Over the next day or two I'll be posting a bit about my trip to Madrid, which was fantastic and highly enjoyable, but I'd better get this bit over with first.

I've noted all the comments about safety in Madrid and thought that as long as people are careful and streetwise and use common sense, then there shouldn't be too many problems. But I took note of what people had said and thought I would rent the safe in our hotel room - the hotel being a nice four star establishment - for a deposit of 2.000 Pts and a daily rental of 300 Pts. A steal (Note: wrong word to use, Anchovy!) I thought! So to be careful we put all our valuables in it, just in case a masked gang of armed and highly trained bandits attacked the ten of us in a precisely timed ambush in the centre of the Plaza Mayor.

As it happened, this was not the case and we were able to walk everywhere with not a hint of menace in the air. Nothing untoward whatsoever on the streets, just a nice ambience and people having a good time. Our problems came after a rather heavy Saturday night, when we rolled in in the early hours of Sunday morning. When we dragged ourselves out of bed at around 10.30 am we knew we had hangovers, but despite rubbing our eyes over and over again, the same scene was in front of them.

In the space where the safe had been, there was now just four pathetic little screw holes! Someone had opened the door to our room, which had one of those sophisticated key card locks (and which the manager told us had only been opened by ourselves only on three occasions since our arrival the previous day) and wrenched the thing off the wall, out the wardrobe and out the hotel (or maybe not out of the hotel, given my suspicions of an inside job!).

Inside was a fair bit of cash (we tend to push the boat out a bit when we go away on a jolly boys and girls outing!), our train tickets, car keys and house keys, car CD player bit that goes on the front of it thingy to deter thieves from stealing it (!), residence permits, driving licences, three credit cards, a Corte Ingles store card etc etc.

The reason I'm putting this here is NOT to deter anyone from having a nice holiday in Madrid. This could have happened in my house, anywhere - it just happened to be in one of the great cities in the world. No, it's because I want to help anybody that may be in the same situation in future, although to be fair, I don't think it can be a regular occurence, as those safes weigh a ton! But all the same, people get robbed and think before it happens that it won't happen to them. It could, you know and when it does, don't be in the pathetic situation we found ourselves in. Prepare for the worst, even though there is only a tiny chance you may be in our shoes (they didn't take those.......my wife's sunglasses went though, but they are prescription lenses and so we spent the rest of the time looking for a suspicious person wearing sunglasses, carrying an extremely heavy bag and bumping into things!)

Write down a list of the credit card numbers and the telephone numbers you must call to cancel them, so you can ring them immediately. Write down travel ticket numbers to try and help you get replacements if necessary. We spent ages trying to obtain these numbers and there was a forty minute window of opportunity after the Corte Ingles store opened for anybody to use our charge card for example before we managed to cancel it. We were totally unprepared and now we'll know for next time (Oh, be careful what you say - don't tempt fate!!).

If you are unfortunate,I can tell you that the police in Madrid are brilliant. They came within minutes, took us to the police station to make a denuncia, which we did as soon as we got there. They took us back to the hotel. Came and took fingerprints the next day and spent a time actively investigating the theft. They were kind, sympathetic and even apologetic that this had happened. A very impressive service indeed.

So, don't worry about it and let it spoil your holiday. Do prepare for the "just in case" and it will save a lot of hassle. The stuff is insured and it has to be put down to experience and in our case it just means a lot of running round and fighting Spanish paperwork again to replace the documentation. Ah well, no pain - no gain. We STILL had a great time!!

I am flabbergasted at your misfortune!

Your post is not clear as to when the safe may have been taken. Did it occur while you were out for the evening and you didn’t discover it till the morning or did the thieves enter your room while you were sleeping/recovering from your night out?

I have to say, Sol, that knowing that the safe was only a couple of feet from my head (in the wardrobe, though we can't remember if the sliding door was open or closed when we returned - it WAS a REALLY good evening!) I have to assume it happened between 8.30 pm and when we returned, which according to the gadget that they have for recording the times when people go in and out the room, was about 3.30 am. (My thumping head told me it was later than that, but there you go!)

Incidentally, this machine can tell you when a different card is used to open the door, as it records the time and also who opened it i.e. a different code for different people - 00 for the guest's card, 06 for the maid's, 08 for the maintenance man etc.

Oh and yes, I forgot to add that the room was on the sixth floor and only a window overlooking a sheer drop outside. Nobody but Spiderman could have got in that way! And I KNOW that the door was locked when we went out, as anybody who stays at hotels will know themselves that you always double check that the door is closed properly, don't you?

Ah, yes! Only three RECORDED entries into the room all using your card code. Can you say, all together now, INSIDE JOB!

Have you heard anything from the Madrid police since?

What day/date did this happen?

