Security Risks Hotels DON’T Want You To Know (+ How To Fix)

Your hotel room isn't nearly as secure as you think, and today I'm going to reveal some of the sneaky security risks that hotels don't want you to know about. Then for each of these risks, I'll give you simple practical solutions that you can use to turn your vulnerable hotel room into a fortress. Let's start with the most obvious vulnerability, which is your hotel room door. You might think that little peephole is there to protect you, but it can actually be used against you. Thieves can use cheap little devices to actually reverse your peephole and see in from the outside. This allows them to easily check if you're inside, if you have any valuables laying out visibly, or to spy on you when you think you have privacy. And sometimes the thieves don't even need special tools. In some hotels, you can see through the peephole from the outside without any special equipment, like this hotel in Las Vegas that went viral on TikTok. The solution to this is super simple. You can either buy a little peephole blocker online for a couple bucks, or if you don't want to buy anything, you can just use duct tape to cover the peephole. I always carry duct tape with me anyway when I'm traveling, and I like to just wrap a little bit around my deodorant stick to save luggage space. Next up is what I call the pizza delivery scam. Imagine it's 10 p.m. at night after a super long day of travel, and you finally arrive to your hotel and you're starving. Lucky for you, there's a flyer under your hotel room door advertising super discounted pizza, and it's like they read your mind. The problem is this normally doesn't end well. The best case scenario is you get some soggy frozen pizza prepared by some random dude in his apartment, and it arrives like three hours later. And the worst case scenario is they steal your credit card info when you give it to him over the phone, and your pizza never arrives. This scam is so common in some places that hotels actually leave little notices inside the rooms warning you about it. The solution here is to just not fall for those juicy discounts because you're almost always going to be disappointed, and instead just order from the reputable food delivery app within whatever country you are. You may have to do a quick Google search to see what's popular in the country. Next, we need to talk about the chain lock on your hotel door. It turns out that you can bypass these in just a couple seconds using just a rubber band. And it's not just the chain locks either. There are multiple different ways to bypass the different types of locks on hotel doors, which you can see in this security blog. One solution here is to bring your own portable door lock like an Adalock. These are small enough to fit in your luggage, and it basically allows you to create a secondary lock on your door that can't be opened from the outside even if they have the key. By the way, the goal of this video isn't to make you paranoid. Over the past 10 years of traveling the world, I've probably stayed in over a thousand hotels and haven't had any serious incidents. That's partly because I do take many precautions, but I do not do every single thing mentioned in this video. That's because adding security usually means giving up some convenience. So you have to decide for yourself where exactly you fall on that security convenience spectrum based on your risk tolerance. Then you can decide which of these things I'm about to mention you want to take precautions against and which ones you think are overly paranoid. There's a few more strategies that thieves use to get in your room, including one super sneaky strategy that no anti-theft gadget can prevent. But before we get into those, I want to get into a couple of potential hotel risks before you even get to your room. When booking your hotels online, that beautiful property with the amazing pool might be hiding a dangerous secret, and you won't realize it until you get there. It could be located in a terrible neighborhood. That's why it can be helpful to search your hotel's address on Google Street View so you can see what the surrounding area looks like before booking. And if you're using a hotel booking platform, you can also look through the reviews and filter them for words like safe and dangerous and neighborhood. When you do this, you want to look for trends across multiple reviews and not just one picky person's review. I personally like using booking.com for this, but there's actually a booking.com scam that you need to be aware of that we'll get to in a second. As far as your room location goes, the ground floor near exits are prime targets for thieves because they have easy access and a quick escape route. Some security experts say that the sweet spot for rooms is between floors three and six because you're high enough to not have easy access, but you're not so high that you'd be at risk if there were a fire. Personally, I think this is overly paranoid, and I actually prefer the higher floors. In my opinion, at some point, you just have to stop worrying and start living. You can't really prepare for every possible scenario, otherwise you would never leave the house. Okay, now let's talk about the check-in desk where thieves like to linger. Here, you want to pay attention to how the staff handles your personal information. Imagine checking into a hotel late at night as a solo female traveler, and the clerk announces in a loud voice, okay, sweetie, so you're going to be in room 210, which is right up those stairs to the right and at the very end of the hallway, all while the creepy guy sitting over in the corner is noting down all your information. If you're traveling by yourself, especially as a female, one thing you can do is always ask for two different keys so people think that you're not alone. You can also ask the check-in person to write down your room number instead of announcing it out loud, but don't let them write it on the card itself. Think about it. If your card has your room number on it or you leave it in those little folders that they give you that have the room number written on it, then you're making life really easy for a thief who pickpockets your card. Not only will they have a straight shot to your room, but in some hotels where you can charge things to your room, they'll be able to charge things to your room number if they know it. That's why you should also always triple check your bill at checkout. Apart from your room number, it's also smart to just be aware of your surroundings when giving other personal information at the check-in counter like your home address or your car's make and model. Again, not being paranoid, just being aware of the people around you. Another kind of newer hotel threat is scam confirmation emails, but before we get into those, make sure to subscribe