Hotel Royal Penang at 4.30 a.m - it then showed that at 4.30am, 2 men were outside my room!

steadyaku47 comment: 

I saw this at KOSONG BLOG.(click here to go to KoSong) 

Now you know which 4-star hotel NOT to stay in when you are in Penang!

I can never feel safe in hotels anymore.

by Nurulhuda Mansor on Thursday, 17 January 2013 at 01:15 ·

HOTEL ROYAL PENANG

So this is my first ever note on FB and this is a story of what happened to me yesterday.

I had work in Penang yesterday and arrived in Penang on Monday night. I stayed at Hotel Royal, Penang (a 4-star hotel) for the first time. And yes, drama followed me to Penang this time.

Yesterday morning, I woke up at 6.00am in my hotel room. Because I am obsessed with my phone, I will always grab it the moment I wake up to check messages etc. The phone was supposed to be next to my pillow, charging. I last spoke on the phone with my husband at 2.00am. The phone was not there. I looked under the blanket and it was still not there. I grabbed my handbag, wanting to take my office blackberry to miscall my Samsung phone.

As soon as I opened my handbag, I saw that my purse was open. I noticed all my cash (except for RM1 notes) were missing. I looked for my blackberry and it was also not in my handbag. It immediately struck me that someone had stolen my phone (Samsung Note), my office phone (Blackberry), and all my cash (about RM250) in my locked hotel room (that could only be accessed with the hotel card) with the door latch ON while I was asleep!! Though I was really relieved to see my car keys still in my handbag. I got out of bed to the door and saw that the door latch was open. I knew immediately that someone had gone into my room because I was very very sure I had closed the door latch the night before. This has always been an intuitive habit in hotels, knowing I was sleeping alone.

I called the hotel operator immediately and was asked to go to the reception to lodge a complaint. I went down and filed a complaint. I told the hotel that my room was broken into while I was sleeping. After recording my complaint, the hotel manager was helpful to take me to the police station to lodge a police report. I made a report and my statement was taken by the police. It was fast and smooth.

After sorting out the report, we went back to the hotel. The police also arrived, almost immediately. This was around 9++ am. They (3 police officers) came to my hotel room, took pictures and tried checking if the room door could have been opened from the outside with the latch on. It was possible. If the door was somehow opened using a master card or gadget from the outside, the latch (this was the triangle type ones- not the ones with a chain) could be opened by a slight push and some adjusting.

We then went down to the security room to watch the hotel CCTV.

Patiently watching the CCTV footage of the corridor of my room floor the whole night with nothing caught on camera initially, it then showed that at 4.30am, 2 men were outside my room! The moment I saw this, I had goosebumps all over. Imagine what 2 men could have done to me in my own hotel room while I was SLEEPING????? I am relieved that I slept throughout the entire incident. Because honestly, I wouldn’t know how to react if I saw 2 men in my room. THANK YOU, GOD!!!!!! I was not harmed. The ‘what ifs’ are just too scary to imagine.

As an ending to my story, after all that has happened, yesterday at check out, despite regrettingthis incident, the hotel still insisted me to pay my hotel bill. (And on top of that, I was also billed RM70.00 being telephone charges for calls I made because my phone was STOLEN). No apology was even offered to me. Apparently, hotels are not responsible for things like this. Meaning, I’m now responsible for my own safety while sleeping in a locked room that I PAID for?

I have no idea how this could have happened, whether I was a target for staying alone or what sort of syndicate this is but at the end of it all, no matter how painful it is to lose your phone (oh, my unsaved photos!) and cash, all these are replaceable. Most importantly- I AM SAFE, Alhamdulillah.

Things can happen when least expected, so just be careful. Crooks are getting braver, smarter with sophisticated gadgets and there are always eyes watching you. This could have happened to anyone, anywhere or at any hotel.

So yesterday was an extremely long day for me. Thank you Yaya for coming over to the hotel to check on me and accompany me the whole day (And for lending me a temporary phone too, yay!). The much needed support. I love you girl!

As this case is still pending police criminal investigation, I cannot share much but I feel obligated to warn you all of my experience!

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