http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2012-02-14T11:49:37Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/hotel%20theft http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2012/1/25/85016/5914 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/61268/FourSeasonsHongKongBathroom.jpg" class="top"><p>Though it goes completely against the sense of security that hotels want you to feel, <b>jewelry and <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/11/1/105823/229/hotels/And_This_is_Why_You_Should_Always_Make_Sure_the_Hotel_Door_Closes_Behind_You">fancy hotel suites</a> are a prime target for thieves.</b> Especially jewelry <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/11/1/105823/229/hotels/And_This_is_Why_You_Should_Always_Make_Sure_the_Hotel_Door_Closes_Behind_You"><i>inside</i></a> a fancy hotel suite. <p>So we're not entirely sure what crossed the mind of Swiss jeweler Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele <b>when she absentmindedly left her £1 million emerald ring in a bathroom at <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/FOUR+SEASONS+HONG+KONG/local/4148"><b>Four Seasons Hong Kong</b></a></b> last week. According to the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2088423/Hong-Kong-police-hunt-1million-emerald-ring-owner-leaves-hotel-bathroom.html"><i>Daily Mail</i></a>, Gruosi-Scheufele left the ring, which was bought by her parents in 1963, in the bathroom at the hotel's fourth-floor ballroom during an event. A busy, busy event, with lots of people rushing in and out of the bathroom. By the time she raced ASchechter 2012-01-25T09:15:01-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/12/6/101536/781 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/61268/CarlylyeCarlylyeart.jpg" class="top"><p>2011 hasn't been a good year for California-based wine steward Mark Lugo. After serving four months for robbing a $275,000 Picasso off the walls of a San Francisco art gallery, Lugo now has been caught stealing yet more art out of two Manhattan hotels: the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Carlyle+New+York/local/627"><b>Carlyle</b></a> and the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Chambers+Hotel/local/1600"><b>Chambers</b></a>. <p>Throwing caution to the wind, Lugo apparently walked straight out of the buildings with the artworks in hand&#151;and in broad daylight, according to District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. When police finally tracked him down at his house, <b>they turned up nineteen total pieces, including another Picasso</b>. What we wanna know is, what were those hotel doormen up to when all this was happening? Walking into a ASchechter 2011-12-06T10:17:45-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/10/4/19531/9835 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/michaelsalahi_hotelbathrobe.jpg" class="top"><p>Hey Hotels, if you've been noticing that your hotel robe supply has been dwindling you might want to look into the closet of "Real Housewives of D.C." star <b>Michaele Salahi</b>. <p>The White House Crasher turned Journey groupie is apparently a major klepto when it comes to <b>hotel bathrobes</b>...according to her soon-to-be ex-husband, Tareq. <p>Tareq told <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2011/10/04/tareq-salahi-michaele-stolen-hotel-bathrobes-auction-wedding-ring/">TMZ.com</a> that he's auctioning off all her belongings now that she's ditched him for the Journey guitarist and among her precious wares are <b>OVER 50 HOTEL ROBES</b>. How does one woman possibly snatch up that many hotel robes? Well, there was a diabolical sort of madness to her crimes. Tareq said:<blockquote><p> As soon as we arrived [at the hotels], Michaele would call juliana 2011-10-05T08:55:01-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/6/15/112950/471 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/61268/HCTia.jpg" class="top"><p>With all the perks available to hotel workers (free rooms, free food, celebrity sightings on the reg), you'd think they'd be content with their lot. But Tia McNeill, a Pennsylvania sales manager has proven us wrong. The suspect, who has now been taken into custody, <strong>was apparently leveraging her position in the hotel to pocket thousands of rewards points, which she then used to purchase items from a Skymall catalog</strong>. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: <blockquote><p>"McNeill worked at the Renaissance Hotel, part of the Marriott chain, in Tinicum Township as a sales manager until Nov. 24, according to court papers. According to court documents, McNeill allegedly created six fictitious accounts in Marriott's rewards program and logged points into the ASchechter 2011-06-15T14:33:38-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/4/13/111329/271 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/toweltracker.jpg" class="top"><p><i>Look at all those towels for the taking!</i><p> We freely admit to stealing hotel toiletries, stationery, pencils, pads and monogrammed slippers but we've yet to cop a towel or a pillowcase. Yet apparently, that's a big problem for hotels.<p> So big that there's a company, <b>Linen Technology Tracking</b>, hawking small, waterproof chips that can be implanted in hotels towels, bedsheets and robes to prevent guests from stealing them.<p><a href="http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/gee-how-did-that-towel-end-up-in-my-suitcase/">The New York Times</a> reports that three hotels in Honolulu, Miami and Manhattan are using the chips. (But they wouldn't divulge their identities.) The Honolulu hotel has managed to reduce theft in their pool towels from 4,000 a month to just 750, which in turn saves the hotel cash in juliana 2011-04-13T12:47:05-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/