Traveling &Staying at hotels with your good expensive ren garb

[Lady Amy of York]

So, i have traveled before out of town with my good ren garb. But it has always been just for the weekend.   My garb was never left in the hotel room unattended because  it was with me  ( on  my body ) at faire.

But in 2 weeks my husband and Iare attending the Pennslyvannia ren faire for closing weekend. Since it also happens to be our 10 year wedding anniversary that weekend, i would like to wear  my good, fancy, expensive  green velvet  noble / court gown.   

Here is where my concern comes in  :

Since it is my husband's  and I 10 year anniversary, we plan on making  it a second  honeymoon, and  spending a few days  sight seeing prior  to the faire.

I plan on packing my gown carefully inside a garment bag  and hanging the garment bag  in  the closet, in the hotel room.

My concern is will my gown  be safe  hanging  in the garment bag in the hotel room, while my husband  and i are busy sightseeing.
I have heard  of stuff  being stolen  out of  hotel rooms.

So i'm  like    :
               1. Bring the gown, hang it in the garment bag inside the closet and hope  no one  steals it
                2. Bring the gown  and hide it in the car somewhere
                 3.  Don't bring the gown. Wear one of my less expensive  gowns instead.


So i am interested in what others who have traveled  with good, expensive  garb  have  to say .  Thankyou !

             

[Syrilla]

One option is to ask the staff to keep it lock up for you. 

As some one who has traveled and shipped my Queen garb (holding breath) there has been little more than a passing issue or curiosity with it hanging in the hotel for many hours.  I did put away any jewelry, and such.  But the worst that has happened, is that the cleaning staff had a good look at the gown out of it's protective bag.  It was replaced, and arranged neatly.  But I knew, and let management know what happened. 

So, I say, bring it, wear it, and enjoy!!!

[Lady Amy of York]

 Thanks   Syrilla !

I have decided to bring   the  gown  !   I  brought  it  to wear  it,  i enjoy  wearing  it,  so  i am  going  to wear  it  ! It is  like  what  if  you brought an  expensive   Corvette,  would  you  leave  it  in the garage  and   not  drive  it  ? 

  What i am going to do is   take along  a  second  ,big  suitcase   for  the gown alone, and  pack  it carefully  so it does  not  wrinkle,  inside  the suitcase  .  ( seeing  how  when  i  received  my  gown  in the first place  from  the seamstress  who made  it , it was packed  in a small shipping  box ,  so  i should have  plenty  of  room  in this  huge  suitcase  i  have.) .  Then  i will  put a combination  lock  on  the suitcase.   

So that's  my plan.   I know it  probably sounds silly, and  I have  nothing  to fret about, but  like i said i have  known  people  who have had stuff  taken  out  of rooms.
My own sister lost a good expensive  dress/ ballgown  of  hers  once.

[Adriana Rose]

If you are that worried about leaving your gown in the room. Simply request that the housekeeping not take care of your room. They should have no worries about doing that.

I used to work as a housekeeper and there were several times that housekeeping was refused.

[Lady Ann of Draycott]

I'm glad you decided to take your gown Lady Amy, I would too and your plan doesn't sound silly at all, actually I think it's a pretty good idea, I wouldn't have thought about doing that! 

Adriana Rose had a good idea too, just put the "Do Not Disturb" or "Do Not Make Up Room" on your door and also tell them at the front desk.

Have fun!!! 

[DonaCatalina]

I have never had a problem with leaving my garb in the garment bags in the room. Like Syrilla, I have experienced curiousity, but nothing more severe than that.

Of course my jewelry chest stays in the trunk of the car, or locked up in the hotel safe.

[gem]

I travel for work a few times a year, and I never have my room serviced while I'm gone.  It's just another measure of security--even tho' any hotel staff can enter the room at any time, of course.

However, and this just might be me and maybe I'm clueless... while our garb is certainly valuable TO US, I doubt most of the general population would see it as a high-value item, like a camera, computer, or jewelry.  You can't slip a noble gown in a backpack and then pawn it on a street corner very easily, after all.  I'd think the only person likely to steal something like that would be someone who was *personally* interested in garb... and that's probably not going to be some average random thief in a hotel.

[Lady Amy of York]

If you are that worried about leaving your gown in the room. Simply request that the housekeeping not take care of your room. They should have no worries about doing that.

I used to work as a housekeeper and there were several times that housekeeping was refused.

Thats, what I normally do.Put a do not  disturb  sign on the door  and  keep my jewels  and  camera  on me.

But seeing how  we are going  for a whole week, the room is  going to need attended  too  .   

So that is why  i came up  with  my  plan that i mentioned above about  locking the  gown  in a seperate  suitcase..  Thanks  for   the  input  though. 

Typically  i would not worry, or  fuss over my gowns. Gowns  can  be  repalced .( although  money does  not come  easily ! )   But  this  was  a gift  from  my husband.   So not only is  there the fact, that yes, it  is  an expensive  gown, but there is  the sentimental  value  to  it too.

Thanks  everyone  else  for  the ideas.   
 

[isabelladangelo]

I travel for work a few times a year, and I never have my room serviced while I'm gone.  It's just another measure of security--even tho' any hotel staff can enter the room at any time, of course.

However, and this just might be me and maybe I'm clueless... while our garb is certainly valuable TO US, I doubt most of the general population would see it as a high-value item, like a camera, computer, or jewelry.  You can't slip a noble gown in a backpack and then pawn it on a street corner very easily, after all.  I'd think the only person likely to steal something like that would be someone who was *personally* interested in garb... and that's probably not going to be some average random thief in a hotel.

