Hotel Safety on a Layover: The Five Minute Routine

Five minutes at check in is all this takes. Count the doors to the two nearest exits, test that your room door locks and closes by itself, and keep your ID, phone, and shoes within reach of the bed. Do it on arrival, while you are still awake enough to remember it.
The five minute check in routine

• Read the evacuation plan on the back of the room door and find your room on it.
• Walk the corridor and count the doors to the two nearest exits, ideally in different directions. In smoke you will be counting by hand, not reading signs.
• Note where the extinguisher and the alarm pull are.
• Check that the room door closes and locks by itself, and that the deadbolt and the security latch work.
• See whether the window opens, and what is below it.
• Put your ID, phone, key card, a small flashlight, and your shoes on the nightstand side of the bed.

If the alarm sounds

• Take your key card and phone. Leave everything else.
• Feel the door and the handle with the back of your hand before you open it.
• If it is cool: stay low, head for the nearest exit, and count doors as you go.
• Use the stairs. Never the elevators.
• If the door is hot or the corridor is full of smoke: stay in the room. Seal the gaps with wet towels, call the front desk and the local emergency number, and signal from the window.
• Never go back for belongings. Nothing in that bag is worth it.

Everyday room security

• At the desk, ask reception to write your room number down rather than say it out loud.
• Use the deadbolt and the latch overnight, every night.
• Do not open the door for unannounced maintenance or deliveries. Call the front desk and check first.
• Keep the curtains closed on ground and low floors.
• With an early pickup, book a wake up call as well as two phone alarms.

Getting a crew rate at the hotel itself
Hotels work the opposite way to car rental. You book with the property itself, and what you need to do differs per hotel. Our destination pages state it per property, so start on our hotel discounts section and pick your country or city.
Take your airline ID badge and the booking confirmation that shows the staff rate. Some properties also ask for a roster, a crew list, or a letter from your employer, and a few check again at checkout.
First Class is our crew only page with the complete verified hotel list. It is free for aviation staff: you sign up with your email address, confirm it, and an access code arrives automatically by mail. No membership, no login, and no card details.
Next step
If you want the background on how a staff rate works at the front desk and what to ask for, read our crew hotel section. Then look up your next layover city on the hotel discounts pages and save the one you use most.
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