe - and no staff enters the apartment, hopefully.

Suki, I'm wondering about the lock you use for checked luggage. I thought they were pointless, as TSA has the option of breaking into any suitcase...?

The TSA has opened my bag several times when I was traveling domestically (it's probably the jar of peanut butter). They just unlocked it and relocked it; they've never broken the lock. I take the lock more for use later, in my hotel room, but it might slightly slow down a light-fingered baggage handler. Not that there's anything worth stealing in my checked bag, anyway.

When I traveled to Morocco about 30 years ago, the left-luggage rooms at train stations wouldn't accept bags that didn't have locks on them. I assumed that was as much to prevent finger-pointing from customers who had lost track of their belongings as to deter actual theft. However, it was the case then that things of very little value to us would have been perceived differently by local residents because of the massive difference in income level.

They just unlocked it and relocked it; they've never broken the lock. "
How is that possible, I asked myself. Google answered me: Luggage locks approved by the TSA have a universal master key that will open the locks. They cannot remove their key without relocking the lock, and there is an indicator that shows the lock has been opened. AHA!
That must be what Suki and the above poster use?

Yes, I have used TSA approved locks for years. I always lock my luggage while yraveling on planes, trains.. And I carry extra locks or plastic strip ties for flying ghts home in case the locks get broken during airline handling.

We have left things in the room in suitcases usually wrapped in underwear or some other clothes or in safes. We don’t bring much that can be stolen anyways. Two most likely places to have items stolen is off your body or from a rental car. We also split up our day money & credit cards between us so not one person has them. We have seen groups of people trying to pick pocket on trains. They were pretty obvious but wondering how many were around us that we didn’t notice. We don’t usually have much cash with us anyways with ATM’s everywhere. I would rather pay the fees then have a ton Of cash with me. Enjoy

stayclose775, to your original question, I'd say it is as safe in Europe as it is in the US. What do you do here?