Is It Safe To Keep Your Rolex In A Hotel Safe?

Using Hotel Safes As A CIA Case Officer & In Daily Life

During my second tour as a CIA Case Officer, I received a short message from a HQS office I had never heard of. The individual inquired about an upcoming vacation (R&R) I planned to take with Mrs. W.O.E. and specifically our stay at a relatively obscure 3-star resort in the middle of the Indian ocean.

After confirming the details, the individual asked if I would photograph the locks, cameras, and hotel room safe during my visit. I said yes without hesitation and eagerly awaited a special camera (REDACTED). I would later come to find out that the office was responsible for CIA's “black bag operations” or surreptitious entry, i.e., the group that breaks into buildings in the middle of the night (REDACTED).

To this day, I don’t know if the request for pictures was for a specific operation or to have “just in case” it was needed in the future. I did notice that many individuals from a certain country were present at the hotel, so I have my suspicions. My wife enjoyed posing around the hotel as I photographed her in front of the cameras and rolled her eyes when I asked her to keep watch as I photographed the hinges, keypad, and serial numbers of the closet-mounted safe.

Years later, I received a demonstration from CIA technical officers on how long it took to defeat electronic locks on hotel rooms and digital safes: about 3 seconds. There is nothing secret about this capability, and there are commercially available technologies capable of defeating hotel locks and safes. The process is achieved by electronically overriding the lock via a port under the keypad (or key scanner on a hotel door).

Electronic access port under the keypad of a Safemark Systems hotel safe.

Is “Hotel Safe” An Oxymoron?

If you find yourself as a Student Case Officer (SCO) at the CIA training center—“the Farm”—and receive a pop quiz; “True or false, a hotel safe is sufficient for Covert Communications (CovCom) storage?” Circle false. The answer is false.

You don’t have to be a super-secret squirrel to know that a hotel safe is not safe storage for anything; this should be common sense. Using the transitive property, it’s logical to conclude that you should never leave your prized Omega or Rolex in a hotel safe. But I would point you to the real answer to every question at the CIA: It depends.

Drawer mounted hotel safe.

Dubai – A Case Study

I was recently in Dubai for a short layover and was traveling with three watches: a Rolex GMT, a Tudor Black Bay 58, and the more affordable Arabic Seiko. I stayed at a nice hotel (like most hotels in Dubai), and the United Arab Emirates is arguably one of the safest countries in the world. For most of my trip, I left the Seiko and Black Bay 58 in the hotel safe and wore the GMT on my wrist. I could have carried the other two in my man purse, as the risk of them getting stolen on the street is low in Dubai, but I assessed that the likelihood of accidentally leaving the bag at a coffee shop or bar exceeded the likelihood of them being stolen out of my hotel room. Travel risk mitigation is often about choosing the best or least worst option. Would I leave my priceless South African Navy-issued Tudor in the hotel safe? No, because it’s irreplaceable.

If it’s irreplaceable, don’t take it with you. South African Navy issued Tudor MilSub ref 7016.  (Photo Credit: W.O.E./James Rupley)

Watch Crime Is No Joke

As we have discussed at length, watch crime is at an all-time high. According to data from The Watch Register, the global value of stolen watches in 2024 exceeded $2 billion, a remarkable number. Examples of watches stolen out of hotel safes are numerous, and the incidents often go unreported. When it comes to hotels, crime can be sophisticated, such as breaking and entering, targeting patrons at the hotel bar, or more opportunistic sticky fingers from the housekeeper.

Considerations With Hotel Safes

Of course, the safest thing to do is to leave your watch at home and/or travel with one affordable watch. But if you do decide to travel with more than one, here are some considerations.

The Bates Motel vs. The Four Seasons

In general, a 5-star hotel will have better security than a 1-star hostel. The Ritz Paris on Place Vendôme will have a director of security, controlled access elevators, and working cameras throughout. The hostel will not. Security personnel will be more likely to ensure access to the safes is restricted and that default codes are reset. That’s not to say that luxury hotels are inherently safe, but they are probably safer. The first thing I do when I arrive at a hotel is take a basic stock of the security measures in place. Besides the obvious indicators, this is often more a gut feeling than anything else.

The Safe Characteristics

Hotel safes are often mounted in a closet or drawer and vary greatly from cheap and mechanical to sophisticated and robust. A good safe is secured to the wall and is not easily removed. If possible, you should check to see if the default or administrator password has been reset, a common mistake made by hotels when installing the safe.  

