"Someone Is Watching Me": 5 Things Women Now Check in Hotel Bathrooms
It is a feeling a lot of women know: towel in hand, a new bathroom, and a sudden awareness of the vent in the ceiling. For years the advice was to shake it off. Now more women simply check, and it takes less time than a shower.
The Feeling Is Worth Taking Seriously
In a 2025 survey of American travellers, 58 percent said they worry about hidden cameras in rentals, and nearly half said they had found one. The unease in a strange bathroom is not paranoia. It is a reasonable response to something that happens.
The answer is not to stop travelling. It is to replace the worry with a check that takes a few minutes.
They Look at What Faces the Shower and the Toilet
A camera in a bathroom has to be hidden in something that already belongs there. That list is short: ceiling vents, towel hooks, shower fixtures, air fresheners, light fittings and anything on the counter facing the shower.
Among travellers who found a camera, 1 in 5 found it in a bedroom, bathroom or shared space. So the bathroom check starts with whatever points at the most private spots.
Worth knowing: 1 in 5 guests who found a camera in a rental found it in a common area, bedroom or bathroom.
They Turn the Lights Down First
It sounds backwards, but a darker bathroom is easier to check. With the lights low, the reflection from a camera lens stands out against everything else.
A camera lens bounces light straight back to where it came from, so under infrared light and through the right filter, a hidden lens shows up as a small bright point that does not move as you do. Shiny tiles and chrome scatter the light instead.
Worth knowing: 64 percent of American travellers said they do not know how to detect a hidden camera.
They Use a Filter, Not Just Their Eyes
Orsiva is a pocket lens finder made for exactly this check. Four infrared beads light the room with light you cannot see, and its violet filter lets you see a lens reflection as a red point.
Worth knowing: In the same 2025 survey, 55 percent of Airbnb hosts admitted still using indoor cameras after the company's 2024 ban.
It is small enough to keep in a toiletry bag, so it is already in the bathroom when you need it.
They Get the Rest of the Stay Back
The point of the check is not the check. It is the shower afterwards, taken without looking up at the vent. At night the same detector hangs on the room door and sounds an alarm if the handle moves.
A few minutes of checking buys back the feeling a bathroom is supposed to have.
Check the Bathroom First.
Orsiva is the pocket camera detector with a violet lens filter and a built-in door alarm, backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
CHECK AVAILABILITY
What Travellers Say About Pocket Camera Detectors
Quoted from customer reviews of hidden camera detectors. Individual experiences vary.
“I purchased this Hidden Camera Detector before travelling, and I'm really impressed with how well it works.”
“I'm honestly surprised by how small this hidden camera detector is, but it actually works!”
“I bought it for extra peace of mind while staying in hotels and vacation rentals, and it works exactly as expected.”
“I used it to scan a rental car and an Airbnb, and it gave me instant peace of mind.”
“It gives me extra peace of mind when staying in hotels or traveling.”
Orsiva is a consumer privacy tool that helps you look for camera lenses. No detector can promise to find every device in every room. If you find a camera where you are staying, leave it in place, photograph it and report it to the property and, where appropriate, local authorities. Statistics cited from IPX1031, Surveillance Camera Use in Short-Term Rentals, 2025 (1,050 US respondents).