Fake guest warning to Warwickshire bed and breakfast owners

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JBloggs

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[FONT= 'Times New Roman']Fake guest warning to Warwickshire bed and breakfast owners[/FONT]
Coventry Telegraph
BED and breakfast owners in Warwickshire are being urged to look-out for a con man posing as a guest. The warning comes after cash was stolen from the ...

Note from JB: For all of you who take walk-ins or tours this is a good lesson and reminder!
 
Some very, very simple and commonsensical security precautions would have put a quick end to that kind of mess.
Why was he anywhere near cash during a prospect tour? ("These are the rooms, this is the common area, and this -- THIS -- is our great pile of cash! Mustn't touch!")
Why was an unregistered person left unattended so that he would even be able to access the cash? In fact, the article never even mentions that he was.
Methinks there is more to the story.
But the takeaway remains the same: be careful, and use your head!
 
irongate, i was thinking the same thing. i used to take walk-ins, but i never just let them wander about the place unescorted. either they checked in, paid, and were given a key or they left. very odd story.
the other thing is, guests would often go out for the day and leave their rooms unlocked. as a guest in a b&b, i locked my room when i went out.
 
We dont keep more than about $50 on the premisis (in case of people needing change) and bank everything asap but if we didn't we would have a safe in a secure location ie room that is also kept locked all the time. But to be honest we don't get much cash nowadays and don't mind cards as I know it is another commission to pay but it does mean less of a security risk and it brings down our insurance as we can say we don't keep a lot of cash on the premise. It also means that you don't get known locally as a place with cash that could lead to you being broken into. My godmother encourages cash but then she has a dog as big as a horse that I don't think many would mess with.
 
irongate, i was thinking the same thing. i used to take walk-ins, but i never just let them wander about the place unescorted. either they checked in, paid, and were given a key or they left. very odd story.
the other thing is, guests would often go out for the day and leave their rooms unlocked. as a guest in a b&b, i locked my room when i went out..
There are B&B's who do not have guest room locks when the guests leave for the day, some on this forum. So anyone from "the outside" could go into other guest rooms. Which is why we don't want those from "outside" wandering around.
Funny how the comments here are suspect of the innkeepers, I find that strange. I don't lock my quarters when I check in guests, I close the door. I only lock them when i go to sleep or am out of the house.
I also, never have any cash, so this person would never find any. LOL!
Many inns have check in desks as you enter, all it takes if the innkeeper to answer a call and walk away for any person to get into anything they want, or excuse themselves to use the restroom.
In any event, this is posted as a warning, we have people IN OUR HOMES, we sometimes forget we do not really know them. AND this is not a registered guest, that was the main point, allowing someone in off the street is more a danger to security, than our registered guests.
 
irongate, i was thinking the same thing. i used to take walk-ins, but i never just let them wander about the place unescorted. either they checked in, paid, and were given a key or they left. very odd story.
the other thing is, guests would often go out for the day and leave their rooms unlocked. as a guest in a b&b, i locked my room when i went out..
There are B&B's who do not have guest room locks when the guests leave for the day, some on this forum. So anyone from "the outside" could go into other guest rooms. Which is why we don't want those from "outside" wandering around.
Funny how the comments here are suspect of the innkeepers, I find that strange. I don't lock my quarters when I check in guests, I close the door. I only lock them when i go to sleep or am out of the house.
I also, never have any cash, so this person would never find any. LOL!
Many inns have check in desks as you enter, all it takes if the innkeeper to answer a call and walk away for any person to get into anything they want, or excuse themselves to use the restroom.
In any event, this is posted as a warning, we have people IN OUR HOMES, we sometimes forget we do not really know them. AND this is not a registered guest, that was the main point, allowing someone in off the street is more a danger to security, than our registered guests.
.
You are totally correct - non-guests should never be "left on their own" even with an "empty" house. It does not take long to "case" a house to come back later and it does not take long to empty a house - how many of us have antiques, some of them even valuable (I doubt that mine are). We have many guests who do leave the door not only unlocked, but open (usually when tey are the only guests) as well as those so accustomed to locking that they lock to come to breakfast.
The only time our quarters are locked is if we are going to be away for the day and we have guests and even that is mainly because of DH's toys otherwise we probably would never bother. So yes, this is a WAKE-UP.
 
