InterContinental Hotels: Priority Club & Inter-Continental Ambassador - Advice for lost/stolen item

I recently stayed at a holiday inn in italy. i was using my ipod touch in the room and went to sleep with it on the last night of my stay. when i checked out i left the ipod in the room. as i was sightseeing that day i left my luggage with the front desk. on my way back to the hotel i remembered my ipod and when i got to the hotel i asked the manager informed the manager about this. she told me nothing had been turned in but had someone check the room (no one was staying in the room after me). they did not find it but allowed me to also check the room with no luck. she said the person who cleaned the room had gone home but took my name, email and phone number and assured me she would contact me after speaking to housekeeping. no one contacted me. i then contacted priority club guest relations about this who said they would contact the hotel who would get back to me within 48 hours. again no one contacted me. i contacted priority club guest relations again and was again assured that they would look into this and contact me. i finally got a response saying that nothing had been found and that they were not liable for my ipod.

since no one stayed in the room after me the only explanation is that a hotel staff member found the ipod and kept it. over the past year i have stayed in holiday inns so often that I am in the top ten percent of all priority club members. i am shocked that the holiday inn would not do more to appease current (and therefore potential future) customers when something like this happens. it should be evident that loyal customers and most likely to continue to be loyal customers if they are treated accordingly. does anyone have any advice as to what I can do next? at this point i am seriously thinking of never staying at a holiday inn again.

Unfortunately it is your responsibility to double check your personal belongings before you check out. It might be in one of your jacket. or it might be just slip out from the pocket when you just walk to elevater...

The point is, always double check before you leave the room. Most of the time you will get the thing you forgot in the room back. But there is odd times that things tend to disappear forever. When you left room and check out, legally the hotel will not be responsible for the things you loose afterward. Not only Holiday Inn, it is some what common practise around the world. Hotel will always try to identify and look for your personal belongings. But in the end it is your own responsibilities to make sure you did not forget anything.

I would disagree with your conclusion that 'only explanation is that a hotel staff member found the ipod and kept it'. Many things can happen during the moment you start to pack and realise the Ipod is not with you.

I might sound mean. But I do give my sympathy to you. Did you report this to police and obtained one copy of lost claim? Did you have travel insurance cover such event when you were travelling? Life is full with learning opportunities. happy wondering

It is annoying left something in a hotel room and can't get it back. The hotel should get back to you quicker, but it is very difficult for a hotel to check whether a memeber of housekeeping team have put something in his/her pocket.

Even a body search won't work, especially in your case, he/she already gone home. Most importantly, if you run a hotel, will you choose to trust your staff, or accuse someone stolen an item and upset the whole team?

It is very difficult to prove where you left that item, I don't think police will take that as a stolen item either.

One day, ipod (or a new name) will become a chip of our body, and playing music in our brain all the time, and we won't lose it.

@camden11: If I were in your position I'd contact the General Manager (not the shift manager) of the hotel directly and see what can be done. I don't think you'll get your iPod back but the hotel might compensate you in another manner. If nothing else, at least the GM gets to hear about it which means something will probably be done.

I once lost a digital camera in a mini hotel which I frequently stayed in and never got it back either. Nowadays I clear out all drawers the night before I leave and put everything on a desk where I can see them to prevent something like this from happening again.

I really feel sorry for you. Hope you find your ipod touch soon.

I'm very cautious about my personal belongings when I travel to Italy since I also experienced couple of unhappy incidences.

Taxi drivers in Italy are very tricky. One time I took a taxi from the Termini train station to IC Rome after I got off Leonardo Express, when the taxi reached IC Rome, the meter came out around Euro 30. After I paid the taxi driver a Euro 50 bill, he changed it immediately to a Euro 10 bill when I switched my eyesight to somewhere else, and then he told me that he had only Euro 10 from me. I argued with him because I was very sure I had only two 50 Euro bills and four 100 Euro bills and nothing else (I exchanged it before the trip from my bank with total 500 Euro). Eventually I had to give him extra 20 Euro to settle the meter fare. I also doubted if something was wrong with the meter since I found the journey from the Termini station to IC Rome too expensive (no traffic jam). Lesson learned... every time when I give my bill to the Italian, I raise my voice loudly how much money I am giving and ask him/her to count the bill before I switched my eyesight to somewhere else.

It is shame that Italy is a country of many years of civilization with so many beautiful, impressive ancient architectures, but I really feel that the people there are all thief, and are the most aggressive and rudest European. Unless for business, Italy is no longer on my traveling list. (Sorry if I offend any Italian here, just my own true personal feeling, nothing else)

...at this point i am seriously thinking of never staying at a holiday inn again.

:rolleyes:

Thefts occur at all hotel chains (and independent hotels). Sure, you can take all your hotel business elsewhere, but the same thing could very well happen elsewhere. Not saying it WILL happen, but it CAN happen anywhere.

Also, you have to realize that hotel managers tend to be skeptical about guests' reporting of thefts -- after all, sometimes it is actually the guest who is the scammer! :(