Two days ago I walked past the hip party town hotel, The Cumberland, in London’s West End. The hotel is located on busy Oxford Street and across from Marble Arch Monument. It is close to Oxford Street shopping and therefore popular with tourists. Since’s its purchase and renovation by the Guoman Group, The Cumberland has become a new hotel of choice for 4 star comfort, location and for trend setters. Its lobby is fantastical with wild art, some featuring rock stars and cobalt blue installations.

On April 7, a crazed person broke into the room of three visiting sisters and bludgeoned them with a hammer. One woman is in serious condition and the other two women are injured. The police have no idea why or who and are treating this as attempted murder. And all of this took place in London a city known for safety and gentility.

So for us as women who travel, what should we avoid in a hotel? We cannot prevent random crime but we can make certain decisions about what to avoid.

Here are the top five hotel types to avoid:

1. Hotels with large and crowded lobbies. The Cumberland with its wild interior decoration and art , attracts a lot of lookers who are not staying there. The art and lighting are exciting and people wander in and out to see it. These people are rarely stopped by the doormen or are encouraged to visit for part of the hotel’s spin.
2. Hotels that have hip bars and restaurants that stay open late. Non guests can enter and use these amenities late into the night without being registered guests of the hotel. This allows for too many non guests to enter other areas of the hotel where your room might be.
3. Hotels with more than one front door. Hotels on busy corners of urban areas have twice the possibility that someone can enter. In the case of The Cumberland, this hotel is also on two ultra busy streets.
4. Hotels with more than 200-250 rooms. Large hotels like The Cumberland with its 1000 rooms or in New York, like The Grand Hyatt at Grand Central have too many people wandering around and too many elevators for staff to monitor.
5. Hotels in neighborhoods that attract crime even petty crime. Very busy shopping areas have tourists and their evil counterparts- criminals who prey on tourists. Unless the doormen are very vigilant to the point of TSA level security, these hotels will always have some non guests looking for trouble amongst the unsuspecting visitors.

To prioritize when you choose a hotel for yourself as a woman, concentrate first on neighborhood, then on size of hotel. Thirdly investigate what bars and restaurants are open to the public, how late are they open and where they are in the hotel. Thoroughly scan the hotel’s website, use google street view maps, and check its location on the map along with what else is around. Then when you are there, use your common sense, triple check before you open your door for room service and above all: USE ALL LOCKS ON THE HOTEL DOOR AS SOON AS YOU ENTER YOUR ROOM.

Travel Tips Brought to your From The Women’s Travel Group
For an idea of our hotel choices, look at both our site and photos on Facebook/Toursforwomen.