Ladies, here are a few other things you need to keep in mind if you’re scheduled to occupy a hotel room all by yourself:

• If you’re travelling with a colleague/ companion, ensure that the establishment gives you adjacent rooms — it’s always safer to have someone you know and are comfortable with close at hand. If you’re completely alone, request the hotel management to book you into a room which is easily accessible to their security. In case of an emergency, it shouldn’t take them too long to reach you.
• Once you’ve checked in, inspect the room thoroughly. Check for two-sided mirrors and all possible nooks where a spy-cam could be placed. Yes, reputed hotels have been known to be bugged too and it’s not the management’s doing, it’s mischief-makers’. You don’t want to end up as an unwitting clip on the Internet.
• Keep a copy of all the emergency numbers within the city as well as a copy of the hotel’s fire exit layout in the room — usually, upscale hotels will provide these as standard procedure.
• Always keep your cellphone fully charged so you have access to it at all times. Also keep your family/friends posted as to where you are through the day, so they know to call if there’s no communication from you in a while.
• When you unpack, be sure not to leave anything of value lying around. Remember that your room is cleaned when you’re not around and the sight of valuables may increase the chance of your room being broken into — the fact that it has a sole woman occupant is added incentive.
• Leave a light or the radio on when you leave the room, if possible. Anyone who is keeping tabs or listens at the door will think you’re either in or heading back soon.
• If you’re heading back to your room late at night, request one of the hotel personnel to accompany you to your room. You don’t want to run into unwelcome attention from anyone in those long corridors, nor do you want to be followed.
• Once you reach your room, have the security wait at the threshold until you’ve gone in and inspected the room. You don’t want to face an unwelcome intruder once you’re inside and have shut the door. You can laugh that it sounds a little out of a movie, but it’s been known to happen. So give your room a quick walk-through and only then dismiss the security guard.
• It goes without saying that you should lock your door securely behind you each night once you’re inside. Post the ‘do not disturb’ sign on the knob outside your door so that if someone comes knocking, you’ll know it’s not the hotel staff.
• If anyone does come knocking, the first thing you need to do is dial the reception and check whether they’ve sent a staffer upstairs for any reason. If they haven’t, call out and ask who it is and what they want. Unless it’s urgent, request them to leave you a message at the front desk — it may sound impolite, but unless it’s a very valid reason, nobody has any business calling on a woman alone in her hotel room at night.
• Avoid calling for room service late at night.