for more videos like this on tips for how to travel smarter and safer. Okay, so without getting into all the details on how they actually do this, long story short, basically after you make a reservation online, sometimes you'll receive an email from a scammer asking for additional information or payment. You might even receive a message like this from within the actual booking platforms app from a scammer pretending to be the hotel. A scammer actually tried this with us on the booking.com app and I explain in detail on how the scam works in this travel scams video. So to protect your sensitive information, always verify unexpected communications directly with the hotel by calling their phone number that's listed on their official website, not the number or link inside the suspicious email or message. When you arrive at your hotel, you also want to be careful connecting to the Wi-Fi, which may not be secure. If you don't take proper precautions, hackers can steal your sensitive information and potentially your identity using strategies with funny names like evil twin attacks, cookie theft, Wi-Fi sniffing, and others. The nitty gritties on how these hacks work on a technical level are outside of my wheelhouse, but I can tell you some easy ways to avoid them. The first is to disable Wi-Fi auto-connect on your devices, which prevents them from automatically connecting to fake networks without you realizing. The second is to just activate a VPN on your devices before you use the internet and I'll link to the one I use with a giant discount below. And the third is to just not use the hotel's Wi-Fi at all and instead rely on your phone's international data plan for internet. I currently use Olafly eSIMs to get unlimited data on my phone while traveling abroad and they were kind enough to sponsor this video. They have data plans available in over 200 destinations, which is super convenient because it means you don't have to run around hunting for those physical SIM cards when you arrive in your destination. This is what we used to do back in the olden days until we got scammed not once, but twice trying to buy physical SIM cards. With Olafly, you can set up an international data plan on your phone in like two minutes all by yourself before you even leave home. So you'll be connected as soon as you land without all the hassle. This also means that you won't have to rely on airport Wi-Fi, which has security risks of its own. Olafly focuses on unlimited data plans, so you won't run out of data in sketchy situations when you need it the most. You can grab a discount on your Olafly eSIM today using the link in the description and entering code PROJECT on tethered at checkout. But what most people don't realize is it's not just connecting to shady Wi-Fi that's the risk here. The rise of smart rooms in hotels is pretty neat and it lets you connect to the TV, thermostat, locks, lights, and other everyday objects so you control them with your phone and your voice. The problem is all of these smart everyday objects can also be hacked, which potentially opens up a back door into your devices. This one's a tough one because you obviously want to be able to use all the cool features, but if you do, you're opening yourself up to more risks. Again, you'll probably be fine and I don't want to make you paranoid here, but just to let you know that big brand hotels have been hacked before and they'll probably be hacked again. There's even one crazy story of a hacker who hacked into a fish tank's thermometer and used that access to steal data from high roller gamblers in a casino hotel. You just can't make this stuff up. Honestly, other than choosing a dumb hotel, there's not much you can do to protect yourself from this level of trickery and you just have to rely on the hotel's IT department to protect you. That said, if you're worried about privacy, one thing you can do is unplug the smart TVs in your room, which could have the microphone turned on even if it's powered off. The FBI says those new smart TVs could be the perfect way for hackers to spy on you. Also, if you're going to log into any accounts on the TV, like Netflix, for example, make sure that your password is different from the passwords for your other important accounts like your email and your bank. It's also always just a good practice to avoid plugging your USB chargers directly into those USB ports in hotel rooms and other public places. These ports are vulnerable to hackers and so it's better to just use a power bank or you can buy a cheap little USB condom before plugging your cord in or there are cords that don't have a data transfer. It only charges and doesn't transfer data so those also are safe. Okay, so now let's get into another hotel door vulnerability that's a bigger problem than hotels want to admit and that is master key card cloning. A warning for travelers, hackers have uncovered a security flaw that could open millions of hotel room doors. With the right equipment, thieves can clone your key card or even make master keys that can open multiple rooms. Just look at these Reddit users bragging about how they cloned their key cards at big brand hotels. There's even step-by-step guides online on how to clone NFC key cards using just your Android phone. So to protect yourself, I recommend that you think of your key card and treat your key card as if it's a valuable credit card or something. So keep it in your front pocket to avoid pickpockets. Don't leave it sitting out in the open on your lounge chair when you're out swimming in the pool. And again, don't accept a card from a receptionist if she writes your room number on it. Next up is the gap underneath hotel doors which is no bueno. That's because thieves can use what's called an under-the-door tool to reach in underneath the gap and unlock your door from the outside. In many hotels, if they're able to just move the handle a little bit, it'll disengage the deadbolt which makes it useless. The good news is there's a few simple solutions here. And the first one is to just jam a towel behind the handle so it can't be pulled down from the outside. The second is to use a deadbolt strap which is a cheap little thing that connects around the handle and the deadbolt and prevents the handle from being pulled down. And the third is to just use a door wedge or they even have door wedge alarms that are sensitive and if someone tries to open the door, it'll set off an alarm. If you have a connecting room that connects to the room next door, that introduces a few new security risks. Here you can use a travel lock like the Adelok again, but sometimes the deadbolt strap isn't going to work here because some of those doors don't actually have a handle so there's nothing to wrap it around. And if there's a gap underneath the connecting door, you can just roll up a towel and put it in the gap to prevent