I can see myself trying to do a trans-atlantic document reconstruction, let alone trying to make myself understood to the local authorities.

Ah-ha! It's Inspector Clou-SOL of the French Sùreté! (Don't know if you've seen those Pink Panther films with Peter Sellers!)

Just happened this weekend (3rd / 4th Feb) so a bit early for any word from the policy, if any will be coming. It would be nice to think that that all the documents could be found and returned to save us the endless trips to the authorities to replace them! The hotel is going to fax me an insurance claim form and we'll wait and see.

We were pretty low key about all this in the hotel lobby and public places and spoke in hushed tones when we talked with the manager etc, as there was no point in making a fuss. We thought we were very discreet in view of what was an embarrassing situation for the hotel, and an annoying hassle and loss of precious time for us on our short trip. So it made me laugh when we checked out yesterday and he said that he had waived the charge for the safe rental (we had initially paid 2.600 Pts on arrival) but only gave me back 1.900 Pts or so, because he charged me for two beers and bottle of water from the mini bar!! Great PR, don't you think?

What a sense of humor you have in the face of adversity! You really made me laugh!

Did either the authorities or the hotel indicate to you if this has happened before at that hotel? A routine occurance?

I wonder what made you a target? What signals did you give that said you were worth bothering with?

When he waived the safe fee, perhaps you could have indicated to him you would waive denouncing the thieves if only you got back your documents (from him or his cohorts).

Would really liked to have seen his reaction!

Why were you trying to be so low-key when in the lobby? If I recall, you first raised the inside-job possibility?

Actually, all kinds of questions come to mind but I don't want to monopolize you or this thread.

It's really heck to be so transparent! I was trying to do my best Columbo impersonation.

Inspector Clou-SOL (Ret.)
French Sùreté

Anchovy, what horrible luck! What is the name of this hotel? I hope it all gets straightened out quickly!

This is a horrifying tale! Please tell us the name of the hotel, because it is clearly an inside job of major proportions. Do they have security cameras? You sound relatively calm about the whole thing...

I think the hotel should be 100% responsible, and then some.

Would you mind sharing the name of this hotel with us?

Thanks for your concern! Like I said, I don't want people to be alarmist about this, as my sole intention is to stress the need to be prepared in case anything similar happens to you, NOT to say that this sort of thing is commonplace.

Everything can be replaced and my first pleasant surprise happened this morning, when I went along to the local cop shop in Estepona and amplified my denuncia, as I had forgotten to mention in the original denuncia the keys for house and car, a pair of glasses, my wife's social security card....all stuff that you think about later, but necessary to include in the report for the insurance company to pay out for these articles. Anyway, the denuncia was made within ten minutes of arriving there and the best bit was that on enquiring about how to start replacing the residence permits I was told that all I needed was copies of the denuncia, fill in an application form and bring in three photos. After that it would be issued very quickly. Hurrah!

Why was I so discreet in the lobby? I work in an insurance agency and we act for a few different insurers. Occasionally, someone isn't happy about the time taken by an insurance company to fix their car, for example. What the client doesn't know is that 99% of claims are handled well and efficiently, (on a Spanish time scale that is!) and whilst his or her claim is taking a bit longer, there is nothing worse than a customer ranting and raving about what a useless company they are insured with, when new customers are fidgeting comfortably in their seats, just about to take out a policy with the company being criticised (bear in mind we are BROKERS and as such just middle men....we offer a superb service, blah blah.....sorry, got carried away!).

I also believe that the manager was genuinely shocked and worried that some sort of sophisticated electronic device may have been used to gain access. I may just be easily taken in or naive, but I thought he was genuine and although I wanted to yell at him to have a long hard look at his staff, I thought it unfair to worry any guests within earshot.

The time for recriminations will come later. A time and a place for everything? I hope you will forgive me for not divulging the name of the hotel, but to be hit with a possible libel suit is something I could do without, if allegations go unproved. Suffice to say that it is a 4 star establishment south of the river. If anybody wishes to e-mail me asking if it was the hotel they are booked in to, I will be pleased to tell them if it is not. Love the mac, ClouSOL!

Oh yes, forgot to say that the reason I think I was singled out was that on arrival I had checked everyone in and then allocated the rooms, then i came down a couple of minutes later and asked for a safe. Maybe if someone was listening they could think that as leader of the expedition maybe I had other people's stuff in my safe, or money for tickets to shows etc.

They were half right, as people had given me money for the soccer match tickets and a bit extra for a shortfall on rail tickets. Normally we won't keep much cash in a room anyway, but there was about 65.000 Pts on this occasion and noted this amount in the denuncia. And then when I told my friends this after making the denuncia, they said almost together "Surely you mean 295.000 Pts??" I suppose I'm just one of those honest people you come across here and there!!

[This message has been edited by MadridMan (edited 02-07-2001).]