The first time I traveled to Europe with my family, I purchased a door lock for our hotel room. I didn’t think anything bad would happen, but I knew that with the additional lock, I’d sleep better. I worry about other things when I’m traveling, too, like whether my Airbnb has been bugged with cameras or if the batteries in my hotel room’s carbon monoxide detector have been replaced recently. 

Thankfully, there are products specifically designed to mitigate each of these concerns. I’ve tested 10 of these security-oriented items in our lab and at home to see how effective they are.

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Call me paranoid, but incidents of nonworking monitors, hidden cameras, and the like aren’t unheard of. As recently as 2024, a family in Florida told a harrowing story of having to use the balcony to exit an Airbnb after alarms didn’t go off during a fire.

CNN published an investigation into a short-term rental company’s lack of appropriate response when vacationers complained of having found hidden cameras in homes they rented.

And while I am not comparing my life to the Kardashians, in 2016, Kim Kardashian was the victim of a hotel break-in while in Paris. 

Regardless of who you are and where you vacation, you want to feel secure while you are away from home. Our tests of portable locks, doorstops, hidden camera detectors, UV flashlights, and door alarms turned up a few clear winners—and a few that were a waste of money. (No one wants to be alerted to an intruder after they’ve entered the room.)

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