For many safes, you can enter “superuser mode” by pressing the lock button twice, followed by the default/factory master password: 999999. Default passwords can often be found online. Regardless, the hotel staff can generally get into a safe if a customer accidentally forgets the password. Hotel procedures should require at least two members to be present when opening a safe, but in my experience, this policy is rarely adhered to.

Entering superuser mode by pressing “LOCK” twice; default override password for SafeMark safes is “999999”

Most electronic safes can also be accessed electronically via a port under the keypad. The purpose of the port is to program the safe, but commercially available technology can plug in and immediately override the set code. Some also can be open with a traditional key, often held by the hotel. Of note, many hotel room electronic locks can also be accessed via a port under the lock.

In this video, after entering superuser mode, by pressing “LOCK” twice, I am able to confirm the default code of 999999 has been changed, but the safe is secured via easily accessible screws, making removal of the entire safe easy with a wrench. I give it a B.

Other Precautions

The first thing I do after getting into a hotel room is put the do not disturb sign on the door, which generally stays there for the remainder of my stay.  I also check to make sure the windows and door to the adjoining room are locked. Whenever I leave the room, I turn on the TV to ensure there is some noise coming from the room, but not so loud that a neighbor calls to complain. Lastly, check the exits and cameras in the hallway to understand what is and isn’t being captured. If anything is wrong with your room, ask for another one.

Alternatives To Hotel Safes?

Of course, the elephant in the room is why you would travel with one, let alone multiple watches. The safest thing is to leave your watches at home, and I do agree that anything you travel with should be considered perishable to some extent. If you want to travel with a watch, consider an affordable (a relative term) one-watch approach. I wouldn’t take that family heirloom Omega to Cape Town.  

Travel essentials: An affordable, one-watch companion may be a better option for travel.  Pictured here is a CWC SBS.

Bring It With You

There are times when bringing your watch with you is better than leaving it in the room, and this depends on your location, activity, and watch. You probably don’t want to wear a Rolex while clubbing in London, but a stroll around the Dubai Marina, I wouldn’t think twice. I would never leave it in a bag while taking a swim on a public beach, but that boutique hotel on a private beach may be viable.

Hide It In The Room

There is a theory floating around the internet that you should hide valuables in your room. A locked safe indicates there is something of value in it, and an open safe may telegraph that you have nothing of value.  The idea is to hide the watch in the hotel room: in a dirty sock, tucked in a hidden pocket of your suitcase, or even the bottom of a dopp kit. This theory does hold weight, and it is something I have done, particularly in hotels without safes or AirBnBs. Again, the do not disturb sign is key here. That said, this option is also not without risk. If housekeeping does come in, they could mistakenly wash that dirty sock, or you could forget to retrieve it while in a rush checking out.

Safety Deposit Box At The Front Desk

Some hotels have safe deposit boxes for guest use. I have never used one because I don’t like to telegraph to the hotel staff that I have something of value. These safe deposit boxes are on a spectrum, with some offering secure storage with one box per patron while others are a single communal safe. My biggest concern here is that you introduce a human element. The front desk changes over time, and multiple people could, in theory, have access to that storage box.

Apple Air Tag

Real-time geolocational devices used to be the stuff of futuristic spy movies, but today, they are readily accessible from Apple and other vendors. While most savvy criminals will check the loot for an air tag, it is a simple measure to throw one in your watch pouch or bag just in case it is stolen or misplaced.  

What Happens If Something Is Stolen?

As a general rule, if something is truly irreplaceable, leave it at home. If you do decide to take a nice watch on a trip, make sure you have pictures of the watch and have documented the serial numbers. If possible, insure the watch and make sure that the insurance will cover stolen property out of a hotel safe. If the watch is stolen, make sure you document it with the local police and the hotel, as this documentation will be needed to file a claim. Please note that most hotels have disclaimers that they are not responsible for stolen items.

So, What's The Verdict?

If this article seems vague and non-descriptive, that is by design. The goal is not to tell you what to think but to teach you how to think. There are no true or false quizzes at the Farm because there are very few definites in the world of intelligence.

To be very clear, I am by no means advocating for storing watches in hotel safes, and if you do so, you must acknowledge the risk of the watch not being there when you return. What I am really saying is “it depends.”

This article is about watches, but the knowledge should be applied to passports, computers, tablets, and other valuables.

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Read Next: Criminal Rolex Gangs and Traveling with Watches, Part I

This article has been reviewed by the CIA's Prepublication Classification Review Board to prevent the disclosure of classified information.