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Traveling soon? This portable door lock, just $18, 'adds so much security'

Hotels, dorms, cruise ships — it installs in seconds and adds a little peace of mind wherever you go, shoppers say.

Traveling can come with plenty of unexpected moments, not all of them positive. For instance, have you ever been sleeping in a hotel room when housekeeping staff walked in? It's disconcerting knowing that someone can get into your room that quickly. Rest a little easier with a portable door lock like the Addalock. This device has gone viral in the past few years for giving travelers extra peace of mind. It's easy to install, but it makes it much harder for anyone to enter your room once it's in place.

Give security a boost whether you're in a hotel, a college dorm room or at home with this clever lock.

$18 at Amazon

When the hotel door looks like it's made of cardboard or the dorm room lock is just for show, the Addalock can help give security a boost. How's it work? Simple: It fits into the strike plate of the door and catches the door if someone attempts to open it.

It takes seconds to install, and it fits in most doors. There's a caveat: If there isn't enough width between the door and the wall, it might not fit — but that points toward poor door installation more than anything else. It should fit most standard doors.

Best of all, this thing is tiny. It can fit into a purse or even some larger wallets. At just 5.8 inches long, 3.5 inches high, and less than an inch across (including the plastic section), the Addalock is ideal for travel.

image of someone unlocking door and installing the Addalock
No more unexpected visitors? We like the sound of that. (Amazon)

More than 13,000 Amazon customers have given it a five-star rating. And it's not just reserved for travel — some reviewers say they use it to keep their apartments and homes more secure.

"I recently moved to a new apartment where there is no entry code to get to your front door. So basically my front door is the outside door. But our doors can be opened by code, so Ring doorbells/cameras are not allowed. Which made me quite anxious as there's only a door between me and the outside world," shared one shopper. "After I bought this, I could sleep so well at night. My boyfriend and I tested the potential for break-ins with this and it didn't move. .. When I left the door unlocked, this thing held its own."

Another customer was surprised by how well it worked: "I wanted my wife to feel more secure in the home while I'm at work for the day, so I purchased this thinking, if it doesn’t work, I’ll just find another product. This thing actually works, and works far better than my expectations. I'm a large person (6'4", 400 pounds) and I tried to push the door in from the outside while my wife placed this inside. Not only could I not open the door, it didn't even budge. ... I genuinely can't believe someone designed something so effective and inexpensive that adds so much security."

"I'm admittedly paranoid, but I don't trust hotels with keycard entry systems," one more shopper explained. "It's too easy for the wrong person to have a key. This device allows me to double the protection on my door, making me feel more secure."

One shopper ran into a slight issue: "I recently used this for a hotel stay and the latch was a larger size, so only part of it was able to fit." The reviewer noted that "it still worked, nonetheless, if someone tried to open it."

Another reviewer added that it's a bit heavy since it's mostly made of metal: "If you're a backpacker, this guy is a serious weight investment."

This top-rated lock installs in seconds on most any standard door.

$18 at Amazon

The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.

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