Campbell Live carried out a hidden camera investigation at three Auckland hotels to see if security was up to scratch.
The results serve as a bit of a wake up call for the industry.
You pay hundreds of dollars for a hotel room; for the small luxuries you get – someone to make the bed and clean up after you.
But while you're busy holidaying, it seems virtually anyone can get access to your hotel room – and they don't need much to do it.
“Guests shouldn't really be burdened with worrying about whether their hotel room is secure or not, or whether their belongings are secure, they should rely on the hotel to do that,” says Greg Watts of the New Zealand Security Association.
Campbell Live booked hotel rooms in three Auckland hotels to put their security to the test.
First, we tried to get a replacement key card.
At the Copthorne Hotel, our producer gives a room number and last name – the receptionist hands over a spare key, but with no request for identification.
At the Crowne Plaza Hotel, our producer gives a room number and name – the receptionist hands over a key.
At the Heritage, the receptionist does ask for identification, but when our producer can't produce it – she got a key anyway.
Once past the front desk, we tried to access other areas of the hotel.
In the Copthorne, any floor could be accessed without a card – meaning we could just walk in off the street and go anywhere we wanted.
At the Crowne Plaza, a guest swiped their card to let us up, and then we could access other floors using the stairs.
At the Heritage, you could use your swipe card to access any floor – so the penthouse was just a button away.
But what was most alarming was the ease we could access hotel rooms.
The cleaners at the Copthorne let our producer walk into a room – no questions asked.
No request for a name or a room key – or any evidence that the room was hers.
She was even left there with access to anything she wanted.
In the Heritage, again our producer had no problem gaining entry to a room while cleaning was underway.
This time, they did ask for a name – but not for a room key or any identification.
Greg Watts says hotels in this country don't prioritise security.
“The security of hotels in New Zealand could improve, absolutely, they should do more to qualify who people are.”
And he says that's not hard.
“In Europe and the States, it's very common to ask for a photo ID, for example a passport or a maybe the last four digits on your credit card, to prove who you are,” he says.
The Hospitality Association says asking for ID should be standard.
‘Well certainly asking for ID is part of normal process, sometimes normal process might not be followed, but certainly it's part of what we'd expect to be part of the process,” says Bruce Robertson of the Hospitality Association.
A conman did exactly what our producer did to access the room of Canadian tourists at a Central Auckland hotel in January 2008.
He walked into the Quaywest hotel, used their surname to get a spare key to their room, and stole their passport, credit cards and electronic equipment worth more than $8,000.
Tighter security, of course, would mean higher costs which could well mean higher room rates.
“One of the issues is where you increase security, you increase inconvenience to guests and we're in the business of providing a hospitable experience for guests,” says Mr Robertson.
“Where we haven't experienced any significant issues with inappropriate access, I guess it hasn't been a major problem for the industry.”
Campbell Live contacted the hotels involved; the Copthorne said it “takes the safety and security of its guests and staff very seriously, it appears that in this instance, not all of our procedures were followed correctly and as such, this will be followed up immediately”.
The Crowne Plaza said it has “strict policies for hotel security and guest safety” and has “taken immediate steps to investigate the footage taken by Campbell Live and the program's claims, and is reviewing all security protocols”.
The Heritage said “we treat security very seriously and will review our procedures accordingly”.
But Mr Watts says New Zealand could be vulnerable to the kind of crime syndicates that target hotels overseas.
“They will basically have loose security and find ways to penetrate those hotels, and break into rooms and steal things, steal jewellery and watches and what have you,” he says.
Luckily we don’t have criminal groups like that – but there are ways you can be safer as a guest.
Keep your “Do not disturb” sign on the door, leave the lights and the television on if you can, and close your curtains.
And, of course, remember how we gained access to those rooms? We knew the name of a guest – so keep those private details private.