Marriott Rewards (including Ritz-Carlton) - US$200 stolen from my room in Marriott Reforma, Mexico City

Stayed 5 nights in Marriott Reforma, Mexico City in end of June. One day, I forgot to "hide" a considerable amount of USD in the save or at least not leave it visible for the staff who would enter my room during the day (cleaning, mini bar check etc).

Came back in the evening, the amount was still there, intact. Put in my backpack, in a seperate room, and zipped it up. Pretty invisible.

However, when I counted the money the morning I was to leave the hotel, 200 USD were missing. Went through the entire room, emptied the back pack, but it was gone.

I reported it to the front desk staff and they called the security manager. He started investigating, and had an employee taking me to the district attorney so that I could report it for insurance matters.
The security manager emailed me over the weekend, telling me he was still in the process of speaking to the staff who had had access to my room.

I really dont expect anyone to confess that they have stolen 200 USD from a guest room, and I doubt I will get anything from insurance or from Marriott, as the money was not put in the safe box.

Question; has anything similar happened to anyone here? What did you do, and what did Marriott do to solve/better the situation?

I assume you had money stolen (not robbed) from you. (Considering there was no intimidation present as you were actually not there.)

Guess you're right. Will alter the title.

Stayed 5 nights in Marriott Reforma, Mexico City in end of June. One day, I forgot to "hide" a considerable amount of USD in the save or at least not leave it visible for the staff who would enter my room during the day (cleaning, mini bar check etc).

Came back in the evening, the amount was still there, intact. Put in my backpack, in a seperate room, and zipped it up. Pretty invisible.

However, when I counted the money the morning I was to leave the hotel, 200 USD were missing. Went through the entire room, emptied the back pack, but it was gone.

I reported it to the front desk staff and they called the security manager. He started investigating, and had an employee taking me to the district attorney so that I could report it for insurance matters.
The security manager emailed me over the weekend, telling me he was still in the process of speaking to the staff who had had access to my room.

I really dont expect anyone to confess that they have stolen 200 USD from a guest room, and I doubt I will get anything from insurance or from Marriott, as the money was not put in the safe box.

Question; has anything similar happened to anyone here? What did you do, and what did Marriott do to solve/better the situation?

Was there a room safe? Why didn't you use it?

I'm not sure that Marriott is going to do anything to reward someone who didn't use the security features that were provided to them...

There was indeed a room safe. And yes, of course I should have used it. I can't blame anyone but myself, at the end of the day.

However, one should be able to keep things hidden in a packback without having them stolen. Be it cash, clothes, toothpaste or a picture of my fiancee. The point is someone from the staff went through my stuff and took something.

Unless I'm expected to lock my suitcase in the safe, I would still say that Marriott has a problem here. Staff stealing from guests is just not ok.

There was indeed a room safe. And yes, of course I should have used it. I can't blame anyone but myself, at the end of the day.

However, one should be able to keep things hidden in a packback without having them stolen. Be it cash, clothes, toothpaste or a picture of my fiancee. The point is someone from the staff went through my stuff and took something.

Unless I'm expected to lock my suitcase in the safe, I would still say that Marriott has a problem here. Staff stealing from guests is just not ok.

I agree, stealing from guests is just not OK. On the other hand....you were in Mexico.

Unless I'm expected to lock my suitcase in the safe, I would still say that Marriott has a problem here. Staff stealing from guests is just not ok.

No it's not OK. But it's absolutely foolish to leave cash anywhere in your room except in the safe. At a minimum, you should leave passports, drivers licenses, credit cards, and cash in the safe (except what you need to carry on your person). Had they stolen a bulky item that doesn't fit in the safe, you likely would have been reimbursed.

Probably what happened was that Honest-But-Chatty Employee 1 saw your big wad of cash out in plain view, took nothing, but mentioned it to Quick-Fingered Employee 2, who later was in your room and, ultimately, searched your backpack. This was the work of an old hand: He/She only took a small part of your stash, betting you wouldn't notice until you were long gone (a novice would have taken the whole thing and see you raise the alarm immediately).

I've been in a similar situation. In the end, I chalked it up to "my bad," let it sting a bit, moved on. It's a $200 lesson. Trust me, you'll never neglect to use the safe again.

That said, the hotel clearly has a thief on its hands. They should be told what happened and perhaps a manager who cares enough will get enough of these letters and start piecing it together. Don't count on it, and nope, it won't be of much benefit to you, but that's probably the best you can do here.

When traveling internationally or even domestically, never leave anything of value in the room. Use the safe if it exists for all cash, passports and anything else of value.

Hotels take theft seriously, but it is a risk that all hotels have with staff.

