I travel extensivly in my job and I am sorry to say safes provided in some holiday hotels leave alot to be desired,but safes in the hotels I use Marriott chain,Ritz Carlton ect provide digital locking safes which are miles ahead of the key type.Best holiday hotel safe I have had was in Barbados earlier this year.I always give the bedroom safe a once over,1 year I hired a bank safety box.can never be too careful.But of course thats me everyone to their own.

Meerkat2505 wrote:

I hope that you do not encourage less experienced travellers to follow your practice of not trusting hotel safes by making people think that this is a big risk. If you are encountering "flimsy" safes in your accommodation, perhaps you should rethink where you stay. I have never encountered this in many years of travelling and would never dream of carrying everything in a shoulder bag - hope you have a good insurance policy

I appreciate what you and David are saying about rethinking where I should stay, but I would be gratfeul if you could tell me how that might work? I mean whilst it is true to say I do often book to stay in the same Hotel, that is not always the case. Holiday brochures do not contain images of safes or descriptions of safes and therefore I cannot know what they are like when I am booking can I? It is only when I arrive in the accomodation that I discover that the safe might not be secured down. There is no way I can know this beforehand, so how can I book alternative accomodation?

Meerkat2505 wrote:

I hope that you do not encourage less experienced travellers to follow your practice of not trusting hotel safes by making people think that this is a big risk.

I am certainly doing no such thing. I have never once implied that others should follow my suit. I'm stating that I PERSONALLY do NOT trust safes inside Hotel Rooms. And from what I have seen from personal experience and read from threads on sites like this one, I have good reason to feel this way. I'm sorry if it appears I was saying otherwise, but that was not the case I assure you.

People will form there own opinions on Hotel ROOM safes in just the same way as I have. And it is up to them to decide whether or not they make use of them. in just the same way as they will decide whether or not to book a certain Hotel or Apartment based on the Reviews that they read about that particular establishment.

I have already clearly stated that I am not recommending that others follow my example, I have simply stated what I personally do (as indeed is the case with other HT members who are saying what they do), and I am very grateful to those that have shown concern over my 'practice' and particularly to David whose comments I am now considering very carefully. I have been using a shoulder bag for the past ten years and to date I have never had a problem. But from reading through the above comments, and David's advice, especially the bits about Insurance, I am considering changing my 'normal' routine. That is not to say I will use a safe in a Hotel Room, but I may see what other options are open to me.

And yes, my Passport is kept with the Deeds to my Cottage along with a few other important documents which includes my Birth Certificate.

qatarman wrote:

I travel extensivly in my job and I am sorry to say safes provided in some holiday hotels leave alot to be desired

And this is what concerns me. If the safe had a digital lock with a 'pin' number I would feel a lot happier making use of it, but most Hotel ROOM safes are not like that. They seem to have a very large hole for the key and I just do not like the look of them.

Everyone has to make their own mind up regarding their personal possessions and do what makes them feel the most secure.

This subject is probably coming to a close now or we may end up going round and round in circles.

I've just noticed that there is a similar topic running HERE in the Turkey Forum?

BHIC i think carrying all your documents and valuables around with you would be a nightmare for me, i would be so worried that i would lose my bag, i wouldn't be able to enjoy myself (i'm always putting it down somewhere) i use the Hotel Safes, i know they are not always Safe, but if you have copies of your documents etc, then leaving them in the safe would be better than carrying them around with you, i use my Flex account card to withdraw my cash and leave my credit card in the safe, just incase, so if the safe was to get broken into all they would get is my Passport, tickets and i have copies of them, and a credit card, which i can cancel, please be carefull as your bag could easily be snatched, remember they are professionals and won't worry about hurting you.

How can you relax and chill with all your worldly goods with you Can't go in the pool, sea because of leaving them.....

You would not walk around at home with all of sundry in a shoulder bag.

Lock it up and enjoy your holidays everyone.

kazee

Have read all the arguments and think I will carry on using a safe as I have done for the past 25 years. For one, I really do not wish to invalidate my holiday insurance.

I do feel for Jodie as she had a terrible experience loosing irreplaceable items , but I can't help feeling that this is the exception rather than the rule. For each experience like jodies there must be a 1,000 where people suffer no problems.

To encourage the non use of safes and expound the virtues of carrying ones valuables/passports/cards/cash around on ones person seems irresponsible. Each to their own I suppose. I wouldn't have a moments peace.

We too will continue to use the safe. We don't take too much cash with us on holiday nowadays anyway, we prefer to use a card to either pay for goods or to get cash out. I carry a copy of our passports in my purse and put the actual passports, tickets some cash, car keys and one of the mobile phones in the safe. Our credit/debit cards stay with us unless my husband is swimming when he will put all his belongings in there too.

I think the risk of being mugged is far greater than the risk of your hotel safe being broken into.

I think the sensible option is not to take too much cash. Either use your cards of travellers cheques - both of which can be replaced. Also don't take your most valuable pieces of jewelry on holiday with you. The only precious pieces that go with me are my wedding and engagements and these are always on my finger.

Pippa

Kazee wrote:

How can you relax and chill with all your worldly goods with you Can't go in the pool, sea because of leaving them.....

You would not walk around at home with all of sundry in a shoulder bag

Very easily actually. As I say, I go on hols with my elderly parents who do not make use of the pools and other attractions these days, so they take care of it for me.

And apart form a few important documents, I do actually carry a small attache case around with me which contains all my Insurance Documents: Home, Life & Car etc. My Car Documents: MOT, Drivers License and Vehicle Registration Details. And all my Utility Payment Cards. I have done this ever since I suffered a burglary when I used to live in London. As I have mentioned already, what I do overseas is no different to what I do at home.

doepsmc wrote:

To encourage the non use of safes and expound the virtues of carrying ones valuables/passports/cards/cash around on ones person seems irresponsible. Each to their own I suppose. I wouldn't have a moments peace.

With all due respect, as I have clearly stated several times already, I am certainly NOT "encouraging" ANYONE to adopt the practice that I do. I have made that very clear I believe. I am merely telling people what I personally do, and I have never once said that I recommend others follow suit.

BHIC wrote:

I am certainly doing no such thing. I have never once implied that others should follow my suit. I'm stating that I PERSONALLY do NOT trust safes inside Hotel Rooms.

BHIC wrote:

I have already clearly stated that I am not recommending that others follow my example, I have simply stated what I personally do (as indeed is the case with other HT members who are saying what they do)

BHIC wrote:

I am certainly not recommending that others should do the same.

[quote=BHIC"]Whilst I admit that my practice of carrying my valuables with me is not to be recommended, it is what I feel most happy doing. And I believe that whatever method makes you feel the most secure, happy and at ease, well that is the method that you should adopt.