Hotel room safes

[Nirish guy]

Ok so I know it's been discussed on the board(s) many times but having just checked into my usual hotel in Pattaya and witnessing a site that chilled me I thought I'd take a second just to remind us all why hotel room safes are only for your wallet and phone perhaps overnight whilst someone is sharing your room with you and not much more !

So on going through the usual "my safe won't work" - "oh you put in wrong code" ( I didn't, we have this same conversation EVERY TIME I stay here) the staff member then pulled out a piece of paper with the hotel MASTER CODE for every safe in the building I presume, I'll not say much more except if you think of someone using password as the password for their computer that would way above the security level of thinking that has been utilised here ! :-(

It was bad enough that he typed the master code in right in front of me but when I mentally noted it I dispaired !

So,If "I" so easily witnessed this "high security all access" master code in use you can bet that every cleaner and staff member and their friends within two block radius also know it too !

i should point out that I've absolutely no issues with the staff here at all and I'm sure the same lackness of security goes on in lost hotels around the world and I always assume anyway that staff in every hotel can open their own safes, perhaps thought I had hoped that such code information might be something that hotel management might want to keep to themselves and keep secure and maybe change every now and then - it seems not !!

So, just a timely reminder to us all perhaps that rooms safes should be for nothing of any real value and should only be used for keeping an overnight guest from the idea of even thinking about bothering rummaging around through your case while you're in the shower as he noticed you blatantly putting your stuff away as you got back into you room together anyway.

[scottish-guy]

Clearly the above does not apply at the Beverly Plaza hotel in Pattaya (not that this is a recommendation, I was booked in there as a result of a misunderstanding).

The safes in BP are/were in reception and dual key-operated, and when I inevitably lost mine (another of my skills set which includes missing flights, checking out of hotels on the wrong day, and travelling with other people's passports) a man with an oxy-acetelyne torch had to be summoned to open it - much to the amusement of all and sundry in the lobby.

Needless to say, on my return home the key was found in a pocket of a pair of shorts.

Having said that, NIrish's point is well-made

[Chuai-Duai]

I needed my room safe opened after the battery that operated the digital display and lock etc failed. I wondered how they'd do it if the mechanism wasn't active.

A very nice young man arrived and unscrewed what looked like an ordinary manufacturer's logo plate but which actually hid a lock so it wasn't a problem.

[Diec]

Clearly the above does not apply at the Beverly Plaza hotel in Pattaya (not that this is a recommendation, I was booked in there as a result of a misunderstanding).

The safes in BP are/were in reception and dual key-operated, and when I inevitably lost mine (another of my skills set which includes missing flights, checking out of hotels on the wrong day, and travelling with other people's passports) a man with an oxy-acetelyne torch had to be summoned to open it - much to the amusement of all and sundry in the lobby.

Needless to say, on my return home the key was found in a pocket of a pair of shorts.
Does this surprise anyone coming from a person who gets a wrong number at his hotel room and runs screaming down the street in terror? I don't think I would hire him for my business. Now I'm sure Scotty is not an idiot, he just needs extra care.

[anonone]

Thanks for the reminder, NIrish. (And welcome back to Pattaya. Hope you have a great time).

Regarding room safes, I checked into one place in Pattaya where the small safe was not even bolted to the furniture. Quite easy to just pick it up and walk away with it...

[Smiles]

" ... The safes in BP are/were in reception and dual key-operated, and when I inevitably lost mine (another of my skills set which includes missing flights, checking out of hotels on the wrong day, and travelling with other people's passports) a man with an oxy-acetelyne torch had to be summoned to open it - much to the amusement of all and sundry in the lobby. Needless to say, on my return home the key was found in a pocket of a pair of shorts ... "
You're from Barcelona right?

The last time I encountered a faulty box, it was 43 years ago and attached to a woman. The whole scenario was just too pathetic, too sloppy, too large, seemed to have teeth, and was way too much trouble.
I turned gay 24 hours later.

[Phred]

Yeah, but are the alternatives? I'm an all cash guy as I don't trust using credit cards nor ATM cards in LOS. So I bring enough cash to last the trip and more if necessary. The guesthouse I stay at doesn't (too my knowledge) have a larger hotel type safe. Even if they did would they take responsibility for a robbery? I doubt it. I can't open a bank account in Thailand. Hiding things in your luggage is very risky. So I've no choice but to trust the guesthouse safe.

