Rio hotel theft: did I make the wrong call?

I just returned from a trip to Vegas. I stayed at Rio from Monday-Saturday. I spent the week casino-hopping. On Thursday, I planned on going to the Poker Palace and Lucky Club in the evening. I left the hotel in the morning, and I had more cash than I wanted to take to those places (they're not exactly in a good part of town), so I left some cash in my room. The safe was closed and locked, so I put the cash in a second wallet, put the wallet in a zippered compartment inside a zippered section of my backpack, and put the backpack in the closet. I ended up having a great time at those establishments, and I felt safe at all times. However, when I returned to my hotel room, the excess cash was missing from my backpack. My room was only half-cleaned, and basically the part before the closet was cleaned and the part after the closet was untouched. Not a big mystery about who stole my money, but the folks at the Rio all told me that since it was cash that was stolen there was no way it could ever be proven.

I have a very hard time believing that it was actually safer to take my money with me to the Poker Palace instead of hiding it in my backpack in my locked hotel room. Is this one of those situations where the right play produced an adverse result, or did I make the wrong play here?

It's frustrating when the previous guest leaves the safe locked. But obviously in hindsight, you should have called security / maintenance and had the safe unlocked.

I would also say that the hotel house-keeping staff should have a policy to have get the safe unlocked when a guest checks-out but leaves the safe locked.
Unfortunately, I had a similar experience at a resort in Mexico once upon a time.

Quote: rdw4potus

I just returned from a trip to Vegas. I stayed at Rio from Monday-Saturday. I spent the week casino-hopping. On Thursday, I planned on going to the Poker Palace and Lucky Club in the evening. I left the hotel in the morning, and I had more cash than I wanted to take to those places (they're not exactly in a good part of town), so I left some cash in my room. The safe was closed and locked, so I put the cash in a second wallet, put the wallet in a zippered compartment inside a zippered section of my backpack, and put the backpack in the closet. I ended up having a great time at those establishments, and I felt safe at all times. However, when I returned to my hotel room, the excess cash was missing from my backpack. My room was only half-cleaned, and basically the part before the closet was cleaned and the part after the closet was untouched. Not a big mystery about who stole my money, but the folks at the Rio all told me that since it was cash that was stolen there was no way it could ever be proven.

I have a very hard time believing that it was actually safer to take my money with me to the Poker Palace instead of hiding it in my backpack in my locked hotel room. Is this one of those situations where the right play produced an adverse result, or did I make the wrong play here?

Leaving the cash exposed in the hotel room was orders of magnitude more risky than carrying it with you to the Pervert Palace and the Crud Club. As you are now all too aware, maids (who are paid subminimum wage) will often give the hotel room a thorough once-over before cleaning it. In contrast, in order for you to be robbed in a casino, a thief would have to be both aware that you were worth robbing, and bold enough to do so inside a casino (where the security guards are fed raw meat and wear choke collars).

Vegas is a town where just about everyone is carrying a large amount of cash. Unless you make yourself VERY conspicuous, there is no way that you will be targeted simply because you're carrying a wad. However, leaving the backpack with an easily searchable wallet in your hotel room was like leaving a raw steak in a lion's den. Consider this an expensive lesson.

A viable alternative would have been to store your excess cash in the Rio's casino cage.

You did make the wrong call. I've heard stories, second and third hand, of housekeeping thieves lots of times. Opportunity is the key here. A good thief will always weigh risk and reward before committing a crime. Here we had a nice wad of money and almost zero risk. Here, the maid knew it would come down to her word against yours, and she would be given the benefit of the doubt. It is an easy crime of opportunity.

What really makes me mad is places that charge for use of the safe, like the Hilton, to protect your stuff from their own staff. It is extortion -- pay for the safe or our maid will take your stuff. Agreed, housekeeping should check that when the last guest leaves the safe is open. As well, make sure the alarm isn't set on the clock radio.

I agree with reporting the theft anyway. You know it won't help you, but if the same maid keeps doing it, after enough accusations she will get fired. If it makes you feel any better, I had stuff stolen from my luggage last summer when I went to Alaska by the thieves at Alaska Airlines. I could have easily put a lock on my luggage, but just forgot.

I thought the TSA now requires you NOT to lock your luggage, so they can search it during random screening.

So unfortunately your only recourse, as you mentioned, is probably to complain and if there are enough complaints, hopefully the airline will do something about it.

Quote: rdw4potus

My room was only half-cleaned, and basically the part before the closet was cleaned and the part after the closet was untouched. Not a big mystery about who stole my money, but the folks at the Rio all told me that since it was cash that was stolen there was no way it could ever be proven.

Huh? I don't understand how that matters. If it had been a diamond ring or an iPod, would that have been any harder/easier to prove? Sounds like Rio is performing poorly. I always leave stuff in the hotel room, often out in the open, relying on the honesty of the cleaning crew. I've never had anything stolen. Harrah's should at least have made a cursory attempt to get your money back. That is really shoddy of them, IMO.

Quote: teddys

Huh? I don't understand how that matters. If it had been a diamond ring or an iPod, would that have been any harder/easier to prove? Sounds like Rio is performing poorly. I always leave stuff in the hotel room, often out in the open, relying on the honesty of the cleaning crew. I've never had anything stolen. Harrah's should at least have made a cursory attempt to get your money back. That is really shoddy of them, IMO.

If they had taken my laptop or my company's laptop or my watch or anything else of value that was left out in the room, it would be a little more traceable (serial numbers/identifying marks, etc.). And insured. But cash is not insurable because verification is impossible. I'm literally just out the money.

And it's not like I thought I'd be robbed inside the Poker Palace or Lucky Club. More like in the parking lot or on the street. Or, I guess, like I'd be tempted to put the money in play when I really wanted to save it for Friday's play.

Quote: JohnnyQ

I thought the TSA now requires you NOT to lock your luggage, so they can search it during random screening.

So unfortunately your only recourse, as you mentioned, is probably to complain and if there are enough complaints, hopefully the airline will do something about it.

There are TSA authorized locks now, where airport security has the key. It wouldn't surprise me if the thieves in baggage handling manage to get these keys too, but having the lock would still improve your odds. I did not report the theft to Alaska Airlines because dozens of hands likely touched my luggage between Vegas and Anchorage, which included a change of planes in Seattle. It would have accomplished nothing. At least with the hotel room, you know specifically who is accused of the crime.

By the way, why would anybody go out of their way to the Poker Palace? That place is a D-I-V-E.

How much cash are we talking about? Several times when I've gone to Vegas, I carry extra cash in a prescription pill bottle. If you ask your pharamicist, they have brown plastic pill bottles that are the same diameter as a regular bottle, but a little taller. They are just as tall as US paper money, it turns out. I have taken up to $5,000 in $100 bills and rolled them very tight and they fit perfectly into the small pill bottle. I wear cargo pants and carry the bottle in a buttoned down pocket thats inside a big pocket thats also buttoned down. I never leave money in my room, even in a safe. I carry a few hundred in a clip for playing and if I need more, I go into a restroom stall and get it from the bottle. Its pickpocket proof and probably armed robbery proof. The bottle is so small, its opaque, and has a label on it, no crook would ever suspect it has money in it once I gave him my clip. I never feel good using a room safe, I don't trust anybody.

Quote: Wizard

By the way, why would anybody go out of their way to the Poker Palace? That place is a D-I-V-E.

Mostly, I wanted the $5 chip to collect. Though, I did end up playing for about an hour there. Thugs crack me up, and I was at a table full of them. They were very into the BJ game, and it was quite entertaining.