When traveling internationally or even domestically, never leave anything of value in the room. Use the safe if it exists for all cash, passports and anything else of value....Well, I usually leave my laptop in hotel rooms, even in third-world countries, and haven't had it stolen yet. It's just too big to put in a safe or carry around. I just take my chances. So far, so good.

Bruce

The OP acknowledges it was his fault for leaving the $$ in the first place, but that doesn't invalidate his statement that one should be able to leave things in one's personal belongings (such as backpack, luggage, undies, jean pocket) without them being searched by an employee.

And as bdschobel mentions, not everything fits into an in-room safe. My laptop doesn't, and I'm not about to run down to the front desk to check it into their safe (which has a disclaimer/limit on what can be claimed btw) each time I'm in/out of the room.

The OP will have to chalk this up as $200 lesson learned, but the hotel management/security team needs to be informed as well that they have a thief amongst their employees.

Cheers.

one of my pet peeves with AC by Marriott in both Spain/Portugal (didn't try them yet in Italy) was that they had no in-room safety boxes............

unfortunately you learned a big (expensive) lesson here, but cash is fungible so unless you go around and record the numbers on the bills don't think you'll get anywhere with your claim as proving you had the money would be a pre-requisite to alleging that it was then stolen

at least with a laptop being left in the room which is obviously to big for an in-room safety box, as per moderator, he'd have a bill of sale, warranty or other document with prooof of purchase along with laptop serial # to show that he actually had the item so that a claim, whether it be with local cops or for insurance, could be established............

Stayed 5 nights in Marriott Reforma, Mexico City in end of June. One day, I forgot to "hide" a considerable amount of USD in the save or at least not leave it visible for the staff who would enter my room during the day (cleaning, mini bar check etc).

Came back in the evening, the amount was still there, intact. Put in my backpack, in a seperate room, and zipped it up. Pretty invisible.

However, when I counted the money the morning I was to leave the hotel, 200 USD were missing. Went through the entire room, emptied the back pack, but it was gone.

I reported it to the front desk staff and they called the security manager. He started investigating, and had an employee taking me to the district attorney so that I could report it for insurance matters.
The security manager emailed me over the weekend, telling me he was still in the process of speaking to the staff who had had access to my room.

I really dont expect anyone to confess that they have stolen 200 USD from a guest room, and I doubt I will get anything from insurance or from Marriott, as the money was not put in the safe box.

Question; has anything similar happened to anyone here? What did you do, and what did Marriott do to solve/better the situation?

The OP acknowledges it was his fault for leaving the $$ in the first place, but that doesn't invalidate his statement that one should be able to leave things in one's personal belongings (such as backpack, luggage, undies, jean pocket) without them being searched by an employee.

And as bdschobel mentions, not everything fits into an in-room safe. My laptop doesn't, and I'm not about to run down to the front desk to check it into their safe (which has a disclaimer/limit on what can be claimed btw) each time I'm in/out of the room.

The OP will have to chalk this up as $200 lesson learned, but the hotel management/security team needs to be informed as well that they have a thief amongst their employees.

Cheers.'''''''''''

ADDED (not sure what happened to this post): The too-small in room safes are annoying, but most hotels disclaim responsibility for anything left here as opposed to being placed in the hotel's main safe at the front desk.

The OP's homeowner or other insurance might cover this, but cash losses are typically limited and it may be wiser to avoid making small claims. The policy might require a police report, which the hotel management will probably try to discourage.

one of my pet peeves with AC by Marriott in both Spain/Portugal (didn't try them yet in Italy) was that they had no in-room safety boxes............


Quite surprising that there are no in-room safety boxes in Spain and Portugal.

The AC Brescia does have a safe. Have not visited other italian properties.

and that was based upon 7/8 stays at various ACs during recent Andalucia drive............

Quite surprising that there are no in-room safety boxes in Spain and Portugal.

I also lost some money in marriott before

Do you mean JW Marriott KL or Renaissance KL?

I also lost some money in marriott kuala lumpur but receive nothing.

that is ok

I've just came back from a two-night stay at the Marriott Reforma in Mexico. On the last day I left the hotel for a late lunch and left my purse with my wallet in the room. Since it was mid afternoon and the room was already fixed i thought it would be ok (was not expecting anybody to enter).
Staff people must have seen me downstairs going out without my purse and took the opportunity to get USD 100 out of my wallet, and give me $1800 pesos (as if it was a currency exchange operation). And they did pretty organized too: I had my dollars folded in one side of the wallet and $100 pesos folded in the other side, and they folded their $1800 pesos in the correct side, together with my own $100 pesos.
It was my fault that I did not put the purse/wallet in the safe as my passport and other things were. But that opens the question as to how safe our personal stuff are in the hotel room. Forgetting about the money that was taken, I brought to the US money that I was not aware. That could have been anything. The hotel has our address, and since they added money to my wallet, they could as well add drugs and other things for us to transport back to the US without knowing (and claim it later!)

