People who travel frequently often don’t give much thought to their personal safety or security, even when staying at motels or hotels. For most travelers, the quality of a hotel is defined by the depth of service, the friendliness of the staff, and the comfort of the beds. However, in today’s age of proven vulnerabilities in nearly every area of life, giving some extra thought to the quality of hotel security just makes sense.

Though incidents of violence at U.S. hotels are so rare as to be unnoticeable, we know all too well that hotels have frequently been the targets of terrorists in other countries. Viewed by many radicals as “soft targets”, hotels have not had a sterling reputation when it comes to providing for the security of their guests. Given the ease with which violence-prone individuals can walk into even secure areas and kill dozens if not hundreds of people, the hotel industry’s renewed focus on hotel security seems fully warranted.

Of course, hotel security goes beyond protection of the guests from potential violence. It encompasses a wide range of safety and security issues that involve both people and property. Thus, while hotel security may begin with the front door of the hotel, it does not end with the locks on the rooms. In fact, modern hotels are becoming quite proficient in protecting everything from your luggage to your family heirlooms – assuming of course that your luggage made it from the airport!

The range of security options utilized by hotels is broad and complex. While smaller, budget hotels often times have only the most rudimentary of hotel security features, the larger hotels often have security systems that would make banking institutions proud. In addition to security guards, most hotels have electronic locks at the front doors and exits, and some have locking capabilities in many of the corridors. Hotel security cameras are an ever-present source of protection, and a deterrent to those who would opportunistically victimize guests.
Guest rooms are more often than not secured with electronic locks utilizing swipe card capabilities. Even within the rooms themselves, guests are often able to secure their personal belongings in personal safes. In hotels in which that is not possible, hotel security offers other options such as safety deposit boxes.

The most recent studies involving hotel security in the United States found that the more expensive hotel properties scored highest in their security features, with the budget facilities scoring significantly below their luxury counterparts. In general, hotels located at already-secure spots such as airports scored nearly as well as the more extravagant hotels, even when they themselves had fewer resources.

The good news for travelers is that recent attacks on hotels in locales such as Jakarta have exposed weaknesses in hotel security paradigms that the industry has been quick to remedy. Rather than a simplistic “resort fortress” mentality, most hotels now view hotel security with an eye toward a tiered and layered approach with built-in redundancies. With lives and property at stake, it is comforting to know that the industry has done everything it can to protect its guests.