Current accommodation and confidentiality
- Do not disclose the name, address or location of the hotel to the perpetrator, mutual friends, family members or anyone who may pass this information on.
- Ask hotel staff to place a confidentiality/safeguarding alert on the booking and not confirm that the client or child is staying there.
- Where possible, ask reception not to give out the room number or transfer unexpected calls to the room.
- The client should speak with reception about what to do if the perpetrator attends the hotel or asks about her.
- Avoid posting photographs, check-ins or other information on social media that could identify the hotel or surrounding area.
- Consider whether the child could unintentionally disclose the hotel’s location to the perpetrator or other family members.
Leaving the hotel
- Where possible, avoid predictable routines.
- Before leaving, consider whether the perpetrator knows the area or places the client is likely to visit.
- Avoid meeting the perpetrator alone, including to collect belongings.
- Tell a trusted professional/person where the client is going and when they expect to return where appropriate.
- If the client believes she is being followed, do not return to the hotel. Go to a police station, busy public place or
another safe location and contact police. - Consider changing usual shops, routes and transport arrangements temporarily.
Important belongings
- Passports/birth certificates
- Immigration documents, if applicable
- Medication for the client and child
- Bank cards/cash
- Phone and charger
- Important telephone numbers
- Child’s essential belongings
- Copies of relevant court orders/bail conditions
- Police crime/reference numbers
- Essential clothing.
- Preparing essential documents, medication and belongings so they can be accessed quickly is recommended within domestic-abuse safety planning guidance.
Contact from the perpetrator
- The client does not need to respond to calls or messages.
- Where safe, retain threatening, abusive or unwanted messages rather than deleting them.
- Screenshot messages and record dates/times of unwanted contact where appropriate.
- Do not disclose the hotel’s location during conversations.
- Report breaches of bail conditions, protective orders or other restrictions to police.
- Discuss stalking/harassment and any escalation with the allocated domestic abuse worker/police.
Ongoing accommodation
- Continue exploring suitable safe accommodation/refuge rather than relying on the hotel as a long-term safety measure.
- Ensure professionals involved understand that the client has fled domestic abuse and that her current location
must not be disclosed to the perpetrator. - Consider housing, benefits, immigration and legal support where relevant.
- Review the safety plan whenever circumstances change, particularly if the perpetrator discovers the area/hotel,
makes threats, begins stalking the client, or attempts to contact/collect the child.
- Continue exploring suitable safe accommodation/refuge rather than relying on the hotel as a long-term safety measure.
- Ensure professionals involved understand that the client has fled domestic abuse and that her current location
must not be disclosed to the perpetrator. - Consider housing, benefits, immigration and legal support where relevant.
- Review the safety plan whenever circumstances change, particularly if the perpetrator discovers the area/hotel,
makes threats, begins stalking the client, or attempts to contact/collect the child.
Emergency plan: If the perpetrator locates the hotel, attends the premises, makes threats or the client believes she or her child is in immediate danger, call 999 and alert hotel staff immediately. The client and child should not confront the perpetrator or return to an unsafe location.
