Milkman

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?

iztok

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

Milkman

Guess you're right. Will alter the title.

njref511

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...

Milkman

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.

Cargojon

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

DCBob

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.

alandrafts

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.

Teamstone

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.

bdschobel

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

SkiAdcock

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.

BKKLEE

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............

MSPeconomist

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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.

more4less

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.

BKKLEE

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