A globe-trotting vlogger who has spent the past decade exploring the world has issued a stark warning about using hotel safes. Mitch Glass, who’s visited Africa, Asia, Europe and what he described as some of the “sketchiest” places in Latin America, shared the advice in a recent video for his travel-themed YouTube channel, Project Untethered.
In the video, titled ’10 Tricks Thieves Don’t Want Travellers to Know’, Mitch claimed that many popular travel tips are “completely backwards”, including when it comes to keeping your valuables safe in your hotel. He elaborated that while most of us likely believe the in-room safes are secure, they’re “literally the first place” a crook would target upon entering our rooms. Mitch said: “Take hotel safes, for example. Most travellers think that hotel safes are the most secure places to store their valuables in hotels, but that’s literally the first place where a thief is going to look.”
“Hotel safes have universal codes that sometimes the hotels forget to reset, so they keep being 000 or 1234, and even if the hotels do reset them, you never know who has the code.”
He claimed that with some hotel safes, all it takes to open them is a”good bop on the top”, which is why Mitch prefers to hide his valuables in “weird places” in his hotel room.
Among the hiding spots he recommended were inside your pillowcase, within the microwave or stove, nestled in a pile of clean towels, above the wardrobe or beneath your room’s ironing board cover.
He remarked: “If you were a thief and you were nervous about the owner coming back early and walking in on your robbery, would you take the time to check underneath the bedsheets, or would you go straight to the safe?”
Despite this, he warned that one mustn’t forget where they’ve stashed their valuables, suggesting to write down the locations on a note in your phone and setting an alarm as a reminder to gather your items.
He recommended having “secret stashes” of cash and cards hidden within ordinary travel items, postulating that thieves wouldn’t typically swipe things like chapstick or deodorant sticks.
Mitch also suggested dispersing your money rather than keeping it all in one spot, sharing his practice of divvying it up among his luggage, everyday bag, and an additional clandestine location.
Other safety recommendations from him included tethering your luggage to a stationary item in your room, interlocking bags to complicate theft, or using a portable travel safe.
He further advised travellers to maintain tidiness in their hotel rooms, observing that if your space is unkempt, staff will have to handle more of your possessions, increasing the risk of you losing them.