Sandara Hotel (Safety / Security Alert)

[glenjean]

Fellow board members, please be aware of this hotel (Sandara Hotel), It is located off of Soi Lengkee (Soi Lengkee is just off Soi Bouakuaw, at the intersection of Soi Bouakauw and Soi Diana. Soi Lengkee connects with third Road.

 

 

The Sandara hotel sits back off Soi Lengkee just in front of a big hotel named The Vogue. It advertises itself as a boutique hotel. It is small with around 8 to 12 rooms only.

 

 

I stayed at this hotel last month and I got ripped off. Someone entered my room and went into my in room safe and stole Money. During this holiday I had traveled to Bangklok for several days and stayed in Pattaya for 1 month in a condo.

 

 

I had just returned from a week in the Philippines and checked into the Sandara hotel for my final 5 nights. I had a envelope with 23,000 baht inside and another envelope with $2100 US dollars all in one hundred dollar bills ($100). I stayed at this hotel 5 nights and checked out at 4:00 am on the 6 th day. During my stay I was in and out of my safety deposit box daily, however after the third day I never counted each amount of currency exactly. I would just go into the envelope and take out baht or US dollars in the amount I would use for that day. Whenever I did this, I saw quite a few bills inside, so I carried on enjoying my holiday.

 

 

The morning that I was leaving, I got up around 2:30 am, showered, shaved and packed and around 3:45 AM a Mr. Tee Taxi driver was there to take me to the airport.

 

 

I got in the taxi tired, anxious, slightly excited and had many thoughts running through my mind, about my upcoming long flights, thoughts of going back home to cold winter weather in the USA, back to work in the real world. My holiday was coming to an end.

 

 

Riding in the taxi I started mentally reflecting, I had taken my possessions out of the safety deposit box. My passport, credit cards, paperwork for my e-ticket, my good watch and Ipod was there. Everything looked in place and all there. I had looked inside the envelopes at my money (however I did not count it) and it looked to be all there.

 

 

Once I arrived at the airport and went through all the check in formalities, immigration passport control and finally arrived at my boarding gate, I had time to start winding down and relaxing a little, I now had time to reflect and start to think more clearly. I started to take account of my things, I went inside the envelops to count how much money I had and to really check through my belongings. This is when I discovered that around six (6) 1000 baht notes and four (4) $100 US Dollar bills was missing. They were banking on my not counting my money or noticing the missing bills until much later. Which is exactly what I did. After the third day in the hotel there were no guest in my room, only the maid and any other hotel staff that had authorized excess into my room, So I know for a fact it could not have been anyone that I had brought into my room. It had to have been someone from the hotel staff or someone who had excess to my room key. If it had been anyone from outside the hotel, they would have stolen all of my possessions in my in room safe and maybe some things that were not locked up. They would have cleaned me out.

 

 

Anyway, a lesson was learned. In all of my trips to Thailand I have never had anything major stolen.

 

 

Please click on the site and link below (watch the first video that is 4:20 (four minutes and twenty seconds long. This video will explain why I truly feel that it was someone on the hotel staff or someone who had access to the room keys from the front desk that stole my money.

 

 

I contacted the hotel and explained what happened. I just wanted to hear their response. I did not expect any compensation or even admittance of wrong doing on their part. I was just curious to their reply. Their reply was what I expected, they said that it had to be a guest that stole my money.

 

 

I then sent them the video link below and they did reply stating that they would do an investigation, however I have never heard from them again.

 

 

I patiently waited before I made this post to be fair to the hotel and not damage their reputation. Hopefully this post will alert all the board members to be a little more cautious with in room safes and to make the members aware of what my hotel experience was like.

 

 

http://www.corporatetravelsafety.com/safety-tips/category/hotel/tip/how-safe-are-hotel-room-safes

 

 

 

I have seen a Western Union office on Soi Bouakuaw that rents safety deposit boxes. Is this a safer option than small hotel in room safes? Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

 

 

[petermik]

"Sandara Hotel" with only 10-12 rooms-never heard of it and I have stayed  in this area for the last 4 years- and my room overlooks the Vogue hotel from a guest house opposite

[FTS]

OP, you say yourself you kept going and taking money out of envelope without counting, how exactly did you arrive an conclusion that money was stolen and how much exactly was stoken, when you did not count.

 

Did you drink? yes, did you have girls? yes. is it possible to spend the money? yes.

[butler]

this type of theft in common in pattaya hotels , many victims don't even know

that they have been robbed .

 

like you say hotel worker doing it , either have key or know the by pass code ,

although a three year old can open some of these safes .

 

best option is to buy small box with padlock or a pac safe and put inside the

hotel safe , will only stop petty crime though .

