Some, I think most, hotels have a room of safety deposit boxes, and I prefer to leave documents and cash there. My last one didn't and I felt naked leaving my stuff in what's essentially a tin box.

Many times I have stayed in hotels without safes. In the past year I can quickly add up over 80 nights in hotels without safes. my feeling is that I don't like to put everything I can into a safe even if there is one there.

But not having a safe seems to becoming a rarity in major centres in reasonable hotels.

Some random ramblings..Once I forgot the code to my safe. The housekeeping came in 10 mins and opened it in about 30 secs. There was a code that all the house keeping had that worked on every safe in that hotel. I never locked that safe after that, and never lost anything either - not even one fen! and I was there for quite an extended period. Another time in another place they moved a panel and used a key. All done in minutes. Has destroyed my faith in safes but at least they stop oppotunistic thieves.

But if it's not available at all, I tend to find places to hide things, keep cash amount low only withdrawing when needed. Jewellery, wear what you can and don't take too much. You might want to buy some on your trip:-)

I do not like to put things in reception, gives me a bad feeling. I never ever carry my passport, in case I lose it, get pick pocketed, etc. Safer to leave it in the one place, that way at you least know where it disappeared from. I only take my passport when I need it for work or I am travelling to a new location eg check in at hotel, airport, immigration etc.

Anyway thats me. I am probably not the most careful traveller on the planet.

I've encountered power failure once after returning from the beach to find the safe box locked for hours! Dun even have money to take my meals as everything is in the trusty safe...haha. Took a lesson and brought spare cash everywhere since then.

hmmm...being trying to convince myself not to rely on the safe box thingy and better carry all the important documents everywhere I go...

Somehow still worry about losing them especially on nights out in the busy streets on the night markets or even nightspots…guess I really had to lug them around somehow huh :)

Thanks alot guys for all your comments!! They certainly help to ease my concerns a bit...Cheers :)

Best not to carry your passport around with you unless you're leaving HK for Macao or Shenzhen. There are pickpockets, especially in crowded markets and ferry lines. I leave it in the room or hotel safe. And I never carry a Xerox copy of my passport, as that can lead to identity theft. Instead, before you leave home, scan the title page of your passport and all credit cards, and upload the picture to any web-based email site, such as Hotmail or Gmail, as an attachment to a message. If your wallet or passport are stolen you can access this information from any computer, and your consulate can issue a new passport.

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