A well-traveled flight attendant has revealed what she does every time she checks into a new hotel room to make sure it’s safe and no one is hiding in the dark .
The crew member named Lea shared the tips she learned from staying in countless hotels for work in a TikTok video shared by CNNUnderscored.
The first step, she said, is to open her hotel room door to ensure she can escape quickly if necessary.
“I put my bag in the door first to hold it open because I want to make sure I can leave quickly if the room isn’t safe,” Lea said in the video, which shows her trying to to pass security checks.
She then thoroughly searches the room to make sure she is alone.
“Then I check each area to make sure no one is hiding in my room,” she said. “And believe me, it happens.”
The flight attendant looks inside a cabinet, a dresser with doors, under the bed and in the shower to check for possible intruders, the TikTok clip shows.
Léa revealed a special tip she received from a colleague while checking behind the curtains.
“A flight attendant once told me to always use a coat hanger when I check behind the curtains, because if they catch anything, it won’t be me,” she said.
Once she is sure the room is clear, the attendant uses a special door lock and door stop alarm for added security.
The tips and tricks left many people conflicted in the comments. Some found the suggestions helpful while others felt saddened that they were necessary.
“As a woman, remembering all this information to stay safe overwhelms me,” one commenter wrote. “I feel like at that point I’m going to forget.”
Another suggested adding a safety tip to test the hotel room phone to make sure it works and to check that the windows are locked.
“A new fear released,” one woman commented on the video.
Last week, a former FBI and CIA agent shared her own tips for hotel security, including which rooms to book.
Tracy Walder, 44, said she always tries to book a room between the third and sixth floors because of their proximity to the main level for emergency access, but harder for intruders to reach.
“When it comes to ground level, there are two things: One is the entrance. Typically, someone who is trying to do harm will take the easiest route possible and enter through the first floor because it is the most accessible,” Walder said.
“When going out, if you are too high on the 20th or 21st floor, it will be very difficult for you to get out quickly.”
New York Post
