I watched a video about solo travel safety – and it saved me

Solo travelers — don’t let this happen to you.
A TikToker offered her tips on how female tourists traveling by themselves can stay safe — and another content creator claimed that, thanks to the social media savior, she avoided a potential disaster.
A Brooklyn-based woman named Patrice, who goes by patricejwill on the platform, posted a now-deleted video warning hotel staff to never read a woman’s room number out loud, The Mirror reported.
And if the hotel does happen to announce your room number in earshot, she recommends you get a new room immediately.
“You might think that’s really excessive, but sometimes hotel lobbies even include people who aren’t even guests at the hotel,” she said in the video.
“You don’t have to make a big deal out of it. You could just say, ‘I would just prefer that my room number isn’t announced out loud,’” she added, according to The Mirror.
Another woman named Darlene Octavia, who goes by darlene_octavia on TikTok, posted a snippet of Patrice’s video before sharing her own nearly 4-minute clip explaining how she heeded her warning.
In a video posted in 2021 that has recently resurfaced, she said she was at a hotel in Anaheim, California, for a food convention when the person checking her in at the front desk made the mistake of announcing her room number.
“I was staying in a random little inn in the middle of nowhere. By the time I got there to check in, it was late, it was dark,” the traveler said in the video, which has garnered more than 13 million views.
She said while she was at the front desk, an older man started making conversation with her while she was waiting for her room key.
She said the front desk worker seemed “very inexperienced.”
Darlene Octavia returned to the front desk and asked for a new room. TikTok/@darlene_octavia
“The guy finishes what he has to do to check me in, and says, ‘OK, cool, your room is 262’ and announces it, so the guy hears it. There’s no doubt,” she said.
She initially felt uncomfortable with the person at the front desk saying her room number, but because there were already other check-in issues, she decided to go to her room anyway.
As she was looking for it, the older man who struck up a conversation with her said, “Oh, your room is this way,” Octavia recalled.
“As luck would have it, literally next door to his room. So now he knows, single woman, literally next door to him,” she said.
She then proceeded to tell the man that she left something at the front desk and went back to request a new room because she felt unsafe, while additionally instructing the front desk worker that he should not say room numbers out loud. She said her new spot was up some stairs but very worth it to ensure she was safe.
The Post reached out to both TikTokers for comment.
A Brooklyn-based woman named Patrice posted a now-deleted TikTok video warning hotel staff to never read a woman’s room number out loud. TikTok/@patricejwill
Commenters below her video applauded her for getting new digs.
“I worked at Marriott for over 5 years and they teach you not to say the room number for exactly this reason. it’s crazy how many times I’ve started at a hotel since and they just announce the number,” one person said.
“As a hospitality student I CRINGE when someone says the room number, it’s one of the first things we learned never to do!” someone wrote.
“You were so smart! And I am glad the guy changed your room,” a third shared.