[silver greyhound]

 

Same thing happened to me in The Sandara. There are thieves in this hotel. In my case I did not discover the theft until I was ready to depart for the airport. I had a flight to catch so did not have time to follow up the theft with the police. I did write to the manager, and got this reply.

 

Dear Khun David,

Thank you for your e-mail and I really apologized for this happening what
ever anywhere which you make it lost or you you think this happening at
our hotel which is no happening at our place before.

As I stated with you previously, You quite sure what you think and how
much money you have and we also quite sure that our place safty too.

As I have explain to you here the guests use code and key together, if
it's changed it's mean the guest's code will be locked and must be know by
the customers.

However, I don't think one of us will be openned to pick up the assets of
our customers it's lost our reputation and it's not good for the hotel. 
For each guest we will not know how much money or assets do they have
until they statement to the hotel or keep it at the central safe.

I am sorry for your disappointed for this matter, all of us we clear to go
to the police station or you go to the report to the police station come
to investigate all of us or the guests who stay here to declare our
sincerely to you.  Actually, I don't want this things happening at our
placee but how can I do more than this.  I have informed you that next
time to be action somethings for your better feeling or to make you happy
I can give you our special rates and complimentary some for you, make you
happy more, and you have told me yesterday that some lost of money is not
much for you so you don't want to go to the police station for make a
report for claim at your conuntry.

I am truly care you because you are my customer and I will be strick and
investigate all even the guests who stay here from now on.

Hope you will understan for all my reasons and comments sir.


Best regards,

Penny

 

In my case I lost AU$700. In hindsight I should have pursued  the matter, however hindsight is a wonderful thing. 

• 0

• Quote
• MultiQuote
• Edit
   
•  

[FTS]

 

Same thing happened to me in The Sandara. There are thieves in this hotel. In my case I did not discover the theft until I was ready to depart for the airport. I had a flight to catch so did not have time to follow up the theft with the police. I did write to the manager, and got this reply.

 

Dear Khun David,

 

Thank you for your e-mail and I really apologized for this happening what

ever anywhere which you make it lost or you you think this happening at

our hotel which is no happening at our place before.

 

As I stated with you previously, You quite sure what you think and how

much money you have and we also quite sure that our place safty too.

 

As I have explain to you here the guests use code and key together, if

it's changed it's mean the guest's code will be locked and must be know by

the customers.

 

However, I don't think one of us will be openned to pick up the assets of

our customers it's lost our reputation and it's not good for the hotel. 

For each guest we will not know how much money or assets do they have

until they statement to the hotel or keep it at the central safe.

 

I am sorry for your disappointed for this matter, all of us we clear to go

to the police station or you go to the report to the police station come

to investigate all of us or the guests who stay here to declare our

sincerely to you.  Actually, I don't want this things happening at our

placee but how can I do more than this.  I have informed you that next

time to be action somethings for your better feeling or to make you happy

I can give you our special rates and complimentary some for you, make you

happy more, and you have told me yesterday that some lost of money is not

much for you so you don't want to go to the police station for make a

report for claim at your conuntry.

 

I am truly care you because you are my customer and I will be strick and

investigate all even the guests who stay here from now on.

 

Hope you will understan for all my reasons and comments sir.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Penny

 

In my case I lost AU$700. In hindsight I should have pursued  the matter, however hindsight is a wonderful thing. 

• 0

• Quote
• MultiQuote
• Edit
   
•  

 

 

Manager is correct, if safe is opened with override key it will not have same pass code, over ride key automatically resets the pass code 

[LOTTELLEE WINNA]

First of all OP can I say that I am sorry for your loss. One habit I have is to count my cash on a daily basis...that way the type of thieving you describe is more difficult.

 

Butler comments that this type of theft is commonplace in Patts...maybe he has evidence to support this. Is it 1%, 0.1% or 0.001% of guests who get robbed? Personally speaking after countless trips to Patts and a life-time of business travel across the globe I have never had anything robbed. Like Butler, I have no empirical evidence of the scale of the problem, but my belief is that if you take reasonable precautions, Pattaya is a safe place to be.

 

Final comment, not about dishonesty, quite the reverse (and a tale I have related before), I checked out of Nova Gold to move down the soi to @Mind apartments and I get a call from the Nova manager - "Mr Lottellee please come back as you have left something in your room"...blow me the maid had found a black envelope which I had placed on top of the black safe and just didn't pick up duh. Inside the envelope was my emergency cash stash of 600 GB pounds. I nipped out to 7-11 and got 2 thankyou cards (one for the manager the other for the maid) and put 2,000THB in each to say THANKS!!!

[westie1]

Glenjean. If you were not making a note of your withdrawals, how can you be certain it was taken?

 

If you had posted that you had made a note and then the envelope was down money, you could make a post like this.

