Doesn’t trust room safes

Murray Halbert’s tale of theft from his room safe at Angkor Wat (May ’07, pg. 41) resonated painfully with me, as something eerily similar happened while I was staying in a not-so-wonderful, smallish hotel in Bangkok in December ’06. I have made use of those in-room electronic safes on several occasions, a habit that I am determined to shed from now on.

A hotel room safe is no more secure than the management or any of the personnel is honest. In fact, it is something of a sitting duck — obvious and easy to open quickly, either with an override key or code.

The best course of action, in my opinion, is painstaking creativity in hiding my valuables (in my case, only cash and perhaps a single credit card; the other one is usually on my person). If the hotel room is highly furnished or fussy with pillows or curtains, for example, it opens up possibilities; otherwise, I look for obscure nooks, crannies or linings in my own things.

Sure, this adds hassle and complexity, but, then, these days, what isn’t more cumbersome than before?

SCOTT ROSIEN

San Francisco, CA