anyone from peeping in there with a camera or something. There's one other way thieves use to manipulate their ways into your room and we'll get to that in just a second. So now I think we can agree that your door isn't as secure as hotels want you to think it is, but what can you do about it? Well, step one is to always check your room thoroughly whenever you enter, especially for the first time. That means door locks, adjoining doors, windows, bathrooms, closets, and even under the bed. If you fall a little bit higher on the paranoia scale, you can also check for hidden cameras, but that would be an entire video in itself. Give this video a thumbs up and leave a comment that says hidden cameras if you want me to make a video showing you how to find hidden surveillance devices in your accommodations while traveling. Okay, so step two is to store your stuff securely on the inside of your room. That way if a thief does get in, it'll be harder for them to get the goods. And if you're thinking about putting your passport and cash and jewelry in the hotel room safe, think again. Remember that all of these safes have some sort of backdoor entry in case guests forget their passcode or lose their key. And many hotels actually forget to reset the master override code, and so if you type in things like 000, 1234, 999, sometimes it'll still work. And other smaller safes can be opened by just jiggling the handle and hitting on the top. Others have the safe's brand name screwed onto the safe, and if you unscrew the brand name, there's an access hole underneath. And even safes that are bolted down can still be removed if they have weak mounting points. Long story short, if you still want to use your hotel safe, just first do a quick google search on how to open whatever the model safe is in your room, and see if there's easy solutions to open it and test them out yourself. Let's think about this for a second. If I were a thief, the very first place I would look is just if there's any valuables laying out in the open in the room. So don't do that. And the second place I would look is the safe. Because of this, I personally just like to hide my stuff in random places, like unzipping the couch cushions and putting stuff inside the ironing board, underneath the soles of your shoes, in some rolled up socks. You can get creative here. Just don't forget to write down your hiding places and check them before you leave the hotel. When I was researching this video, I also stumbled on this cool little hidden hanger safe thingy, and it basically just looks like a normal hanger, but it has hidden compartments inside for your valuables. Another option that I've used a lot is a pack safe portable safe, which is a slash proof bag that you can lock to fix objects in your room. Unlike the hotel safe, which is super easy to find, if you have a portable safe like this, you can kind of hide it a little bit, like attach it to the bed frame and stick it underneath the bed and cover it with blankets or something. But if you do use a safe like this, just make sure to be careful that you're actually using a lock to lock it up that's secure, and the TSA lock that it comes with isn't that secure. I'll link some more secure ones that you can use in the description. For example, I don't know if you can see it here. Here, I'll show you. But the place I'm staying in tonight just has a glass sliding door with a really basic lock on it. So in places like this, all you can really do is use one of those portable saves or find some good hiding spots. And in normal hotels, they might also have a safety deposit box that you can leave valuables in at the front desk. This may or may not be secure depending on the hotel. But sometimes the biggest security risk in hotels isn't sophisticated thieves, it's careless hotel staff. Before I show you how thieves manipulate staff into giving them access into your room, I just want to say that I know that this video covers a ton and might be a little bit hard to remember. To help you out, I made a quick hotel security cheat sheet that you can download for free in the description. And I also have an anti-travel scams cheat sheet in case you want to learn how to avoid travel scams while you're exploring your destination. Okay, so clever thieves know how to manipulate the front desk staff into giving them replacement keys to other people's rooms. Imagine for a second a guy rushing up to the check-in counter when it's already busy with other guests. He's shirtless, he just came from the pool and he's dripping water all over the floor. He says he accidentally left his wallet inside of his room that has his ID and key card and he needs to get in ASAP to take some medicine. Now imagine the lazy receptionist that you often see in hotels. Do you really think they're going to take the time to gather information to verify his identity? Probably not, at least not always. This is another tricky one to prevent but another thing that you can get in the habit of is telling the reception exactly what guests are in your room and you might even be able to ask them to add a password requirement before they give out any replacement cards. This is honestly a bit beyond my level of paranoia so I've never actually tested it out myself but it wouldn't hurt. Other simple precautions you can take are leaving the TV with the volume up inside your room or turning on some music and putting it inside the bathroom so that when you go out it still sounds like someone's in the room. You can also always use the do not disturb sign because a thief is less likely to risk breaking in if he thinks there might be someone on the inside napping. And here's another tip that I learned from a YouTube comment that someone left on another one of my videos correcting a mistake that I've been making for years. I like to be friendly so a lot of times I'll say bye or I'll chit chat with the reception or the hotel staff before I go out for the day and sometimes friendly workers will ask what my plans are for the day and I'll share them with them but from a security standpoint this probably isn't the best idea because you're basically announcing to everyone that your hotel room is going to be empty for the next few hours. It'd be safer to try to be a little bit more incognito and slip out of your hotel without drawing attention to yourself. Speaking of not drawing attention to yourself the same principle applies when you're in the airport. A lot of times we let our guards down in the airports because of all the security that you see but that's exactly why airport theft has been on the rise. To learn how airport thieves choose their victims and how to avoid being an easy target watch this video next. I share some small tweaks that you can make to your airport process to take the target off your back. Okay guys, like, subscribe, do the things. Love you. Bye bye.