Cheap airplane tickets and great deals on discount hotel rooms are highly valued by savvy travelers. However, safe hotel rooms are a must.
Erin Andrews, an ESPN sportscaster, was stalked at hotels she frequented for her job and was filmed nude without her knowledge through peepholes the stalker had altered. Ms. Andrews was stalked and/or filmed in Marriott and Radisson hotels.
Ms. Andrews would like to see a higher level of protection offered to hotel guests:
Mount hallway cameras on every floor. If such cameras had been installed where Andrews was staying, her stalker would have been shown outside her hotel room tampering with the peephole.
Improve employee training to ensure that someone unknown to the guest is not able to get their room number.
Request guest approval before assigning a room to a third party when that third party requests a room next to a specified guest.
Look at for red flags. Concern should be raised when someone calls a hotel asking if a specific individual is staying there vs. if the caller simply asked to speak to that person.
Most peepholes in US hotels are easy to tamper. Hotels need to look into purchasing more secure peepholes that have slots that cover the hole inside the hotel room.
The means are available to make hotel stays much safer. For this to happen though, travelers will have to demand it.