If you're on vacation and planning to leave your hotel room to explore the city for the day, you might be concerned about how well you've concealed your valuables. Besides, you don't want to return to a hotel where all your credit cards and emergency cash have been stolen. To ensure that your money is secure, we've compiled a list of the top ways to hide money in a hotel room. Let's get started.
Tips to Keep in Mind When Hiding Money in a Hotel Room
Before we get into the best hiding places to store cash in your hotel room, here are a few tips that you need to keep in mind to ensure that your money is safe:
1) Avoid Using the Hotel Room Safe
Credit: Envato Elements/ GalinkaZhi
Instead of going through all the trouble of coming up with ways to hide money in your room, you might be wondering why you can't just store money and other valuables in a hotel room safe. First off, if a hotel key is required to unlock the safe, there are almost always countless duplicates circulating among the staff and previous guests, which makes stealing simpler.
Additionally, when it comes to safes that require a particular code, you need to keep in mind that the hotel always has technical experts on staff who will be able to decipher it. Furthermore, even though a thief won't be able to access the safe in the room, there is always a chance that he will take the entire safe with him and open it elsewhere. Therefore, it is always better to avoid using hotel safes as they are a recipe for disaster.
2) Always Lock Your Suitcase When Leaving the Room
Credit: Envato Elements/ Garakta_Studio
This second tip is obvious but needs to be mentioned. When leaving your hotel room, always lock your suitcase with a key lock or a combination lock, and have the key on you at all times. This keeps hotel staff and any other people from snooping through your stuff.
3) Place a “Do Not Disturb” Sign Outside Your Room
Credit: Envato Elements/ rawf8
If there was a way that you could prevent a potential burglar from ever entering your hotel room in the first place, why not use it? You can do this by turning on the TV when you leave your room and hanging a "Do Not Disturb" sign on your door. This will deter strangers from accessing your room when you are not there.
Top Places to Hide Cash in a Hotel Room
Now that you know the tips to keep in mind when storing cash and other valuables in a hotel room, here are the top places to hide money there:
1) Hide Valuables Under the Mattress
Credit: Envato Elements/ AZ-BLT
The first place to store hidden cash in a hotel room is the mattress itself. When setting up your bed, hotel staff do not lift the entire mattress. To tuck your bedding in, they normally merely lift approximately a fourth of it. That is why placing your money in the middle of the mattress is a great way to ensure that it will be safe. Be sure not to place anything too bulky as this would raise suspicion.
2) Place Cash Inside a Vent
Credit: Envato Elements/ photos
If you have a screwdriver, the air vent is such a great place to hide money. If you don't, you can always buy one from a nearby hardware or convenience store. To use a vent to store money, simply open it, slip in your valuables towards the end and close it. Make sure the bag holding the valuables is dark so it blends in with the surroundings.
3) Hide Money Inside a DVD Player, TV, or Air Conditioning Unit
Credit: Envato Elements/ Mint_Images
If your hotel room has a DVD player, press the eject button and place your valuables inside. This is the ideal hiding place to store smaller valuables like credit cards, rings, bracelets, and necklaces.
If your hotel room doesn't have a DVD player, you can always use the television. This works especially well with older televisions since they have plenty of room for storing valuables. To do this, shut off the power, open the rear, place your valuables inside and close it. Since thieves will assume you won't go this far, this is a fairly effective strategy. If your room doesn't have a television, you can use the same strategy with the air conditioner.
4) Use a Diversion Safe to Keep Cash Hidden
Credit: Travah
Diversion safes are becoming incredibly popular. These specific safes can be readily concealed in plain sight and resemble common items you could have around the house. They can take the form of a hairbrush, a cereal box, a bottle, or even a rock.
If you want to leave your room and hide your belongings somewhere secret, using these covert items is undoubtedly the best way to stay protected. The nicest thing about using these safes to hold your money is that you don't even need to hide them; you can simply leave them on your dressing table without anyone noticing.
5) Hide Cash Inside a Pillow
Credit: Envato Elements/ RossHelen
Since most hotels provide pillows and cushions, you can use these to your advantage. To use a pillow to hide your valuables, simply unzip it, tuck the item right at the bottom, and zip it back. Keep in mind that you should only use this strategy after your room is cleaned; else, your valuables will be revealed.
Summary
There you have it. You now know how to keep your money safe and where to hide your belongings in a hotel room.
The safest and best place to hide money in a hotel is most definitely in a diversion safe. Since these items effortlessly blend into the environment, they will not raise any suspicion. If you're looking for a diversion safe that you can use to conceal your valuables while traveling, consider shopping at Travah. At Travah, we have a range of diversion safes from hairbrushes to diversion bottles.