November 5, 2025, 2:40 pm | Read time: 2 minutes
A British flight attendant explained in an interview why she always puts a shoe in the hotel safe during her stays. It sounds odd–but the quirky habit has a brilliant reason behind it. Read more about it at TRAVELBOOK.
No, your shoes are (probably) not so valuable that they need to be in the hotel safe. And for the trick we want to introduce, it should only be one shoe per pair anyway.
Why a Shoe Belongs in the Hotel Safe
The idea came from Ty Opoku Adjei, a flight attendant with British Airways. She recently discussed her trick in an interview with “Business Insider.” The shoe in the safe is not for its own security, but for the other valuables stored there.
So, you put one shoe from the pair you plan to wear on your return trip in the hotel safe. If you forget it there, you’ll notice it when leaving the hotel. And voilà: Your ID, jewelry, and other valuables are also secured!
The Trick Has Minor Drawbacks
The idea is as simple as it is brilliant, but not without its pitfalls. After all, not every hotel guest knows upon arrival which pair of shoes they’ll wear when leaving. And if they do, they might want to wear them during their stay. Then the shoe would need to be taken out of the safe and replaced with another, which could make the whole thing quite cumbersome. Moreover, a shoe that doesn’t belong to the chosen departure pair might be forgotten when packing–and so might the more important valuables locked in the safe.
For Ty Opoku Adjei, a frequent traveler, the trick has proven effective. And it might be the same for some imitators.
If You Did Forget Something
If, despite such a mnemonic, you forget something in the safe or elsewhere in the hotel, ideally you’ll notice it while still at your travel destination. Many hotels don’t see it as their responsibility to deal with guests’ belongings. At the very least, you’ll have to cover the shipping costs if you want something sent to you. Generally, hotels keep lost items for up to a year, so you can come to pick them up.