When we write about suspicion of theft in lodging situations, it’s usually in Airbnbs. Originally with little to no oversight, some Airbnb owners have set up hidden cameras in their rental units (they’re supposed to tell the renters about them, and they’re not allowed to be in certain parts of the house, but not all owners follow the rules). It got to the point where more than one entity on the internet wrote pieces about how to find hidden cameras in your Airbnb rental. That shouldn’t be an issue anymore (or at least not as much of one, assuming owners follow the rules) since Airbnb eventually changed their rules about cameras.
Of course, hotels have their own issues with theft. Guests steal stuff from hotels all the time. But, for better or for worse, hotels know that some theft is going to happen; it’s just a part of doing business.
However, when you’re STAYING at a hotel, you want to think (or at least hope) that your belongings are safe, hotel staff isn’t going through your stuff, etc. Of course, Of course, belongings do sometimes go missing from hotel rooms (that’s why we always say you shouldn’t keep stuff in your hotel safe. Here’s why you shouldn’t, and here’s something you can use instead), and unfortunately, it’s hard to prove that someone went through your stuff.
Well, until nowadays.
Arturo B. was on vacation in Cancun. He was doing what plenty of people do in Cancun – exploring the beaches and ancient ruins, maybe even enjoying a cocktail – when he got an alert that there was someone in his hotel room.
Before he left his room for the day, Arturo had set up his laptop’s webcam as a motion-activated security camera. With that, he was able to see anyone who entered his room while he was away, and what they did. He wasn’t very happy with what he saw.
It turns out that, while he was having fun in Cancun, a hotel staff member came into Arturo’s room, presumably for a standard turn-down service.
Caught in the act!
But the hotel worker apparently did a lot more than turn down the room.
The tourist was obviously horrified when he saw video evidence of the staff member drinking one of his beers, poking around his clothes, rooting through his suitcases, and even investigating the hotel room safe.
After catching the whole thing on camera, and reporting the incident to the hotel manager, Arturo shared the hidden camera footage on TikTok.
He captioned the video: “Our vacation got weird. I won’t be naming the hotel because they handled this situation very well.
“Just be careful out there and use technology to your advantage. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t see the green light on my webcam. Next time, I will be blacking it out.”
Take a look:
@clarincom Puso una cámara en su habitación de hotel y atrapó infraganti a un empleado. #TikTokInforma #Hotel
Arturo said in the comments that the worker did some other things that were even more disturbing (he specifically used the word “perverted”), but they wouldn’t have been appropriate to show on TikTok.
He said the app is called iSentry. He mentioned there were other, similar programs in the App Store (his computer was obviously Mac-based), but this one was able to send him email notifications when it detected motion. Arturo also made it clear he was not affiliated with iSentry.
I did a quick search and couldn’t find iSentry for Windows or Chromebooks, but I’m sure there are similar apps for both.
There were plenty of comments about the video, and lots of people asked which hotel he was staying at. Others tried to guess the property, but Arturo wouldn’t confirm it.
Arturo said he purposefully didn’t name the hotel because management took the situation seriously when he showed them the video. According to Arturo, they handled everything professionally and fired the employee on the spot. When another user said she was positive of what hotel it was, he even said, “Then you know it’s a great hotel. They can’t be judged by the actions of their staff.”
Which is 100% the truth. Some of the best hotels out there could have a lousy staff member who’s willing to pilfer around guests’ things. Some of the sketchiest hotels could have fantastic staff who would never think of doing something they shouldn’t.
Arturo was lucky: he had the technology set up to catch what happened while he was gone.
And frankly, the whole thing makes you wonder how often something like this happens when there isn’t a camera watching.
There’s a comforting thought for your next hotel stay. 😉
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