To the Travel Community,
I am writing this review to protect travelers from experiencing unfortunate episodes as the one I went through at The Portobello Hotel:
On August 30th 2012, I arrived at The Portobello Hotel from abroad to spend a romantic weekend and ended up going through a burden with the theft of my computer in the Hotel's room. The facts (of which the police duly took account in their report: crime reference number 5616521/12) are the following. I checked in at the Hotel on August 30, 2012 at approximately 2:00 pm at the front-desk, where I was provided wi-fi access instructions and a battery adapter for my Mac Book Pro. At 3:45pm, I left the Hotel and returned at approximately 1:30am of the following day. When I returned, I found that the room-door was open, lights were on (I had turned off the lights before leaving the room) and my computer (and charger) stolen. I immediately reported this incident to the Hotel employee on duty that night. To my surprise, the Hotel employee seemed not to be concerned at all about the burglary incident, and asked him to call the police. The computer is not only worth its retail price but also included all my work for the past year, in which I've invested tons of hours, as well as very sensitive and confidential personal and professional information as you can imagine. The hard-drive of the computer contained, among other things valuable to me, many recorded sessions of a music album (which release has been delayed due to this episode), numerous business presentations, bank accounts details and other highly sensitive personal and professional data. As a result of the data contained, the value of the computer is incommensurable and the damages caused by the theft of my computer occurred in the Hotel are significant.
On that same day, the Hotel's Manager Mr. Johnny Ekperigin confirmed to me on that: (i) the Hotel's insurance policy would fully cover the losses related to the burglary incident in the Hotel, and (ii) the Hotel will make sure that I was fully indemnified and reimbursed for the losses directly suffered as a result of the theft of my computer in the Hotel's room.
I trusted what he said to me, but still he hasn't honored his word and obligation. I haven't received any reimbursement of my loss despite one year and multiple communications to him personally and to the Hotel's insurers which have told me that they would not finally cover the theft of my computer at the Hotel after proving the weakest results of their "enquiries" which I responded to below:
As for the room key (they argued no one else received it), is is expected to be handed solely to the guest. There is no question about that. However, the hotel always keeps a set of keys for cleaning and other purposes (e.g. security, fire, etc). In this sense, I was not the only person with access to the room. As for other people in the building, the enquiries are not accurate since there was a maid in the stairs when I left the premises after my check in and also there was a security person/guard when I came back at night. Indeed, that person called the police after my request. Therefore, there were people in the premises during that timeframe.
As for negligence and reasonable steps to ensure that premises are reasonably safe, The Portobello Hotel does not have security boxes in its rooms, which is against industry best practices and requirements to protect consumer belongings.
I am completely dissapointed with the result of the insurer's enquiries. The same day of the burglary Mr. Johnny Ekperigin affirmed to me that the insurance company would fully reimburse my loss. One year later, his promise has not yet been honored. As mentioned several times, I lost very sensitive and confidential information. I was recommended to stay at the Hotel on a romantic weekend but ended up living one of the worst experiences ever. I deem this situation unacceptable and unfair from any perspective.
To guarantee the wellfare of the travel community by alerting about this specific incident at The Portobello Hotel is that I am sharing -and will consistently do until my right is fulfilled- this review in online travel sites and with industry boards.
Nobody deserves to go through such a burden and I will make sure my rights and other consumers' are fully protected.
Francisco Naveira read more