Hotel Guests Steal TVs, Cigs Machine and Carpet

Sep 19, 12 | 12:03 am

By Claire Murphy

A guest at a five-star Dublin hotel stole all the wrapped presents under a Christmas tree -- only to discover that they were simply empty boxes.

This incident is just one of many thefts recorded at hotels in Ireland and across Europe that ultimately adds up to €5,500 per hotel per year.

TVs, computers and telephones are all items that have been pilfered by guests.

Even mattresses, lightbulbs and curtains have not escaped the burglary spree that has gone on throughout 2012.

And one hotel noted that an entire cigarette machine was lifted from the lobby before the guest checked out.

Carpet

According to a survey of 500 hotels worldwide carried out by lastminute.com, towels are the most popular item pilfered by guests, followed by toiletries.

Some 6pc of hotels reported losses of artwork, sculptures, heavy statues or antiques.

"Some even developed enlightened enthusiasm to dislodge every single bulb in a room as reported by several hotels," the survey outlined.

A top end hotel in Istanbul reported that one guest emptied the entire room of its fittings and furniture, leaving only the bed, desk and TV behind.

One guest at a Las Vegas hotel took such a shine to the carpet that they cut it out completely and took it away with them when they checked out.

A Berlin hotel reported how one guest stole the stylish rain shower heads, hydro massage shower units, taps, toilet seats, interior plumbing and the sink itself.

Mattress

And in a five-star Dubai hotel, a sofa and a mini-bar fridge disappeared.

In Madrid, a guest who had presumably enjoyed a very good night's sleep attempted to take off with a mattress from the luxury hotel room they had stayed in.

Kathy Dover, Head of Brand and PR for lastminute.com UK and Ireland said that the theft adds up to €5,500 in extra costs on average, and this figure rises to €20,000 in the case of the top-of-the-range five-star accommodation.

And she said that it is often not a last minute decision to take items from hotel rooms, but there is a certain amount of pre-planning involved.

"For this survey hundreds of hotels shared secret stories to give an insight into how far some guests will go to take things like towels, and high value items like TVs, sculptures and cigarette machines," Ms Dover said.

"In some cases the theft is very much premeditated, with guests apparently packing their tool bag to remove some items."

Source: Herald.ie