Had an iphone blatantly stolen from the Ren Phuket. Management didn't do anything. Not even adjust my $800 or so bill. Got a few points. Had to buy a new one in OZ for a grand :(

one of my pet peeves with AC by Marriott in both Spain/Portugal (didn't try them yet in Italy) was that they had no in-room safety boxes............

I've only done 2 AC's in Spain (Barcelona and Sevilla) and both had in-room safes.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

I've just came back from a two-night stay at the Marriott Reforma in Mexico. On the last day I left the hotel for a late lunch and left my purse with my wallet in the room. Since it was mid afternoon and the room was already fixed i thought it would be ok (was not expecting anybody to enter).
Staff people must have seen me downstairs going out without my purse and took the opportunity to get USD 100 out of my wallet, and give me $1800 pesos (as if it was a currency exchange operation). And they did pretty organized too: I had my dollars folded in one side of the wallet and $100 pesos folded in the other side, and they folded their $1800 pesos in the correct side, together with my own $100 pesos.
It was my fault that I did not put the purse/wallet in the safe as my passport and other things were. But that opens the question as to how safe our personal stuff are in the hotel room. Forgetting about the money that was taken, I brought to the US money that I was not aware. That could have been anything. The hotel has our address, and since they added money to my wallet, they could as well add drugs and other things for us to transport back to the US without knowing (and claim it later!)



This is twice now we've heard about thefts at the Marriott Reforma Mexico City. Perhaps a letter to HQ should be written by those who were robbed.

The irony is when you click on 'explore our hotel', the following comes up: "Security guard 24 hours and CCTV System". I'm guessing for the lobby area only vs hallways on floors, but it would be interesting to find out if it is hallways & if they could check who entered the room.

Cheers.

I think all decent hotel rooms should have in room safes, and there should be no additional fee for this. Especially in extended stay properties like RI it shocks me that safes aren't provided.

I think all decent hotel rooms should have in room safes, and there should be no additional fee for this. Especially in extended stay properties like RI it shocks me that safes aren't provided.

In-room safes being broken into by thieves and/or lifted by them too takes place.

A relative of mine had her passport, laptop and cash stolen from a hotel safe. No additional coverage due because of that.

for those of you concerned about your valuables in a hotel safe,

Milockie Hotel Safe Lock - Now Available In the U.S

http://www.corporatetravelsafety.com/catalog/milockie-hotel-safe-lock-p-940.html?osCsid=k65apisolt6gg54i3cel0obqe0


In regards to the OP's money being stolen-Marriott or not, I have always kept my valuables in the hotel safe, though I must confess that I have not used the Milockie safe lock, I guess it could be an option for some here.

Why would you temp someone from a third world country with $200 out in the open? That is probably her monthly salary

Had an iphone blatantly stolen from the Ren Phuket. Management didn't do anything. Not even adjust my $800 or so bill. Got a few points. Had to buy a new one in OZ for a grand :(

Anything that small and valuable (iPhone or Ipad) should be kept in a hotel safe, the cleaning folks are not paid that well so there is much temptation

OP acknowledges it was his fault for leaving the $$ in the first place, but that doesn't invalidate his statement that one should be able to leave things in one's personal belongings (such as backpack, luggage, undies, jean pocket) without them being searched by an employee.

And as bdschobel mentions, not everything fits into an in-room safe. My laptop doesn't, and I'm not about to run down to the front desk to check it into their safe (which has a disclaimer/limit on what can be claimed btw) each time I'm in/out of the room.

The OP will have to chalk this up as $200 lesson learned, but the hotel management/security team needs to be informed as well that they have a thief amongst their employees.
Cheers. :(

A laptop is a bit more difficult as it isnt as easily concealed, plus some hotels have hall cams that would show the thief making off with your bulky laptop. Cash, jewelry a small tablet? Everything that should fit in a safe, should go there. I am sure some of you have heard "100-200K jewerly/cash stolen from X celeb!" this isnt much different although I suspect that some employees make it a point to target some rich and famous guests.

I once got sick in the Caribbean and stayed in my room recouping--I must of counted 3-4 room checks--maid, mini bar dude-, turn down service, and one more --so u may get luck with one but it only takes one.

