Is there a hidden camera in your hotel room? A practical check

The hotel room hot spots

• TV and its cabinet. The TV faces the bed by design. Look at the bezel, the set-top box, and any small hole in the cabinet or shelf below it.
• Clock radio or charging dock. A bedside clock has a view of the pillow. A pinhole in the display window or speaker grille is a common disguise; the clock guide goes into detail.
• Desk lamp and floor lamp. Lamp bases and the hub where the shade meets the stem can hold a lens.
• Smoke detector and sprinkler area. Hotels usually have one ceiling detector. A second unit, or one mounted on a wall facing the bed, stands out.
• Bathroom fixtures. Check the exhaust fan grille, the hook on the back of the door, the hair dryer holder and anything on the counter facing the shower or toilet.
• Door peephole. A reversed or loose peephole can let someone look in from the corridor. Cover it with a piece of tape or a sticky note from the desk.

What hotel Wi-Fi can and cannot tell you

Hotel guest Wi-Fi is a shared network with many devices on it: other guests' phones and laptops, smart TVs in every room, and staff equipment. Many hotels also turn on client isolation, which stops devices on the guest network from seeing each other. That protects you from other guests, but it also means a camera on the same network may not answer a discovery request at all.

So a scan that finds nothing on hotel Wi-Fi is weak evidence. A scan that finds something is more useful: if Candor's Wi-Fi camera scan flags a device offering a live video stream, note its details and look for a matching object. Expect noise, too, because a hotel network can show dozens of TVs and streaming boxes from other rooms.

A camera planted by a person is also more likely to use its own hotspot or a memory card than the hotel network. The physical check does more work here than it would in a home.

Which Candor checks fit a hotel room

The lens finder does most of the work. Hotel rooms have blackout curtains, which makes it easy to get the dark background that lens reflections need. The front-camera infrared check helps spot night-vision LEDs aimed at the bed.

The Bluetooth scan lists nearby devices, but in a hotel you will pick up the neighbors' earbuds and watches through the walls. Signal strength gives a rough distance, so focus on strong results that seem to come from inside your room. The magnetic sensor is handy on objects that should contain no electronics, such as a decorative box or a hook, but a TV cabinet full of wiring will read high regardless. Candor runs on Android only.

What to say at the front desk

If you find something, leave it in place and take photos from a few angles, including what it points at. Go to the front desk in person or call and ask for the manager on duty. Say plainly what you found, where it is, and that you want the room secured and a different room. Ask for the incident to be written down and for a copy or a reference number.

If the device was in the bathroom or aimed at the bed, you can also contact local police. Staff should not remove the device before police see it, so ask them not to. If you booked through a travel site, report it there as well.

Check a hotel room in about 10 minutes

1. Cover the peephole and close the curtainsPut tape or a sticky note over the peephole, then pull the blackout curtains shut. You now have privacy and a dark room for the light checks.
2. Stand at the bed and look outwardFrom the pillow end, note every object that faces you: TV unit, clock, lamps, detectors, artwork. Do the same from inside the shower.
3. Sweep the bed-facing objects for lensesTurn off the room lights and use the lens finder on each noted object at arm's length. Pay extra attention to the TV cabinet and the clock. A lens stays a sharp dot as you shift the phone.
4. Repeat in the bathroomCheck the fan grille, door hook, counter items and any fixture facing the shower or toilet the same way.
5. Look for infrared glowIn the dark, point the front camera at the bed-facing wall and the bathroom ceiling with the infrared check. A glow from a clock or a detector is a reason to look closer.
6. Scan Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, then weigh the resultsRun both scans. Treat a flagged video stream or a strong unnamed Bluetooth device as a lead. Treat an empty Wi-Fi result as inconclusive on hotel networks.
7. Report and change rooms if neededIf something checks out as a camera, photograph it and go to the front desk as described above.

Frequently asked questions