When it comes to security while traveling you are probably like everyone else. We all want to have a good time and feel safe and secure doing it. Well I want to take a look at the security features that help keep you and everyone else a bit safer while staying in a hostel. For starters, how secure are hostel locks?
Note: I am going to write this post a little bit differently. Since I want to own or operate my own hostel one day, I am going to be addressing YOU the reader as if you owned a hostel and I was one of your guests and I am telling you how and why I do or do not feel safe/secure at your hostel.
What Types Of Locks Do Hostels Use?
Physical Keys
Physical keys are the safest in some aspects and the least safe in others. Physical keys are immune to computer hacking or any sort of digital exploitation but they are easily duplicated at your local hardware shop for just a few bucks. This means that if I go to a hostel and receive a physical key, I can just duplicate the key at a local hardware store and enter whenever I feel like it. Not the most secure of ways to keep your establishment safe if you ask me. I learned this from a hostel owner (Greg at AB Hostel in Antwerp.) as I overheard him explaining to another guest why they used electronic locks at the front door instead of a physical key. It is too easy for someone with ill intent to duplicate the key but with a keypad at the front door, nobody gets locked out and codes can be changed or deleted whenever needed. It also allows Greg to know when which guest is coming and going and at what times which makes for added security for your guests.
Pros:
– Immune to computer hacking
Cons:
– Easy to duplicate
– Most expensive type of key
– Physical Key
Keypads
Keypads or similar combination locks are excellent for giving out to all of your guests so they can enter after hours and they don’t need any sort of physical key so nobody is locked out. These work best for large areas that you want everyone to have easy access to like the front door, pool or a common room.
You can also change the passcode weekly, monthly or as needed to make sure that the whole world doesn’t have access to your establishment. You can even create custom codes for certain guests so it’s easier for them to remember and they are never locked out. This type of key offers unique security because it can’t be stolen or pick pocketed. It’s all in your head so you don’t even need to leave the hostel with your wallet or purse if you don’t want to. It is also one of the least secure ways cause someone with ill intent could share the code and then anyone could just waltz in the hostel. Unique codes are often given to different guests to prevent this sort of foul play but I think it rarely happens.
Pros:
– Not a physical key so guests are never locked out.
– Digital hostel metrics and analytics
– Digital shut off if lost or stolen
Cons:
– Codes can be given away and anyone can just walk in.
– Could possibly be hacked by a computer
Magnetic Stripe keycards
Mag-Stripe keys are better than physical keys in my opinion but my least favorite of keys because they usually don’t have any holes to loop a lanyard through so they are easily lost, need to be removed from your purse or wallet to use it or the stripe can become dirty and not read properly. I had this problem at Nomads in Wellington which is just annoying to go down to reception in the middle of the night in your underwear to let management that your key isn’t reading properly. Moving parts = problems will eventually arise. It’s also a slight hassle to pull something out of your wallet/purse to scan into a room or elevator. I have actually lost money because of this. I had some cash in the same pocket in my wallet as my key and when I pulled the key out to scan it some cash came out with it and i didn’t see it come out (not a huge deal but when you are living on a tight budget on the other side of the world it can mean the difference between eating a full meal or just a cup of noodles.) This could have been solved with the use of my personal favorite locks… the RFID lock.
Pros:
– Digital hostel metrics and analytics
– Digital shut off if lost or stolen
Cons:
– Mag stripes get dirty and don’t work
– Plastic card easily breaks
– Need to be removed from wallet to work
RFID Key
RFID Key is short for Radio Frequency IDentification Key and it uses tiny radio waves to read your card and let you in a particular room. This technology is nothing new and is what retail stores use to prevent shoplifting. Have you ever set off an alarm when leaving Target or something? (Ding) “We’re sorry, you have triggered our robots that think you are lifting goods. Please put them back or we will brutally slay you and your entire extended family. We do this to deliver you the best prices possible. Thank you for your cooperation”. Yeah that’s RFID. What I like the most about RFID is that I don’t have to pull anything out of my wallet. I just hold my entire wallet up to the door reader and it beeps or a light turns colors and then the door unlocks. Another benefits of RFID is that you are not limited to a keycard. You can use a bracelet or have it surgically implanted beneath the skin like something out of the Matrix (A common method used to ID pets but your guests might object to surgery at check-in). I think a bracelet would be nice so when you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and you are half asleep, you don’t get locked out of your room cause you forgot your key. It’s on your wrist.
Pros:
– Digital shutoff if lost or stolen
– Can be used from inside of your wallet or pocket.
Cons:
There are benefits and downfalls of each system but one of the benefits of all of the digital models is that it allows the hostel management to collect metrics and data to see how people are interacting with their establishment. When they scan in, where they scan in and how they can improve their hostel based on these metrics. Unless you completely suck like Zebra Hostel in Milan. (Why bother having doors on rooms anyways? …or walls?) but these all add a certain level of security that the others do not. Some hostels use more than one of these methods for a variation of control and I always travel with my own pad locks for securing my own gear while traveling so I sometimes use all of these forms of security in a single stay.
If you’re looking for a safe and secure hostel, be sure to check out Hostelworld for all of the best hostels around the world.