Lastly--DO NOT DISTURD sign

Lastly--DO NOT DISTURD sign

DISTURD? Really? You just spoiled my appetite for breakfast! :p

my apologies to the hotel, as it was my mistake wrt the money i had in my wallet both dollars and pesos. Nobody touched my wallet. Terribly sorry for the confusion I've created.


I've just came back from a two-night stay at the Marriott Reforma in Mexico. On the last day I left the hotel for a late lunch and left my purse with my wallet in the room. Since it was mid afternoon and the room was already fixed i thought it would be ok (was not expecting anybody to enter).
Staff people must have seen me downstairs going out without my purse and took the opportunity to get USD 100 out of my wallet, and give me $1800 pesos (as if it was a currency exchange operation). And they did pretty organized too: I had my dollars folded in one side of the wallet and $100 pesos folded in the other side, and they folded their $1800 pesos in the correct side, together with my own $100 pesos.
It was my fault that I did not put the purse/wallet in the safe as my passport and other things were. But that opens the question as to how safe our personal stuff are in the hotel room. Forgetting about the money that was taken, I brought to the US money that I was not aware. That could have been anything. The hotel has our address, and since they added money to my wallet, they could as well add drugs and other things for us to transport back to the US without knowing (and claim it later!)

my apologies to the hotel, as it was my mistake wrt the money i had in my wallet both dollars and pesos. Nobody touched my wallet. Terribly sorry for the confusion I've created.

Thanks for letting us know it was an error on your part & not theft by a hotel employee.

Cheers.

I can't recommend the do not disTURD sign ;-) but I am a fan of using the do not disturb sign...an employee is less likely to enter the room, and thus won't be tempted by anything that they see...plus, if an employee does enter the room, that in and of itself will be an incident of interest to hotel management, since no one should be entering with the DND out.

my apologies to the hotel, as it was my mistake wrt the money i had in my wallet both dollars and pesos. Nobody touched my wallet. Terribly sorry for the confusion I've created.

Again, thank you for admitting that a hotel employee was not responsible for this theft.

I would like to re-iterate what others have already said and state that any possessions left by yourself or anyone that are not in the protective custody of the hotel safe, are not liable for damages. As a hotel manager, I have had to deal with this sort of issue on several occasions. Thankfully, for my property, the issues have always been a case of mistaken loss or misplacement by the original guest. While the hotel industry as a whole does see a large amount of turnover in the housekeeping department, it is up to the individual housekeeping manager to set the standards as far as disciplinary action is concerned. I can only speak for my property when saying that we have never had an incident which required the termination of an employee due to a circumstance of this nature. The majority of housekeepers are good-natured and are more than happy to service your room without disturbing any of your personal belongings beyond what is required by brand standards.

Unfortunately, if you have belongings that are not secured in the hotel's safe deposit boxes (in most brands accessible only by the front desk staff with your personal key present) or in the hotel safe (only accessible by the General Manager or other member of Front Office Management) the hotel cannot be held liable for the losses per state law. The old words to use the in-room safe or hotel safe are routed in truth. The hotel cannot be held liable for anything that was not declared at the time of deposit. However with that being said, you do have several recourse's should you find yourself at a loss as the result of a room burglary.

Your first step is to file a police report with the police department that has jurisdiction in the local area. Some hotels are located just on the outskirts of local police and may have to be serviced by state police troopers (in the US). Beyond that, as part of an internal investigation, hotels usually have a portable programmer that is used to program and initialize guest room door locks. This programmer can usually read an audit trail of every key that has opened the door for the past 30 days or so. The hotel may use this information during it's internal investigation of who entered the room and when.

Unless your room was intentionally left open or there were items in your room that could have possibly been stolen while you were present, there is a very small likelihood that they were actually stolen and a greater likelihood that they were moved/used/forgotten by someone else instead of the housekeeping staff.

Even though I am sure that this sort of thing could only happen at a larger property, with a large number of associates, please do not hesitate to bring your valuables down to the Front Desk. We are never too busy to take your items into safekeeping and with the Front Desk, there is always a guaranteed paper trail of access too and from your deposit box. If you elect to store your items in the hotel safe, you can be guaranteed that only a Property Manager will have access to retrieve your belongings (this will certainly limit the times at which you will be able to retrieve or access your property).

Again, thank you to the OP for their admission of responsibility. If anyone has an issue like this with a Marriott hotel in the future, I would recommend contacting the hotel Front Office Manager immediately regarding your lost item. The FOM will converse with the Housekeeping and Laundry Manager to locate any possible lost items and arrange shipment.

