“5 Star Hotel/ 1 Star Security
This is an account of my recent stay at the exclusive Chablé Maroma hotel in Mexico
The hotel is set in exquisite surroundings as you would expect from the high prices they charge. You to feel safe and protected, cut off from the world outside and the staff do everything they can to promote this feeling with a repeated mantra of “Welcome to Paradise.”
I booked a one-week stay.
Unfortunately, when I arrived on the first night the Serenity Suite I was given, smelled so badly of mould that I needed to move. The second room was a bit better but the wardrobes still had a bad musty smell and I could not use them. I hung the few clothes I had brought on a rail in the bathroom instead. I am quite an experienced traveller so, if I had used the wardrobes, I’m sure I would have noticed the small safe hidden on a shelf in one of them and put my valuables in it. I didn’t do that but I mostly remembered to lock my valuables in my case when I left the room - but sadly not all the time.
On the last day, I went to breakfast, leaving my case unlocked. Perhaps I had been lulled into a false sense of security by then and I certainly won’t make the mistake again. When I returned, my suitcase had been rifled through and my jewellery scattered inside it (later I realised a small bracelet had been taken.) Luckily, I had my passport and papers with me but the cash that I had put into a small purse was gone.
The amount, which was in US dollars and pounds, came to approximately four hundred pounds or less than half the cost of a room for the night at the hotel. I reported it at once to the concierge and filled in a form itemising what I had lost. Security staff searched the room and then, to my surprise, asked to search the handbag I’d had with me. It was the first indication I had that they were not prepared to simply take my word for the theft.
I asked them to notify the police but was asked to wait for an hour while they looked through CCTV camera footage. Nobody came to speak to me and I complained. Eventually, shortly before my departure time, a manager of sorts came. I was told that they were still investigating and would file a Police report afterward. At no point was I offered an apology for what had happened or any sense that they found it regrettable.
When I returned home, I contacted the hotel’s general manager who said to me that it had never happened before and he would look into it personally but, no, it was not possible to obtain a Police report because I had to have requested it in person. Eventually, I was told that they could not establish from the cameras or electronic key tags who had had access to the room and could therefore do nothing. (Presumably, the cleaning staff must have had keys but that apparently didn’t count.)
The inescapable implication is that I must be telling an untruth or, despite paying a small fortune for my stay there, was trying to scam the hotel out of a few hundred dollars in the same way people steal towels and bars of soap from the Hilton. He offered me two free nights there by way of compensation if I’m prepared to fly the few thousand miles!! But I have no way - without the Police report - of making a claim on my insurance.
It is obvious to me that the hotel does have a problem with pilfering which they cannot or will not acknowledge. The claim that this “had never happened before” is easily disproved by a TripAdvisor review from a woman who had two dresses stolen from her room there quite recently.
So, finally, my advice to any prospective guests at this hotel is as follows:
If you are a guest at the Chablé Maroma, please see beyond their 5-star rating, put your valuables in the safe. If they won’t fit in the safe, then lock them in your suitcase. DON’T expect a sympathetic hearing if something goes missing from your room and DO insist that they make a Police report before you leave the country.
Or you could consider booking another hotel.”