i never had much cash around. not much in the way of cash payments.
we were required to install working door locks on the guest rooms doors but guests are sometimes stubborn ... didn't lock their door just because.
but i woke up thinking about something .... no matter how 'nice' people are, they are strangers in our homes. they might be guests staying at a b&b who later come back or send partners back to rob once they find out the place's weaknesses. sorry to say that ... but you have to keep a little caution in the back of your mind.
does anyone remember the tv show where they had a former house burglar who would go to a house (with the owner's permission) and break in ... to show the vulnerabilities? one place was a b&b and a lovely young woman went all around noting things to steal. another place had a dog that the owners thought would scare off any burglars. but the burglar went in and quickly made friends with the dog.
 
a bit off track .... but do you remember my guest who insulted the other guests and my chambermaid ... saying someone had stolen the purse out of her room? i had to restrain her from trying to get into another guest's room to search. it turned out she left it in a restaurant in the village. we all watched her walk back to the inn with the purse. but did she apologize? no way!
 
When I worked at a large hotel we had a woman who traveled with $6000 worth of jewelery! (must have been mad) and she was in a single room and then was moving the next day to a double with her husband. We didn't know about her jewelery or we would have told her to put it in the safe but we were to move her luggage housekeeping unlocked the door and then the porter went up and moved it all. Well 4 hours later she came down and accused us all of stealing it and calling the police and making a complete scene then it turned out when she rang her husband to tell him we were all theives he said he had put it in the wardrobe and it was there the whole time she never apologised. But who takes that kind of jewelery away with them?
Also a local hotel has trouble with stuff being stolen from guest rooms while they are down at dinner so it must be staff but they were complaining that large amounts of cash were taken well there arn't many people carry $1000 dollars around with them? The hotel clearly states they hold no responsibility for things in rooms and if you want to keep it safe you have to put it in the safe. Its awful but I have a feeling some of them at least we trying it on.
 
a bit off track .... but do you remember my guest who insulted the other guests and my chambermaid ... saying someone had stolen the purse out of her room? i had to restrain her from trying to get into another guest's room to search. it turned out she left it in a restaurant in the village. we all watched her walk back to the inn with the purse. but did she apologize? no way!.
I do recall that. Terrible situation. I also remember that tv show and they said B&B were about the easiest of all to burgle.
 
a bit off track .... but do you remember my guest who insulted the other guests and my chambermaid ... saying someone had stolen the purse out of her room? i had to restrain her from trying to get into another guest's room to search. it turned out she left it in a restaurant in the village. we all watched her walk back to the inn with the purse. but did she apologize? no way!.
I do recall that. Terrible situation. I also remember that tv show and they said B&B were about the easiest of all to burgle.
.
It's tough to balance the safety and impregnability of the building with the comfort of the guests not thinking they're in a prison or having to worry someone will trip an alarm. Guests will open windows and leave them open, they'll leave doors unlocked, we have lots of glass doors, etc. And, there are keys everywhere! Or, combos.
Anyone could walk in here any day of the week and we'd let them in.
We all do what we can, but we're also required to have emergency exits and the like that 'regular' houses don't have. Skipping the windows, most of us probaly have 6-7 different doors that need to be 'guarded.'
This isn't a complaint, more of an agreement, that B&B's are easy to break into. There's practically no 'breaking' required. In what other business do strangers have the 'keys' to the front door!
 
