You’ve checked in, dropped your bag and kicked off your shoes, and the room already feels like yours. That’s exactly when small habits slip. Here are five things you shouldn’t do in a hotel room, and what to do instead. Each takes a few seconds, and none calls for paranoia.
The short answer: keep your suitcase off the bed and floor, use any extra lock on the door and confirm who is outside before you open it, keep valuables out of sight and secured, wash hotel glasses first if you want the extra precaution, and use the kettle for water only.
Five things to stop doing in a hotel room
1Putting your suitcase on the bed
Verdict: never. The EPA recommends setting your luggage on a rack while you pack and unpack, rather than on the bed or the floor. The Northeastern IPM Center offers another option: leave your bags in the bathroom, even in the tub, until you’ve checked the room. The aim is to keep your luggage away from likely bed-bug hiding places. Our guide to how to know if your hotel room is clean covers more of what to look for.
Do a quick check before you settle in. The EPA says to look over the mattress and headboard before you sleep and to inspect the luggage racks. The Northeastern IPM Center adds mattress seams, piping and labels, and suggests running a card behind a wall-mounted headboard.
2Using hotel glasses without washing them
Verdict: wash them first if you want the extra precaution. In a small 2012 study, University of Houston researchers sampled 19 surfaces in each of nine hotel rooms. The TV remote and the bedside lamp switch carried high levels of bacteria, and some of the heaviest contamination turned up on housekeeping carts, where sponges and mops could carry germs from room to room. The study didn’t report results for drinking glasses, so it can’t tell us how often hotel glasses are contaminated. Washing one takes a minute. Use hot water and dish soap, rinse well and air dry it, or skip the glass and use your own cup or bottle.
3Skipping the extra door lock and viewer
Verdict: don’t skip them. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department recommends checking that your door is locked each time you come or go, and using the extra security locks when the door has them. Don’t open it unless you know who is there, and if hotel services turn up that you didn’t expect, call to verify. The U.S. State Department suggests making sure every door and window locks properly when you arrive, bathroom door included, and meeting visitors in the lobby instead of your room. If your door has a viewer, use it before you open the door. AAA quotes security consultant Chris McGoey, who warns that prowlers can use a special device to look into a room through the viewer. He suggests covering it with opaque tape or an adhesive bandage the rest of the time.
4Leaving valuables out
Verdict: don’t leave them out, and don’t assume the room safe is foolproof. The Las Vegas police recommend keeping valuables in the room safe or at the
