It's odorless, invisible, and faster than you think. Here's what every traveler needs to know.
There is a small, palm-sized device that sits in my bag on every trip I take. It weighs almost nothing. It costs around $25. Most travelers have never thought to pack one. It is a portable carbon monoxide detector — and based on what has happened to American tourists in recent years, I believe it belongs on every packing list right next to your passport.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas produced by the incomplete burning of fuels — gas stoves, water heaters, generators, furnaces. You cannot see it. You cannot smell it. By the time you feel its effects, you may already be too impaired to act. And when you are asleep in an unfamiliar hotel room in a foreign country, you may never wake up at all.
In recent years, a series of preventable tragedies has made clear that CO poisoning is a real and underreported danger for international travelers.
In May 2022, three American tourists died at a Sandals resort in the Bahamas — Michael Phillips, 68, Robbie Phillips, 65, and Vincent Chiarella, 64. They were found unresponsive in their villas. Carbon monoxide poisoning was later confirmed as the cause of death.
In June 2023, John Heathco and Abby Lutz died in their hotel room in El Pescadero, Mexico, on what was supposed to be a relaxing beach getaway. They felt sick the day they arrived and assumed it was food poisoning. They went to the hospital, received fluids, and appeared to be recovering. They returned to their room and were found dead the following morning — 11 or 12 hours later, according to prosecutors. A faulty ventilation system at the hotel was believed to be responsible. Hotel staff had reportedly flagged concerns about a gas leak to management months earlier and were told to disable alarms so as not to disturb guests.
"They just thought it was food poisoning. They had no idea. None of us thought about that. Because you can't smell carbon monoxide."
— Racquel Lutz, stepmother of Abby Lutz, speaking to NBC NewsIn February 2025, three young Massachusetts women died at a resort in Belize — Wafae El-Arar, 26, Kaoutar Naqqad, 23, and Imane Mallah, 24. They were found dead in their suite at the Royal Kahal Beach Resort in San Pedro. A faulty gas-powered water heater was identified as a likely cause. Their families have filed a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit alleging the resort failed to investigate prior guest complaints about CO exposure and that the suite lacked a working detector.
Also in 2025, Miller Gardner — the teenage son of retired New York Yankees player Brett Gardner — died in Costa Rica. Officials confirmed carbon monoxide poisoning as the cause of death.
These are not isolated incidents involving one unsafe property. They span multiple countries, multiple resort brands, multiple years. The common thread in every case: no working carbon monoxide detector in the room.
At home, many of us have CO detectors hardwired into our ceilings. We have some baseline awareness of the risk. When we travel, we surrender that safety net entirely and place our trust in properties whose maintenance standards we know nothing about.
In the United States, only 14 states currently require hotels to have working carbon monoxide detectors in guest rooms. Internationally, requirements vary enormously — and enforcement is often nonexistent. Older properties, gas-powered water heaters, aging ventilation systems, and deferred maintenance create a risk that is invisible to guests and sometimes ignored by management.
The situation is made worse by CO's most dangerous characteristic: its symptoms mimic common travel ailments. Headache, nausea, dizziness, fatigue — the same things you might feel after a long flight, unfamiliar food, or too much sun. Travelers routinely dismiss early CO poisoning symptoms as jet lag or food poisoning, as John Heathco and Abby Lutz did on the last day of their lives.
And because CO impairs judgment and causes drowsiness, a sleeping person being slowly poisoned in a hotel room may simply never wake up. There is no smell to alert you. No visible sign. Nothing.
If you or a travel companion experience any combination of the following symptoms in an enclosed space — particularly a hotel room — take it seriously. Get fresh air immediately and seek medical attention.
Symptoms that improve when you leave the room and return when you go back inside are a serious warning sign. Do not dismiss this pattern. Do not go back to sleep.
A portable carbon monoxide detector is a small battery-powered or plug-in device that continuously monitors CO levels in the air. When it detects dangerous concentrations, it sounds a loud alarm — waking you up, giving you time to get out, and potentially saving your life.
Most travel-sized detectors are compact enough to fit in a jacket pocket. Plug-in models work anywhere in the world with a travel adapter. Battery-powered models need no outlet at all. Setup takes about 30 seconds: plug it in near your bed, and forget about it unless it goes off.
The CDC estimates that unintentional CO poisoning not linked to fires kills approximately 400 Americans every year. Portable detectors are available for around $25. The math is not complicated.
If your CO detector goes off in a hotel room, treat it as an emergency — not an inconvenience. Leave the room immediately, leave the door open behind you, get to fresh air outside the building, and call emergency services. Do not go back inside to gather belongings. Do not assume it is a false alarm. Alert hotel staff and other guests.
If you feel unwell, seek medical attention immediately and tell doctors you may have been exposed to carbon monoxide. Treatment — typically supplemental oxygen — is highly effective when administered promptly.
I am not someone who travels with a lot of gear. I believe in packing light, moving efficiently, and not burdening myself with items I will never use. The CO detector is the one exception I make without hesitation on every trip.
It weighs almost nothing. It costs less than a restaurant meal. It takes up less space than a paperback book. And based on everything that has happened to American travelers in the Bahamas, Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica in recent years, it may be the most important thing in my bag.
You will probably never need it. I hope you never need it. But the families of John Heathco, Abby Lutz, Wafae El-Arar, Kaoutar Naqqad, Imane Mallah, and Miller Gardner — and the Phillips and Chiarella families from the Sandals tragedy in the Bahamas — all thought the same thing before their trips.
A compact plug-in or battery-powered detector small enough for any bag. Look for one with a loud alarm rated at least 85 decibels, low-battery warning, and a minimum sensor life of 5 years. A travel adapter lets a plug-in model work in any country. Budget around $20–35 for a reliable unit.
View on Amazon →When you check into any hotel, take 60 seconds to do a basic safety scan. Locate the emergency exits. Note whether there is a smoke detector — and whether it has a battery. Check whether there is a CO detector, and if so, whether the indicator light is active. If there is no CO detector and you did not bring one, ask the front desk. Some properties have them available on request.
Travel is one of the great privileges of life. Do not let a preventable, invisible hazard cut it short. Pack the detector. It costs $25 and fits in your pocket. There is no good reason not to.