a bit off track .... but do you remember my guest who insulted the other guests and my chambermaid ... saying someone had stolen the purse out of her room? i had to restrain her from trying to get into another guest's room to search. it turned out she left it in a restaurant in the village. we all watched her walk back to the inn with the purse. but did she apologize? no way!.
I do recall that. Terrible situation. I also remember that tv show and they said B&B were about the easiest of all to burgle.
.
It's tough to balance the safety and impregnability of the building with the comfort of the guests not thinking they're in a prison or having to worry someone will trip an alarm. Guests will open windows and leave them open, they'll leave doors unlocked, we have lots of glass doors, etc. And, there are keys everywhere! Or, combos.
Anyone could walk in here any day of the week and we'd let them in.
We all do what we can, but we're also required to have emergency exits and the like that 'regular' houses don't have. Skipping the windows, most of us probaly have 6-7 different doors that need to be 'guarded.'
This isn't a complaint, more of an agreement, that B&B's are easy to break into. There's practically no 'breaking' required. In what other business do strangers have the 'keys' to the front door!
.
This is a good cautionary tale again though to remind us about how we can get complacent about whatever basic security we do have just because we have "nice" guests overall. A good thing to remind us to advise our guests to lock their guest room doors, be sure to lock the main door behind them, and for us to keep our guest information secure and lock our offices or private quarters at all times.
How many stories have been previously posted here on the forum about registered guests wandering into private areas where they shouldn't?
 
"Strangers have the 'keys' to the front door"
Okay so that book you should be writing about your B&B experiences...make it a mystery, and this is a great title you came up with. :)
 
a bit off track .... but do you remember my guest who insulted the other guests and my chambermaid ... saying someone had stolen the purse out of her room? i had to restrain her from trying to get into another guest's room to search. it turned out she left it in a restaurant in the village. we all watched her walk back to the inn with the purse. but did she apologize? no way!.
I do recall that. Terrible situation. I also remember that tv show and they said B&B were about the easiest of all to burgle.
.
It's tough to balance the safety and impregnability of the building with the comfort of the guests not thinking they're in a prison or having to worry someone will trip an alarm. Guests will open windows and leave them open, they'll leave doors unlocked, we have lots of glass doors, etc. And, there are keys everywhere! Or, combos.
Anyone could walk in here any day of the week and we'd let them in.
We all do what we can, but we're also required to have emergency exits and the like that 'regular' houses don't have. Skipping the windows, most of us probaly have 6-7 different doors that need to be 'guarded.'
This isn't a complaint, more of an agreement, that B&B's are easy to break into. There's practically no 'breaking' required. In what other business do strangers have the 'keys' to the front door!
.
This is a good cautionary tale again though to remind us about how we can get complacent about whatever basic security we do have just because we have "nice" guests overall. A good thing to remind us to advise our guests to lock their guest room doors, be sure to lock the main door behind them, and for us to keep our guest information secure and lock our offices or private quarters at all times.
How many stories have been previously posted here on the forum about registered guests wandering into private areas where they shouldn't?
.
A couple of them when an innkeeper was in their restroom and a guest walked in.
I have not had those lookie loo guests for a long while here, so it is bound to happen soon, they always come back around in this business.
Remember the gift a guest gave us once, it was an English/Hebrew New Testament. I have it out in the desk in the foyer. I remember one of the lookie loos opening the desk drawers just to be a sticky beak and saying "Oh look! They're Jewish!"
 
"Strangers have the 'keys' to the front door"
Okay so that book you should be writing about your B&B experiences...make it a mystery, and this is a great title you came up with. :).
I bet we all could write a book. I keep meaning to read the hotel babylon book but havn't gotten round to it yet.
 
When I worked at a large hotel we had a woman who traveled with $6000 worth of jewelery! (must have been mad) and she was in a single room and then was moving the next day to a double with her husband. We didn't know about her jewelery or we would have told her to put it in the safe but we were to move her luggage housekeeping unlocked the door and then the porter went up and moved it all. Well 4 hours later she came down and accused us all of stealing it and calling the police and making a complete scene then it turned out when she rang her husband to tell him we were all theives he said he had put it in the wardrobe and it was there the whole time she never apologised. But who takes that kind of jewelery away with them?
Also a local hotel has trouble with stuff being stolen from guest rooms while they are down at dinner so it must be staff but they were complaining that large amounts of cash were taken well there arn't many people carry $1000 dollars around with them? The hotel clearly states they hold no responsibility for things in rooms and if you want to keep it safe you have to put it in the safe. Its awful but I have a feeling some of them at least we trying it on..
I had a guest leave a case with some jewelry behind. I didn't have her address as the daughter had booked a room for her folks when she booked their room. After several emails over a couple of months, the daughter finally replied with the mother's address.
I mailed off the jewelry at my own expense and insured it. I never heard from the guest if she received the jewelry! At least I have the post office receipt.......
 
