When you are staying in your hotel room it is usually at these times that you want to be left alone in peace and quiet and for you not to be disturbed by, for example, the cleaning staff. Often forgotten, but of importance, is the 'do not disturb' signs available in all rooms, which can be hung on the outside of your door. It is important to use these signs if you do not wish to be disturbed, either overnight, during the evening or during the morning, otherwise it will be necessary for the cleaning staff to knock on your door and ask to come in, which is itself a disruption, and could wake you if you are trying to get some much needed rest.

An important point to note of course, is that when you first check in your room, check that the locking mechanism does actually work on your door. Do not assume that by double locking your door you are preventing access to your room. If you are in your room and double lock the door, cleaning staff will still be able to access the room, and if you have failed to put a 'do not disturb' sign on the door then they may well enter the room if they believe that it is empty.

As far as security is concerned, a good deal of common sense is necessary here. Obviously if you do have items that are expensive, such as camera equipment, mobile phones and even possibly laptops, then keeping these well out of sight will help to ensure that, in some part at least, they remain reasonably safe. Making sure that these items are not left out when you are not in the room is always a good idea. Although the vast majority of cleaning staff are perfectly honest, you do not wish to put them to the test, and in any case, whilst your room is being cleaned, the door will be unlocked, allowing access to anyone else, either by design or by accident. You do not wish any such eventuality.

If a safe has been provided, as is often the case in more expensive hotels these days, then smaller items will certainly be able to fit in this. Larger items, such as laptops, however are unlikely to fit into such a safe, and will therefore need to be located elsewhere. It is a good idea to charge your laptop over night whilst you are in the room, so that you do not have to leave it out and charging whilst you have your evening dinner, your evening out or your breakfast. During the times that you will not be in your room it is best to put your laptop into its bag and then put this inside your suitcase, or even underneath your suitcase at the bottom of your wardrobe.

A final point on privacy: when you first check into your hotel room it may well be during the day, and the windows offer a beautiful view across the whole city. Always make sure that one of the first things that you check is that the blinds or curtains actually shut effectively, giving you the privacy you need. It is no good having a long and happy day, coming back tired, and then finding that the blinds or curtains don't shut fully, and you have to lurk behind the wardrobe door in order to get changed.