Sleeping Easier in Hotels: An Addalock Story

I have planned other people's trips for 26 years. I am 63 now, part-time, and I still take about four trips a year with my husband, Walt. Two or three are domestic, usually by plane. One or two are international, often Europe. Somewhere along the way I stopped judging a hotel room by the lobby and started checking the door first. That is how the Addalock ended up in my suitcase.

Two and a half years ago a client told me about a room she had checked into where the door did not latch properly. She mentioned it in passing, the way travelers do when they are still deciding whether to be upset. I did not make a scene about it. I did write it down. By the end of that week I had ordered the Addalock Original Portable Door Lock and put it in the zip pocket inside my Samsonite carry-on.

I want to be plain about what happened next, because I think honesty is more useful than a scary story. Nothing has ever been stolen from Walt and me. Nobody has ever tried our hotel door while we slept. We have never had a room broken into, and I have never had to use the Addalock in a real emergency. What I have had is a small, quiet habit that lets me sleep in a strange room.

That is what I want to tell you about. Not a dramatic rescue. A habit. The Addalock is a one-piece stainless steel lock that weighs 4.2 ounces and measures 5.8 by 3.5 by 0.7 inches. The listing calls it a portable door lock for travel and home security, for inside use. For me it lives in the same zip pocket as my passport wallet on travel days. I take it out before I unpack.

Walt is 65 and retired. He is the calm one. I am the one who reads the label and the fine print. When we travel together on a longer trip, we each bring a carry-on and check nothing. On a short domestic trip of two or three nights, we share the Samsonite. Either way, the Addalock goes. It has been on every hotel night for two and a half years.

I have set the Addalock on every hotel door I have slept behind for two and a half years. Nothing has ever happened. That is the point.

Here is how it fits into a hotel night. We land. We take a taxi or a train to the hotel. I am tired, my feet are swollen, and I want to lie down. Before I do, I check the door. I close it. I set the Addalock. I check that the door does not move. I say a quiet prayer of thanks for a safe arrival. Then I unpack the packing cubes and put the empty suitcase in the closet. The whole thing takes less time than finding the light switch.

I know there are other products. Door stop alarms exist. I have never owned one. I looked at a few listings after a client asked me about them, and I understand the appeal of an alarm. But I did not want a device that makes noise. I wanted a device that keeps the door from opening in the first place. The Addalock is what I chose. I am not saying it is the only answer. I am saying it is the one in my bag.

There are limitations, and I would rather tell you now. The Addalock is the lock I use on doors that open inward into the room. Some hotel doors, especially in older buildings, do not work the same way. I have also stayed in rooms where the door frame is unusual or the lock does not fit the way I expect. In those cases I do not force it. I call the front desk and ask for another room. A lock is not a substitute for paying attention. It is a backup for the moments when paying attention is not enough.

On our last trip, we stayed in a small hotel outside Lisbon. The room had a heavy door and a deadbolt. I still set the Addalock. Walt smiled at me and said, 'You and your little lock.' I said, 'You and your little seatbelt.' He laughed. That is the whole review. It is not about fear. It is about a small ritual that lets me turn off the light.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

If we were sitting at my kitchen table, I would tell you to buy the Addalock before your next trip, not after a bad night. I would tell you to practice with it at home first, on a door that opens inward, so you are not reading instructions at midnight in a hotel room. I would tell you to keep it in the same pocket every time. And I would tell you not to expect it to replace common sense. Lock the deadbolt. Use the chain if there is one. Check the peephole. Put your passport wallet under your shirt. The Addalock is one small piece of a larger habit. For me, it is the piece that lets me sleep.