Luckily, I stay in a very small guesthouse and I've know the owner and staff for a few years now and trust them. Anything is possible but the chances of any of the (very small) staff breaking into the safe are close to zero. It would take a very random robbery for it to happen to me there but anything's possible and it is a good observation Nirish guy.

scottish-guy wrote:

Needless to say, on my return home the key was found in a pocket of a pair of shorts.

I've done the same with spare guesthouse room keys, train tickets (that went unused and had to be bought again) and even I.D.! I've learned to be very careful about where I "hide" things as anybody over 45 needs to be.

Reminds me of a time when I was staying at an aging (now changed) large hotel there a few years back. The hotel had lock boxes behind the front desk rather than room safes. There was a big sign that said "Hotel safes are locked for the night at 6 p.m. and reopened at 8 a.m." It was a strict policy they would not break for anyone and no one had the key after they were locked for the night (to prevent robbery I think). I had an early flight out in the morning and needed to empty my lock box the night before. As usual, in those years, I was having a lot of fun and trying to squeeze as much fun as I could out of my last night. I was sitting in the lobby waiting to meet friends for dinner when to my horror I realized it was 6:30 p.m. and I hadn't emptied my box! As very good luck had it, the desk guy had forgotten to slide the lock bars over the boxes for the night. Needless to say he got a nice tip for his fortuitous forgetfulness that night.

[Oliver]

My advice is always to empty your personal safe the bnightbefore departure if you are leaving early. Sod's Law determines that , if your safe is to have a problem, it is bound to be when your taxi is waiting outside.

[a447]

I had a similar problem a few years ago at a "gay" guest house I regularly stayed at in Siem Reap. It has since closed.

I came home one night, opened the safe and found my mobile phone missing. I called the owner who insisted that I'd forgotten to lock it in the safe and basically said that it was all my fault. I knew, however, that I had definitely locked it in the safe before I went out that day. He came to my room, checked the safe and went through my luggage looking for it.

I was sitting on the balcony when one of the young guys working there came to tell me my tuk-tuk had arrived. So he knew I'd be out for the day. I believe he was the person who took it.

I told the manager I'd be going to the police. He called the number but couldn't get through. He supposed that whoever had stolen it had changed the sim card.

I went to the tourist police and wrote up a report - just for insurance purposes - but they told me I had to change it, because if I said it was stolen from my room they would have to investigate it and they weren't prepared to do that! They told me to come up with another story, so I said I was pick-pocketed in town. Sorry, they'd also have to investigate that. So I let them come up with their own story of how my phone had gone missing.

Two days later I went to pick up the report but before they handed it over they asked for a donation for their tea fund - $20.

Meanwhile, the manager told me he had interviewed the staff and they all denied taking it from the safe. He panicked a bit when I told him I had actually reported it to the police and showed him the report. I told him I was leaving in two days and needed to have the phone returned.

The day before I left, I returned to the hotel after a day out and discovered that the phone had mysteriously re-appeared in the safe!

The guys at reception were often absent and our room keys were just sitting there - anyone could walk off the street and gain access to the rooms. And obviously, the staff had access to the keys for the safes, as the manager was often away.

Since then, I haven't really trusted the in-room safes. But what can you do?

[latintopxxx]

I never carry more than 300 euro in cash and depend on my cash card and two credit cards to pay for everything and withdraw local cash from ATms. To date I havent had an issue. I check my account on a daily basis so should something go amiss (like getting my VISA cloned) them Im covered under my agreement with my bank. I dont travel with valuables (wrist watch is only worth 150 euro and my iphone is always with me...anyway its insured too. I've emailed copies of my passport to my gmail account so I can prove who i am should I lose it or if it gets stolen.Life is far too short to fret about small stuff.

[goji]

I need somewhere reasonably secure to store items like a camera, tablet & modest amounts of cash when going out for the night.

As any hotel employee could have access to a hotel safe, I think it's best to only stay at hotels that have a reasonable reputation and check the Trip Advisor reviews before going there. That's because reputation is your only real protection.