a bit off track .... but do you remember my guest who insulted the other guests and my chambermaid ... saying someone had stolen the purse out of her room? i had to restrain her from trying to get into another guest's room to search. it turned out she left it in a restaurant in the village. we all watched her walk back to the inn with the purse. but did she apologize? no way!.
I do recall that. Terrible situation. I also remember that tv show and they said B&B were about the easiest of all to burgle.
.
It's tough to balance the safety and impregnability of the building with the comfort of the guests not thinking they're in a prison or having to worry someone will trip an alarm. Guests will open windows and leave them open, they'll leave doors unlocked, we have lots of glass doors, etc. And, there are keys everywhere! Or, combos.
Anyone could walk in here any day of the week and we'd let them in.
We all do what we can, but we're also required to have emergency exits and the like that 'regular' houses don't have. Skipping the windows, most of us probaly have 6-7 different doors that need to be 'guarded.'
This isn't a complaint, more of an agreement, that B&B's are easy to break into. There's practically no 'breaking' required. In what other business do strangers have the 'keys' to the front door!
.
This is a good cautionary tale again though to remind us about how we can get complacent about whatever basic security we do have just because we have "nice" guests overall. A good thing to remind us to advise our guests to lock their guest room doors, be sure to lock the main door behind them, and for us to keep our guest information secure and lock our offices or private quarters at all times.
How many stories have been previously posted here on the forum about registered guests wandering into private areas where they shouldn't?
.
A couple of them when an innkeeper was in their restroom and a guest walked in.
I have not had those lookie loo guests for a long while here, so it is bound to happen soon, they always come back around in this business.
Remember the gift a guest gave us once, it was an English/Hebrew New Testament. I have it out in the desk in the foyer. I remember one of the lookie loos opening the desk drawers just to be a sticky beak and saying "Oh look! They're Jewish!"
.
Nosy Parkers, I call those kind of people.
whatchutalkingabout_smile.gif
Like it should make any difference if you even have a religion.
And the stories of people coming in the basement door of a B&B or something? And the teenaged kids that wandered where they shouldn't have been? And my story about another innkeeper who had some teenagers go into an attic door and fall through the CEILING!
The list goes on.........
 
"Strangers have the 'keys' to the front door"
Okay so that book you should be writing about your B&B experiences...make it a mystery, and this is a great title you came up with. :).
I bet we all could write a book. I keep meaning to read the hotel babylon book but havn't gotten round to it yet.
.
Hotel Babylon? Can you share a link. :)
PS OFF TOPIC - I am half way through The Wednesday Letters by Jason F Wright (about the couple who own an inn in The Shenandoah Valley and both die the same night - this is on page 1 or 2, so not giving away anything here). So far the Inn is unlike any inn I have ever come across. The storyline is good, but there aren't "groovy guest stories" like we all know and have experienced. It is pure fiction, but fun reading!
 
Our daughter is here from Chicago. The place looks like a normal residence - crap everywhere! I went tothe post office and because it is a lovely WARM day, left the front door open (storm door is closed) because we have been in and out, on the porch etc, and DH and daughter were here.....
I get home and the door is closed. Hmmm.... A woman just walked up to the house, walked in, and started looking around! DH is in his "cave" with the door open and our daughter is with him, sees the woman and thinks she may be one of my friends. They speak to her and she is from 22 miles away and has family who just moved to the area.... They told her i was not here and she said she would be back. IF she came back we were gone most of the afternoon and I do not care. I am NOT "on" at all times and will not apologize for it or even care. VERY few people have ever just walked in - even guests have knocked when they forgot something. This really is a city where one forgets the need to "lock up".
 
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