 

However, you did not and it looks like,you could have taken the money yourself and miscalculated.

[Scuba+]

Manager is correct, if safe is opened with override key it will not have same pass code, over ride key automatically resets the pass code

Is this a fact that the pass code resets? If so its conclusive its not the hotel.

I like the idea of a locked box inside the safe, this will prevent a little bit of money being taken regularly.

 

I use the hotel safe deposit box at reception, it uses 2 keys but I'm still slightly paranoid staff could be taking small amounts out.

[FTS]

Is this a fact that the pass code resets? If so its conclusive its not the hotel.

I like the idea of a locked box inside the safe, this will prevent a little bit of money being taken regularly.

 

I use the hotel safe deposit box at reception, it uses 2 keys but I'm still slightly paranoid staff could be taking small amounts out.

 

All the safety boxes i ever used, the over ride key resets the pass code.

[ProudAussie]

They do have banks in Thailand OP ?

[bazkashmir]

When you are on holiday and having a great time it is easy to lose track of what you are spending,it has happened to me when I am on my way back home and I count to see what I have spent I think shit have I really spent that much.Like you said you took money out of your envelope every day and never counted what you had left so it is possible you spent the money .but saying that it is also possible your money was stolen but you can't be certain.

[lingling]

Just checked out the latest review on hotels.com  

 

"Theft warning!"

09/01/2014 architectx Bursa, Turkey

Me and two of my friends and our money was stolen from my private safe at the hotel. Relevant information before us at the customer had left the room. We get a certain portion of our money back. Definitely do not go to this hotel.

[mavera]

So i am the 3rd guy who experienced the same thing.

On my second day in sandara, i opened my safe, and counted my money, and i see 200 $ was missing.

I thought about what i did untill that day, and i couldnt find how i lost it. theft in sandara was one of the probabilities, but i chose not to think about it, i thought this is my holiday, i am so far away from home, no need to spoil my holiday, no need to fight, no need to argue, and i decided to put my money to my friends' safe in "four seasons hotel" and forget this shit.

I never find out what happened to my 200 $ until today, but now i know.

So be careful if you stay in sandara, all these 3 guys cant be idiots who doesnt know what they did because they were drunk.

[Scuba+]

So i am the 3rd guy who experienced the same thing.

On my second day in sandara, i opened my safe, and counted my money, and i see 200 $ was missing.

I thought about what i did untill that day, and i couldnt find how i lost it. theft in sandara was one of the probabilities, but i chose not to think about it, i thought this is my holiday, i am so far away from home, no need to spoil my holiday, no need to fight, no need to argue, and i decided to put my money to my friends' safe in "four seasons hotel" and forget this shit.

I never find out what happened to my 200 $ until today, but now i know.

So be careful if you stay in sandara, all these 3 guys cant be idiots who doesnt know what they did because they were drunk.

Did your safe reset one day? I.e your code wasn't needed. Per post further up apparently once the recovery code has been used (can't think of the correct term) it won't know your code any longer

[mavera]

Did your safe reset one day? I.e your code wasn't needed. Per post further up apparently once the recovery code has been used (can't think of the correct term) it won't know your code any longer

 

No, my code never reset. but as i see lots of people complaining about the same thing, i am sure they found a way to open the safe without resetting.

[Scuba+]

No, my code never reset. but as i see lots of people complaining about the same thing, i am sure they found a way to open the safe without resetting.

Yes quite possible I guess, this is Thailand after all. For my next trip I'll be putting a padlocked security box in the safe

[Beerburgerbonk]

If anyone has booked to stay at this place I suggest they cancel and email the owner saying why.

 

I cant believe that an owner would have any part in this, but rogue staff exist in every country and occupation.

 

Maybe this issue is confined to one room safe ?

 

Did the OP and BM "silver greyhound" both stay, at different times, in the same room ?

 

Ive stayed in dozens of places in LOS and never had anything missing from the safe but I dont keep much cash in it, I do though leave my CCs in and have never had a ghost transaction on one

 

If a thief with even half a brain had been into mine CC fraud is something I wouldnt know about for ages.

 

I think that both BMs and the one from Turkey have really been fantastically unlucky !

[Scuba+]

Clever hotel staff thieves take a small unnoticeable amount.

[FTS]

No, my code never reset. but as i see lots of people complaining about the same thing, i am sure they found a way to open the safe without resetting.

 

There is no way, once the safe is open with an over ride key, it automatically resets the code, it will not be locked under the same code.

 

Someone who used the key would have to enter a new code or close it manually, if which case your original code will not work.

 

Some claim this safes can be open with a lighter, and have youtube vids, but the question then is how do they lock it for guest not to notice it.

 

May be  and i say may be, someone in hotel painted buttons with some paint and can see combo(or few choices) under fluorescent lights