Safehouses in GTA IV

As in previous Grand Theft Auto games, safehouses in Grand Theft Auto IV are available in the city for Niko Bellic to use to save the game, watch TV, and a wardrobe to change his clothes. GTA IV has a total of five safehouses, one of which becomes inaccessible early on, and one of which is optional.

The number of safehouses in GTA IV is a sharp reduction from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which offered up to 37 safehouses, however none of the five safehouses are required to be purchased, as the player is automatically awarded safehouses upon completion of specific missions.

Description
Safehouses are redesigned in GTA IV; instead of spinning save icons, the player approaches the bed within the safehouse, and selects the option to sleep and save their game. Garages used to store vehicles are replaced by yellow-outlined "RESIDENTS PARKING ONLY" parking spaces located on the street outside the safehouses; these parking lots are able to hold up to two full-size sedans, and are also known to be able to save helicopters. A television is also available in each safehouse, and two safehouses offer additional equipment — a pool table at the optional northern Algonquin safehouse, and a laptop with internet capability at the eastern Algonquin safehouse.

Although some safehouses will not be available until their appearance in the story (and one may be skipped entirely), their parking spaces are still usable to the player. For example, players may park vehicles at the Bohan safehouse at any time from the beginning of the game, despite the safehouse itself only being accessible later in the game. Note also that once Roman's apartment in Broker is no longer able to be used, its parking spaces will remain functional. Any cars parked there at the time of the apartment's destruction, however, will have vanished when the player arrives during that part of the story.