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Petty theft costs five-star Irish hotels over $26,000 per year

Dublin hotel even reported gifts from under a Christmas tree were stolen

JANE WALSH,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, September 18, 2012, 7:54 AM

Updated Tuesday, September 18, 2012, 7:54 AM

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Dublin's Shelbourne Hotel

Photo by Google Images

A survey of 500 hotels worldwide, conducted by hotel and leisure specialist lastminute.com, discovered that 95 percent have been victims of theft by hotel guests. Hoteliers estimate that the problem costs them over $7,207 (€5,500) on average per year, with this figure almost quadrupling to close to $26,206 (€20,000) in five-star accommodation as the value of items increase.

According to the ‘Hotel Secrets Survey’ one in every ten guests has made off with something they shouldn’t have - from the usual suspects to the absurd and ridiculous.

While towels are the most popular item pilfered (87%), followed by toiletries (60%), some more audacious guests have removed items like TVs (16%), computers (4%) and even a cigarette machine from the lobby.

Six percent 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 (9%).

One five-star hotel in Dublin reported how one guest stole all the wrapped presents under a Christmas tree, only to find empty boxes when he arrived home.

Further afield there were even more bizarre stories. In a five-star hotel in Istanbul they reported that the contents of an entire room had vanished, with only the bed, desk, and TV remaining.

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

One guest of a Las Vegas hotel took such a shine to the carpet that they cut it out completely. A sofa and mini-bar fridge disappeared from a five-star Dubai hotel and in Madrid a petty thief even got away with the mattress.

Top 20 items being stolen by hotel guests according to hoteliers:

Towels - 87%
Toiletries (soap, shampoo etc.) - 60%
Crockery & cutlery - 52%
Slippers - 39%
Bathrobes - 34%
Remote controls - 28%
Pillows, duvets & mattresses - 23%
Newspapers & magazines - 19%
Clothes hangers - 17%
TVs -16%
Hair dryer - 10%
Light bulbs - 9%
Artwork - 6%Lamps - 6%
Alarm clocks - 5%
Computers & equipment - 4%
Telephones - 3%
Batteries - 3%
Plants/flowers/palm trees - 3%
Curtains - 2%

Nster.com

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bogsidebunny | Sep 23, 2012, 06:08 AM EDT

And those thefts aren't committed by "American Holiday" tourists. I see most being done by the low-life natives and certain elements from the "Continent". Hotels cannot refuse guests by profiling. That's again the lunacy law in Ireland and the people who are refused (mostly knacker clans) can turn around and successfully claim "racism" and collect 6 figure sums. No law suit required. The only requirement is that the Irish "equality board" has the power to hear the testimony and order the payout.

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Seanmor | Sep 22, 2012, 12:25 AM EDT

I've never spent a night in a 5-star hotel in Dublin or anywhere els. But in 2009,My wife and I spent a few days & nights at a B&B in Caslebar ( Co. Muigh Eó), where the lady of the House gave us the keys to the front door on a Sundasy while she and her family were attending a party. She also told us to help ourselves to any item we needed in her refrigerator. Irish hspitality at it's best.

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WoundedKnee | Sep 18, 2012, 02:55 PM EDT

"... followed by toiletries (60%)..." What kind of nonsense is this? Are they talking about shampoo, soap (invariably crap) etc? You should most certainly not take a towel, but you most certainly can use or take a small vial of shampoo. Normal hotels do NOT count the use or removal of these as theft. What nut decided to include them?

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