A flight attendant has shared the routine she follows every time she enters a hotel room as part of her job.
Esther Sturrus has been working as a flight attendant since 2019, flying with both TUI and KLM. Due to her constant jetting across the world, the 22-year-old often finds herself checking into hotels across the globe for the night.
To ensure her safety and to vanquish any fears that the room isn't completely private, there’s one thing she always does: check for hidden cameras. Esther has shared how she thoroughly checks her room in a recent TikTok video.
In the clip she starts by inspecting the mirrors in her bathroom by pressing on the glass to see if anything shown up, or looking for a bend. Esther then checks the shower and the fire alarm edges with her phone torch.
She also searches round the room looking at curtains, drawers and her TV.
Esther, from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, explained: “Fortunately, KLM also arranges very good hotels for its staff, so I don't think it is very common, I saw quite often on TikTok that people found hidden cameras.
“It was often in AirBnbs, or somewhat ‘worse’ hotels. I thought it would be fun to also make content about this and make people aware that this can happen.
“The main downside of spy cameras has to be the fact that they invade the privacy of our rooms and it becomes very unpleasant to do even the simple things in the comfort of our rooms.
“Another big con is the fact that wireless signals can be intercepted and there is no legal protection to prevent this from taking place.
“While it is very unlikely that you truly have anything to worry about when it comes to hidden cameras, you can always do your own inspection for peace of mind.”
Esther makes sure to thoroughly check the hotel's alarm clocks, clock radio’s, smoke detectors, lamps and lights, mirrors and thermostats.
The flight attendant is also a big advocate for making sure your valuables are safely stored away when in a hotel room by using the safe.
A lot of people apparently don't do this, as they're concerned about forgetting about the pricey goods when they check-out, a concern that Esther has a tip to help vanquish.
"Worried about forgetting something from your locker? Put your heel or shoe in it and you won't forget it," she said.
The flight attendant always puts a heel in the safe because she would never leave the room without them as they are an essential part of her work. If you're not carrying more than one pair of shoes, place whatever item they think you wouldn't leave without in the safe, such as your jacket or coat.
Another tip that Esther offer involves using a clothes hanger to clip the hotel curtains together at night, so you're not woken up by the bright light in the morning.
This is a very useful way to protect the clothes from dirty kicks when you pack the suitcase again, especially if you don't have any plastic bags with you.
The same technique can also be used to cover the remote control, which can be "very dirty" in hotel rooms, she claims.
Esther also suggested using "your USB cable and charge your devices in the TV" if you don't have a world travel plug or if the one you have doesn't work.
Finally, she said that there is no need to use the room key for to switch on the room lights and instead, guests "can also use any other card for this".