As an additional fun fact, the most common item left behind in hotels is phone chargers. If you have lost your phone charger or forgotten it, it is highly probable that your fellow road warriors have left phone chargers identical to yours more than 90 days ago that will fit your phone. Feel free to ask the Front Desk for replacement phone chargers ;)

...Again, thank you to the OP for their admission of responsibility....

:rolleyes:

The OP (original poster) of this thread was Milkman.

The poster who thought that money had been stolen from their wallet but then realized that it had not been, was atfd.

They are not, AFAIK, the same person!!! :rolleyes:

In the past I have had something stolen from my room safe. Now I lock up my money and anything else important in my suitcase and hide it in the closet with some dirty clothes on top of it to make it less likely they will look at it.

Of course if someone really wants to see what is in my suitcase the lock can be cut off or the bag can be cut open but I figure that they probably won't go to the trouble since they have no idea what is inside anyway.

Again, thank you for admitting that a hotel employee was not responsible for this theft.

I would like to re-iterate what others have already said and state that any possessions left by yourself or anyone that are not in the protective custody of the hotel safe, are not liable for damages. As a hotel manager, I have had to deal with this sort of issue on several occasions. Thankfully, for my property, the issues have always been a case of mistaken loss or misplacement by the original guest. While the hotel industry as a whole does see a large amount of turnover in the housekeeping department, it is up to the individual housekeeping manager to set the standards as far as disciplinary action is concerned. I can only speak for my property when saying that we have never had an incident which required the termination of an employee due to a circumstance of this nature. The majority of housekeepers are good-natured and are more than happy to service your room without disturbing any of your personal belongings beyond what is required by brand standards.

Unfortunately, if you have belongings that are not secured in the hotel's safe deposit boxes (in most brands accessible only by the front desk staff with your personal key present) or in the hotel safe (only accessible by the General Manager or other member of Front Office Management) the hotel cannot be held liable for the losses per state law. The old words to use the in-room safe or hotel safe are routed in truth. The hotel cannot be held liable for anything that was not declared at the time of deposit. However with that being said, you do have several recourse's should you find yourself at a loss as the result of a room burglary.

Your first step is to file a police report with the police department that has jurisdiction in the local area. Some hotels are located just on the outskirts of local police and may have to be serviced by state police troopers (in the US). Beyond that, as part of an internal investigation, hotels usually have a portable programmer that is used to program and initialize guest room door locks. This programmer can usually read an audit trail of every key that has opened the door for the past 30 days or so. The hotel may use this information during it's internal investigation of who entered the room and when.

Unless your room was intentionally left open or there were items in your room that could have possibly been stolen while you were present, there is a very small likelihood that they were actually stolen and a greater likelihood that they were moved/used/forgotten by someone else instead of the housekeeping staff.

Even though I am sure that this sort of thing could only happen at a larger property, with a large number of associates, please do not hesitate to bring your valuables down to the Front Desk. We are never too busy to take your items into safekeeping and with the Front Desk, there is always a guaranteed paper trail of access too and from your deposit box. If you elect to store your items in the hotel safe, you can be guaranteed that only a Property Manager will have access to retrieve your belongings (this will certainly limit the times at which you will be able to retrieve or access your property).

Again, thank you to the OP for their admission of responsibility. If anyone has an issue like this with a Marriott hotel in the future, I would recommend contacting the hotel Front Office Manager immediately regarding your lost item. The FOM will converse with the Housekeeping and Laundry Manager to locate any possible lost items and arrange shipment.

As an additional fun fact, the most common item left behind in hotels is phone chargers. If you have lost your phone charger or forgotten it, it is highly probable that your fellow road warriors have left phone chargers identical to yours more than 90 days ago that will fit your phone. Feel free to ask the Front Desk for replacement phone chargers ;)

radman430, welcome to Flyertalk!

Thanks for your input.

Cheers.

As an additional fun fact, the most common item left behind in hotels is phone chargers. If you have lost your phone charger or forgotten it, it is highly probable that your fellow road warriors have left phone chargers identical to yours more than 90 days ago that will fit your phone. Feel free to ask the Front Desk for replacement phone chargers ;)

I've used this once at a hotel (I forgot mine half way around the country the night before) and once at car rental (car charger).

Well, I usually leave my laptop in hotel rooms, even in third-world countries, and haven't had it stolen yet. It's just too big to put in a safe or carry around. I just take my chances. So far, so good.


I always put my laptop in the safe (many better hotels now have safes big enough for laptops) or lock the laptop to something that is immoveable. I wonder how many lock their laptops to the table where the cable can easily be pulled under the table legs :)

The Park Hyatt in Shanghai even has plugs inside the safe so you can charge your laptop when it is locked up! Cool stuff...