How to Stay Alive in a Terrorized Hotel

(by Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic - Nov. 2008) - edited by rwp

Four hotels I've stayed in recently have now been blown up, so count me an expert on where not to stay. But I've also thought a bit about how to stay alive in hotels - I'm sort of the TSA of hotel security, except that, unlike the TSA, I recognize that most of my advice is utterly without value.

Also, my personal security guru, Bruce Schneier, says it's foolish even to worry about hotel safety, because the chances of something happening on any particular night in any particular hotel are vanishingly small. The taxi ride to the hotel is invariably more dangerous than the hotel itself.

But: Here are several ways to minimize your chances - already remote - of dying in a hotel besieged by terrorists. I'm not including in this some of the self-inflicted mistakes people make, such as allowing Russian prostitutes into your Baku hotel room and believing that they have your best interests at heart.

1) Avoid big hotels. I stopped staying at the Marriott in Islamabad years and years ago. It was fairly well-protected, as hotels go - not like the hotels in Amman, though not terrible - but it was an obvious target, a supersized American hotel in a country boiling with anti-American feeling. Terrorists tend not to waste time on small targets; they're trying to maximize the body count and hit targets of maximum symbolic value at the same time.

2) If you can't help but stay at a behemoth, order room service whenever possible. This minimizes your exposure to restaurants located off the lobby. Obviously, the lobby is the most dangerous place in a hotel; it is akin to the security lines at American airports, which are prime targets for suicide bombers precisely because they're entirely insecure.

3) Ask for a room on the 3rd, 4th, or 5th floor, unless you're reasonably sure the fire department in the city you're visiting doesn't have ladders that reach up to six. I try to be high enough to escape whatever chaos might occur on the ground floor, but not so high that I can't be reached. I'm always of two or three minds on this question; it's also not a bad idea to stay on a floor close enough to the ground that a jump will leave you with broken legs and nothing more.

4) Make two plans the moment you set foot in your room. Figure out how you're going to escape, and figure out, alternatively, how you're going to survive a siege. If escape isn't an option - say, you believe that men are roaming the floors with automatic weapons - try to figure out what you're going to use to fortify your room. In certain parts of the world - well, two - I'll barricade myself in my room at night, using a desk or dresser. This is dangerous, of course, in the event of fire. But I measure the risk. In dodgy places, fill your bathtub, if you have one, with water; it will come in handy if you can't leave (and, of course, if there's fire outside your door). Always travel with a flashlight, utility knife (they're easy to sneak past TSA), matches, and a few energy bars. Know where your shoes are, as well as your passport and money, just in case you have to get out in the dark. Also, identify a lamp or other piece of furniture that could be used as a weapon of last resort.

5) Set up tell-tales in your room before you leave for the day; I use a discreetly-placed length of dental floss to make sure no one's tampering with my laptop. It's always good to know if somebody's been poking around your stuff.

6) Stay in hotels that have already been bombed or otherwise attacked. Mumbai is a fairly safe place for travelers right now. And visiting India soon sends a message that civilization cannot be defeated by terror. But that's another subject.

7) Consider which side of the building is more vulnerable to rocket or bomb attack. In general, it is better to stay on a room at the back side of the hotel, away from the main street. Relatedly, consider the location of the hotel in the city. If it's next to the US or Israeli embassy that could be a good thing (greater security measures) or a bad thing (greater risk of attack).

8) Get a mental picture of the surroundings of the hotel. Where would trouble come from (not just terrorists, but muggers etc). Where would you escape to if you need to get away from the hotel.

9) Regarding jumping out a window: onto what? Grass and bushes, concrete?.

10) Be nice to the hotel employees: you might find that they have some inkling of problems, and have good advice (but don't necessarily take it).

11) Could an attacker hide in your room, and where?

12) How sturdy are the door locks and doors? Could you easily break down the door by yourself? If so, ratchet up your defensive plans a few notches.