Hotel & Travel Crime

[Gewehr3]

I am doing research on crimes committed in hotels and travel in the US. Does anyone have any experiences you would like to share on this topic?

Thank you in advance.

[willie]

One observation. On a recent four day trip I observed that none of the motels(all big name)had security. I asked and was told no. All had signs indicating that they were not responsible for theft of items in cars. For me, being armed in my motel or hotel room is more important than carrying a handgun anywhere else while traveling.

[Cookie Monster]

Done my share of business travel, always stay in 3 star or more and ones orientated towards business travelers in more suburban upper income areas. Not saying they are crime free but those strategies keep it low maintenance for me.

I have only seen security in urban downtown hotels where they need to keep the homeless out of the lobby. The 20 plus different hotels I’ve stayed at in the last 3 years, only one had security and that was in downtown Seattle. Those places might have a security company rolling through the parking lot at night once in a while but I was unaware.

Also, If there is glass between you and the check in person, don’t check in.

[Crews]

Met a coworker in Houma, La a few months ago to make a trip offshore. Stayed in one of the more decent 3-stars in town, separate rooms. My coworker foolishly neglected to lock the manual lock on the inside of the door. About 8pm, he was sitting in bed when a middle aged black male scanned a card and entered his room uninvited.

When my coworker hollered at him, he turned around and made a run for it. Definitely an intent to rob, probably didn’t know if the room was occupied or not. Hotel staff seemed to think he had somehow acquired one of the room service universal keys. Don’t know about any additional follow up info.

Glad it wasn’t my room.


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[Totem Polar]

Hotels sort of give me the willies. Many a night spent with a clinch pick or similar doing nightstand duty, due to travel logistics.

Stay aware, use the lock (you can tie the manual Connie Francis-types shut with a hair scrunchy), know where the exits are, and enjoy the local scene.

As to crime, I’ve certainly got the eyeball from some sketchy types while on the road, but nothing’s ever come of it. What I do hate is credit card fraud. I’ve had my card info jacked from hotels enough times that I’ve come to expect it as a real possibility. A place at the Anaheim convention center once sold my info to someone who put 5 nights at a luxury resort in Italy on it. New card that time, btw, the only use on it at all was our chiropractor, southwest airlines for tix, and the hotel. My gut says it was the hotel, go figure.

The most recent card theft was from the Hyatt, detailed in the baby jogger mafia thread, here:
https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....y-jogger-mafia

I’m not all that worried about getting Connied in my room, but I figure that 1-2 out of every ten stays will see my card getting stolen.

[RevolverRob]

I would say it depends a lot on the hotels and locales that you're visiting.

In my experience, crime in and around hotels is either personal or random. Personal is personal and you can't do much about it, but that is typically assault or worse. Random is usually robbery or theft. In my experience traveling around, hotels attached to conference centers typically have some of the lowest incidents of theft. Reason being that they have a high volume of guests and theft results in a bad reputation for the hotel, quickly. Not something that you want when your business is dependent on conferences and travelers.

Always go armed and be vigilant.

[RoyGBiv]

My wife slept upstairs from a murder directly below her room. Was a bunch of years ago in SC.
She didn't know anything had happened until the police showed up at her customer meeting to ask her questions.
Apparently it was not a random crime. IIRC

[ST911]

Worthwhile:

P&S ModCast 137 – Travel & Security - The panel discusses aspects of security while travelling inside and outside the United States.
https://primaryandsecondary.com/ps-m...avel-security/

[littlejerry]

Done my share of business travel, always stay in 3 star or more and ones orientated towards business travelers in more suburban upper income areas. Not saying they are crime free but those strategies keep it low maintenance for me.

I have only seen security in urban downtown hotels where they need to keep the homeless out of the lobby. The 20 plus different hotels I’ve stayed at in the last 3 years, only one had security and that was in downtown Seattle. Those places might have a security company rolling through the parking lot at night once in a while but I was unaware.

Also, If there is glass between you and the check in person, don’t check in.

This has been my experience as well. I don't travel a ton for business but enough international and domestic that when I travel recreationally I use points instead of cash. CC fraud has been a bigger problem than anything else.

When flying for work I rarely check a firearm. About half of it is international and some of the domestic is to areas where it's not allowed. Plus my itineraries don't always allow sufficient time to get to the airport early enough for checking bags.

I never stay in "cheap" hotels regardless of where I go. Hotels are often like neighborhoods in that you are paying for the type of neighbors in a lot of cases.

[Joe in PNG]

When looking for a room to reserve, use Maps & street view to check out the immediate neighborhood. Dollar stores, vape shops, no-name convenience stores, and day labor joints are typical signs of a sketchy neighborhood.

Check the outside appearance of the hotel- is it clean, or does it need some serious paint work? Are the grounds being kept up, or is the landscaping ragged? What kind of cars are in the lot- lots of new family cars are a good sign, a few dilapidated hoopties are a bad sign. How's the pool look?

Is the hotel near a major tourist attraction, government area, high income housing area, or convention center? Those places usually get a fair bit more police attention in a good way.