One of the first recorded hotel fires took place at Kerns Hotel in Lancing, Michigan, on 12 November 1934. Thirty-five people lost their lives. Just over a decade later, in 1946, 119 people perished in one of the worst hotel fires ever, again in the US but this time in Georgia.

On New Year's Eve 1986, 96 unfortunate souls met their maker as a result of a huge conflagration at the Hotel Dupont Plaza in Puerto Rico. After the disaster it was found that the building, on which no expense had been spared in the luxury department, had been totally unprepared for emergencies of any description. Safety precautions were so inadequate as to be almost non-existent. The hotel had no evacuation plan and provided no training for staff in emergency procedures. There was no smoke detection system to alert the occupants to danger, exits from the casino were woefully sparse, and the hotel boasted a number of unprotected vertical or horizontal openings.

And as was shown with stark and tragic clarity by the recent fire in an Australian hostel - a low-rise building in a country many would regard as safe - barred windows and a lack of safety measures can conspire even today to produce a terrible death toll.

Fire regulations in the UK are tight and generally strictly enforced (though youth hostels are technically private clubs so do not have to comply with hotel fire safety legislation), but travellers would do well to remember that not all countries are quite so well organised. In 1996, Holiday Which? found major problems when it inspected hotels in Turkey and Gran Canaria in Spain. In Turkey, seven out of 20 hotels inspected were rated as 'poor', meaning that in the event of a fire guests might not be able to escape. Problems identified included staircases that were not separated from bedroom corridors and that would therefore act as smoke funnels; long dead ends; and buildings with only a single staircase, which if blocked by fire would mean that guests were trapped. Holiday Which? experts also reported that in both countries staff received no training in fire safety procedures, and liaison with local fire brigades appeared to be infrequent and haphazard.

In Britain, the provisions of the 1977 Fire Precautions Act require that every hotel with space to sleep more than six people should possess a Safety Certificate indicating that the building is equipped with protected escape routes, fire doors, a fire alarm system and portable fire extinguishers. In addition, the former Trust House Forte chain made it a policy to install smoke detectors in all their hotels, both at home and abroad. As a further precaution, the night porter in each establishment checks the building from top to bottom every two hours between 11 pm and 7 am, inserting a key into a time clock at strategic points in order to provide a record of his or her route.

If a hotel or hotel chain is known to have poor safety standards, some big companies have a policy of boycotting them for their personnel. Wherever possible, stay in a hotel with sound fire safety regulations, but do remember that not all fires are caused by negligence: no one can anticipate with any certainty where arsonists or terrorist groups may strike. Ultimately, responsibility for your safety lies in your own hands - so be prepared.

After a long and gruelling journey, searching out the nearest hotel fire exits is probably not going to be your number one priority. But it should be. A few minutes 'casing the joint' before you order up that G&T or slip into that pre-prandial bath could mean the difference between life and death should the unthinkable occur.

If fire does break out, remember that it is the smoke, rather than the fire itself, that is the major killer. If the hotel has a large open-plan ground floor with wide unprotected stairways leading upwards, smoke will permeate the upper reaches of the building quickly and easily. If there are no alternative stairways or exits from the ground floor, and if dining rooms, bars and discos seem cramped or inadequate, you might want to lift your bags off the bed and find yourself another place to lay your weary head.

If the hotel seems to have covered these points adequately, you might move on to a few responsible measures of your own. Preparation is the key. Virtually anyone caught unprepared in a life-threatening situation will panic. And with good reason in the case of fire, since trying to find the nearest fire exit when the smoke is already filtering under the door will waste precious moments that could mean the difference between life and death. Below are a few sensible precautions that will maximise your chances of survival.

On arrival

Check the ground floor layout and identify escape routes. Read the fire emergency instructions in your room and find the fire exit, making sure that it is free of obstruction (if it is not, notify the management and complain). Remember that fire doors are no use at all if they are wedged open. Walk the nearest escape route, counting the doors from your room to the exit (an aide- mémoire should the lighting fail or smoke obscure visibility). Note the location of fire alarm call points in the vicinity of your room, and familiarise yourself with the layout of your room and the way to the door (this is particularly important if you've arrived late after a large and liquid dinner). Find out what (if anything) lies outside and beneath the window and keep your valuables next to the bed for easy access. Don't smoke in bed, and never ignore a fire alarm.

In case of fire

Report the outbreak immediately, by phoning reception or breaking a fire alarm. Don't attempt any fire-fighting heroics unless you are an off-duty fireman. Close the door(s) and windows of the room where the fire is located (to restrict the spread of flames and poisonous fumes) and use the nearest exit to leave the building. Don't use the lift. Don't open any closed doors without first feeling them for heat (there may be a fire directly behind them). If your escape route is filled with smoke keep low, getting down on your hands and knees, where air quality and visibility will probably be better. Stay close to the wall to avoid disorientation. On leaving the hotel, report to your evacuation point so that people know you are safe and won't risk their lives unnecessarily looking for you.

If you are cut off by fire, try to inform reception. Close the door of the room. Run the bath to soak towels, bedding, curtains, carpets, etc., and use these to block up any cracks. Fill the wastepaper bin with water in order to douse any outbreak of fire inside the room, and go to the window to attract attention. If possible, open the window if you need to vent smoke from the room. Don't break the glass, since you may have to close the window to prevent smoke from below blowing in.

Jumping from even a second-floor window is not advisable (you might like to specify in advance that you want a room on the first floor).

Security

Theft is rife in hotels all over the world, from bag-snatching and pick-pocketing in the lobby to full-scale theft of thousands of pounds' worth of jewellery from hotel rooms. Not surprisingly, hoteliers are reluctant to be drawn on the subject of security, and it appears that they rarely take the perpetrators to court.

Some hotel chains - Sheraton are a notable example - are by contrast highly aware of the problem, and have adopted security policies involving installing video surveillance throughout their hotels and training their staff accordingly. Training highlights the importance of such measures as not disclosing names and room numbers over the telephone, ensuring discretion at reception, and being aware of security measures during the cleaning of occupied rooms (such as keeping the door closed or blocking it with a trolley).

The travel safety consultant Virginia Duncan recently advised readers of Business Traveller magazine to consider the following points when choosing a hotel:

As with everything, prevention is better than cure. A constant awareness of the potential threat of theft will make the thief's job considerably more difficult without necessarily (once it has become a matter of habit) making your life any harder.