Room Archives - Com Namibia

In hotels, some reflexes feel so obvious that they become automatic. Yet a seemingly minor detail about your key or room card can give an ill-intentioned person the information necessary to locate your lodging. A very simple precaution can reduce that risk as soon as you arrive. And it isn’t the only check to perform before you settle in.

Never keep the key with the room number

After a long journey, we often drop our belongings in the room and instinctively keep the magnetic card in its case. A case that frequently bears the room number, sometimes accompanied by the hotel’s name or logo. Information that could prove fatal for you. If the card and its case are lost at the same time, these details can indeed allow someone with ill intent to determine where the corresponding room is.

The U.S. Department of State therefore recommends always carrying your room key separately from the sleeve that displays the room number. A particularly simple precaution to adopt, but one that prevents giving a stranger two essential pieces of information at once: how to access the room and its location within the hotel. This recommendation is also listed on its page dedicated to safety in accommodations, which gathers several traveler precautions.

Because without the room number, a card found on the street or in a public place does not necessarily reveal which door it belongs to. It is precisely this association that poses the problem. “If these elements are lost together, another person could identify the hotel and the room associated with the key”, explained a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State to Travel + Leisure magazine.

The correct reflex, therefore, is to remove the card from its sleeve as soon as you arrive in the room. To avoid forgetting the number, you can note it on your phone or photograph the sleeve, provided you keep these details on a protected device.

And if the card itself disappears, it’s best not to wait. “A traveler who loses a key should immediately inform the hotel and ask that it be deactivated and replaced”, advises the State Department spokesman to Travel + Leisure. A new card thus enables the old one to be neutralized.

A few checks to perform upon arrival

Yet the key is only one element among the precautions to take in a hotel room. Once you step inside, a few minutes are enough to verify that essential equipment is in place and that the space doesn’t show any obvious problems.

The U.S. State Department specifically advises ensuring the room’s phone works, that the locks are functional, and that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are present where required.

It also recommends a quick sweep of the room. “Upon arrival, check behind the curtains, under the bed, and around the room to make sure it’s safe”, says the American administration’s site. The aim is not to turn every hotel stay into a meticulous inspection, but to quickly spot any unusual situation.

Travelers are also urged to be mindful of any “unusual” electronic devices present in the room and to verify that the curtains can be fully closed.

These steps take little time, but they can help prevent unwanted surprises during vacations or business trips. More importantly, they remind us that in a hotel, prudence isn’t limited to dangerous destinations; it also begins with the most ordinary habits.

In the same series “Our Travel Tips”:

Airplane: the photo you should always take before checking in your luggage

Here’s why you should never recharge your phone at an airport

This new airport scam could get you detained abroad

How to better handle long-haul flights? The secrets of a flight attendant

This often-forgotten detail can invalidate your passport before a trip

Lost passport abroad: the steps to return to France without panicking

Booking a hotel room doesn’t guarantee a quiet night. A room located near an elevator, by the pool, or facing a busy street can expose travelers to noises that are hard to endure, especially after a long day of travel. Yet there are several ways to reduce the risk, starting with the room’s position and the requests you make to the property. Here are the practical steps to stack the odds in your favor before you settle in for a (good) night at the hotel.

Smart moves to avoid a noisy room

Not all rooms in a given hotel are equally affected by nuisances. Even before you drop your bags, you can ask for a more favorable location. Rooms close to elevators are particularly best avoided: bells, doors opening and closing, and the frequent passage of guests talking loudly can carry on for a good portion of the night. Higher floors can also be appealing, as can rooms at the end of a corridor.

But these preferences are usually not visible at the time of online booking. Unlike airlines, hotels generally do not allow, in most cases, you to choose your exact room on a map. “You can see all the available seats on the plane. Why can’t I do the same when I book a hotel?” complains Chekitan S. Dev, a professor at the Nolan School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, to CNN Travel.

Until reservation systems evolve, it’s wiser to contact the property directly. You can request a room away from the elevator, on a higher floor, or overlooking a less-trafficked part of the building. A request made at the time of booking has a greater chance of being honored, particularly when the hotel isn’t fully booked. Lindsey Maness, now employed by the National Sleep Foundation, learned this lesson after a night that was especially unsettled.

“I now request hotel rooms as far away from the elevator as possible and try to book rooms with no immediate neighbors when possible”, she tells CNN Travel. External surroundings also deserve consideration. A room facing a busy street, a lively neighborhood, or a nightlife hub is more likely to pick up noise. Some specialized sites even rate hotels according to their level of tranquility by examining their surroundings, window quality, insulation, and room layout.

Why some hotels are quieter than others

The quietness of a room also depends directly on the building’s design. Newer hotels can incorporate soundproofing solutions right from construction, but a large portion of the hotel stock was built before these concerns gained prominence. Glenn Nowak, an associate professor of architecture at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, regards a sound transmission class (STC) of 50 as a benchmark. With that level of insulation, a normal conversation in a neighboring room should become inaudible and loud music would be reduced to a relatively soft hum.

Material choices play a decisive role. A poured concrete wall generally provides better sound insulation than a wall with a metal framework, but its construction tends to be longer and more expensive. Double walls are among the most effective solutions for acoustically separating two rooms, yet they also raise the project’s cost. “Many hotels worldwide were built before such standards were put in place”, notes Glenn Nowak to CNN Travel. Even newer properties can still show acoustic weaknesses after renovations.

Certain renovations can unintentionally alter a building’s insulation performance. In downtown hotels, it is also impossible to remove all nuisances. “No hotel — especially a hotel in the heart of Manhattan — can eliminate all noises”, reminds Simon Chapman, CEO of The Benjamin in New York, to the American media. For travelers, the best approach remains to anticipate: request a quiet room, keep away from elevators and common areas, and, when possible, gather information about the establishment’s sound environment. And if in doubt, a pair of earplugs is a simple solution to slip into your suitcase.

In the same series “Travel Tips”:

Plane: the photo you should always take before checking your luggage

Here’s why you should never recharge your phone at the airport

This new airport scam could get you detained abroad

How to better cope with long-haul flights? The secrets of a flight attendant

This often-forgotten detail can make your passport invalid before a trip

Lost passport abroad: steps to return to France without panicking

Common Hotel Room Key Mistake That Could Compromise Your Safety