Just got back from a hostel in Prague that had some sketchy lockers

I stayed at a place near the old town square last week and noticed the locker locks looked really old and worn. About half of them had those cheap combo locks the hostel provides, not the kind you bring yourself. I watched a guy pop one open by guessing 0000 in like 10 seconds. One the second day, my phone charger got nabbed from my own locker because the latch was loose. Has anyone else run into hostel theft issues and found a good way to secure your stuff without carrying a heavy lock?

3 comments

3 Comments

alicemurphy1mo ago

Oh man that's so frustrating! I had a buddy who stayed at a hostel in Budapest and had the same kind of nightmare. He brought his own lock but forgot the key inside his bag that was locked in the locker. So he had to wait three hours for a staff guy to come cut it off with bolt cutters. By that time someone had already gone through his stuff and took his portable speaker and a hoodie. He ended up just using a small cable lock he looped through his backpack zippers and then around the bed frame. That way even if the locker was junk his bag was still tethered to something heavy. Not perfect but way better than trusting those cheap hostel locks.

roberts.leo1mo ago

Whoa wait, someone went through his stuff while it was locked up? That's insane! I thought the whole point of a locker was to keep things safe. Seriously, what's the point of a lock if the staff just lets anyone wander in with bolt cutters and open stuff? Your buddy's cable lock trick is actually genius though. I might steal that idea for my next trip, better than trusting those flimsy built-in locks that feel like they'd break if you sneezed on them. That speaker and hoodie are long gone though, brutal.

john_fisher1mo ago

But wait, did your buddy actually get any compensation from the hostel? I mean, if a staff member used bolt cutters to open his locker and then didn't secure the room after, seems like they'd be on the hook for the theft, right? What did management say when he told them his stuff got swiped while their guy was running around with bolt cutters?