I know this makes sense, logically, but, unfortunately, I hear of a theft at least once a month of armor, garb, and other articles.  I'm sure there are a ton more than that.   People are always on the look out for "missing" items to suddenly show up on craigslist, etsy, or ebay.   If you have it, it must be valuable.

Now, that being said, I always hear of things being stolen out of cars, not hotels or residence.  I've kept many expensive things in hotels all around the world without a problem, ever.  So, leave the outfit in your room, not your car.   

[gypsylakat]

If you're flying don't forget that many airlines have rules against locked bags.

[Lady Amy of York]

If you're flying don't forget that many airlines have rules against locked bags.

Driving !

[Lady de la Warr]

I hate to say it as I don't want to sound snobby (it's not meant that way), but I think it also depends on the "quality" of hotel you stay at as well. If you stay at the lower priced hotels you end up with a certain quality of people - both those who stay there and those who work there. Now, this is a general statement and I'm sure there are exceptions to this rule, but I think you all know what I'm saying. The lower priced hotels cannot pay for the higher quality employees, nor can they pay for effective security personnel, etc. because they aren't charging what say a Hampton Inn charges so cannot put the amount of money back into the business.

That said, we have traveled all over the east coast with our garb - and I have some pretty fine royal gowns myself - and I've had absolutely no problems at all. In fact I always unpack them out of the garment bags to allow them to "breathe" and to keep the wrinkles to a minimum so they are effectively "hanging out there" and I have had no issues whatsoever. That may just be the luck of the draw - but that's how its been so far.

[captmarga]

If you're flying don't forget that many airlines have rules against locked bags.

You can use a TSA lock, which are available from most places that carry bags, such as Target or Walmart...

Capt. Marga

[Cilean]

My concern is will my gown  be safe  hanging  in the garment bag in the hotel room, while my husband  and i are busy sightseeing.
I have heard  of stuff  being stolen  out of  hotel rooms.
So i'm  like    :
               1.  Bring the gown, hang it in the garment bag inside the closet and hope no one steals it.
               2.  Bring the gown  and hide it in the car somewhere.
               3.  Don't bring the gown. Wear one of my less expensive  gowns instead.
So i am interested in what others who have traveled  with good, expensive  garb  have  to say .  Thankyou !        

I am sure this is academic already as you have gone to the Faire.  I make all of my gowns and as such have hundreds of pearls/gold/silver as well as being made of Silks and my time and effort in bringing these to life.

I go all over my state and country with my gowns plus my families.  One of my gowns has about $600 worth of crystals and bead work just on the sleeves and coif , another is made from Silk Taffeta and Satin and has over 100 hours of embroidery (Both machine and by hand), I put them in the closet and I have not have an issue with anything yet.  Most people don't understand what you have, or the expense of it, to them it is a costume and they think Hallowe'en and don't bother them.  Most of the hotels in the areas of Ren Faires know that if a costume is missing? You will blame the staff, and they are leery of losing their jobs for that outfit.  We have had people steal suitcases from cars, or from airlines (USAir in particular) and a rash of trailers being stolen in the past 3 years.

You are going to be at the hotel so you will only be out for 8 to 10 hours so the thought that the employee might want your gown, and they are assigned floors so it is pretty simple for them to find said employee as you are still a guest at the hotel.  I check all of my things when I leave my room, I make sure everything is there when I return.  This will mitigate the time if something is taken to figure out who it is that did so.  Also? For 100.00 a teddy bear Nanny-cam can be placed in your room. Ensuring that if someone is dumb enough to steal your gowns, that they are on your camera and can be brought to justice.

Personally I bring my own hangers, so that if anything is moved or changed it is noticed immediately.   I know exactly what is where, I do not place my jewelry out for people to be tempted,  they are in my lingerie bag that is also locked, a small deterrent but every little bit helps. To my knowledge if someone wants something you have they will take what they want, you can insure your outfits yep you can! 

I hope you had a grand time and a great Anniversary!

Cilean

[Lady Amy of York]

We went last weekend   for  four  days, and i wore  my pirate garb.

We are going next  weekend  again, and will be there  even longer,  for our  anniversary.   Next  weekend   is  the  weekend  i plan on wearing  my good  gown.

   We are staying in the  same hotel as last weekend.  It was a very nice, upper scale  hotel.  I am  not worried about  leaving  my gown at  all in the room.
Having traveled alot, there are some hotels  that i would not consider leaving anything in the room,  but this  one   I have no concerns about.

Thanks  again  for  all the helpful tips.   Having  traveled  alot, Alot of  them I already  do.
I always too   bring along my own hangers.       
   I also   check  my things  before  i leave  the  room, and  when i get back  to the room. 
I always keep the room neat and  tidy  and i  close and  zip  my suitcases  before i leave  the room, that way i know if  they have been gone  thru.
  I don't leave  anything of value in the room, like  my jewlery, camera  or  purse.
  I have made use of  the " do not disturb  sign" too.

I also  never leave  anything in the car  !    Just ask  my poor husband how many trips  he makes back and  forth from the hotel room  to  the car, when we arrive  somewhere and unpack  the car.    LOL  !   I can't help it.     He  does not understand, that a woman    needs  to have a suitcase for cloths, another bag for makeup and personal supplies, and then i am also packing  for  our young son too, and i always have  toys   and stuff along to keep him entertain.  Thank goodness  hotels  have  luggage  carts  you can  borrow !