Equally, if you definitely have some theft from a hotel room, I think it's doing society a very big favour by sharing it on the internet. Name and shame. That way, hotel owners have some market pressure to keep things in order on their premises. If everyone keeps quiet about theft, it just means more people will become victims.

[arsenal]

This might sound ridiculous and obviously only applies to hotels that have working cctv in the hallways, corridors and on every floor. But I think the safest thing to do with electrical items is to leave them neatly all together in plain sight and preferably plugged in and charging when you go out. This does not apply to cash.
Every theft I have suffered from a hotel room has involved them taking something that was hidden. Out in the open is much safer but remember to leave it neatly arranged.

[scottish-guy]

... coming from... (SG)... who gets a wrong number at his hotel room and runs screaming down the street in terror? I don't think I would hire him for my business...

Tell you who I wouldn't hire - a guy who can't even recall events as reported at the time and who instead invents a new narrative to suit himself:

1. It wasn't a wrong number, the mystery caller fully intended to call my room.
2. I merely went down to reception to ask if anybody has called the room from the front desk perhaps, or if they had put a call through to my room. There was no running down the street or screaming, and I never said there was.

FYI, I subsequently found out EXACTLY who had called the room in the early hours of the morning and immediately we had got back to the hotel, and where they called from - and let me assure you there was no mistake involved.

[Marsilius]

A friend booked in to very well known gay accommodation in Jomtien. He returned after a day out to find that the in-room safe had been ripped from the wall where it had been screwed in (to a wooden base) and has disappeared completely, along with its contents. The safe was found the following day discarded in the streets nearby - minus what had been inside.

Fortunately, as he lives permanently in Thailand he had brought to Pattaya only basics that he could afford to lose. The property management were useless, saying that he must have left his room unlocked when he left for the day (which he denied) and that the safe being ripped from the wall was therefore his own fault.

[christianpfc]

and witnessing a site that chilled me...

So on going through the usual "my safe won't work" - "oh you put in wrong code"

"and witnessing a sight that chilled me"?

So what exactly happened, why couldn't you open the safe?

Related case (mechanical key versus electronics with battery). I once got locked out of my room in hotel in Khon Kaen. Battery was empty, door didn't open with key card. Staff had to climb around balcony to open door from inside.

[fountainhall]

As was reported 3 years or so ago, it's not only guest houses and small hotels where there can be a problem with in-room safes. Joshua Bell, a Grammy Award winning violinist, was giving a concert in Spain performing on his multi-million dollar 1713 Stradivarius violin. Even though he was staying in a 5-star hotel, a thief managed to get into his room, called to the front desk and persuaded the management he was having trouble with his safe, donned a towel as though he had just showered and when the management staff arrived they merely assumed he had to be the rightful occupant - no ID check, nothing. Bell had his laptop, a $38,000 Breguet watch and a ton of cash stolen. I can find no reports that the stolen items were ever discovered.

http://www.tmz.com/2012/03/02/joshua-be ... -burglary/ (http://www.tmz.com/2012/03/02/joshua-bell-violinist-watch-thief-burglary/)

[Nirish guy]

Sorry Christian my post wasn't very clear - what I meant was I was shocked both by them punching in the master code to all safes in the building right in front of me with no attempt to hide it from me but more importantly j was chilled when I seen what the code actually was - it hour giving it away think 1,2,3,4,6 etc etc !!youd of thought a) they'd hide it from guests (and junior staff) and b) would make it something just a little harder to work out !!! :-(

[scottish-guy]

[youtube:3suj7vca]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JNGI1dI-e8[/youtube:3suj7vca]

[dab69]

just hide the wall safe in back of a rug or tapestry with a scene depicting an historic event
nailed to the wall...

[colmx]

personaly i just put high value things in my suitcase
Opportunistic theft is mostly what happens in Thailand...
And an opportunistic thief (such as a bar boy, or hotel staff or even fellow hotel guests) are very unlikely to walk out the door with a suitcase at strange times outside of check out time without arising suspicions - and will at least be caught on camera

[scottish-guy]

just hide the wall safe in back of a rug or tapestry with a scene depicting an historic event
nailed to the wall...


Credit where credit's due Dab69 - that was funny! =))