Two influential American travel writers said their visit to Nassau turned into nightmare after $900 was stolen from a safe in their room at the Nassau Palm Hotel.
Sharon Cummings and her husband are travel writers from California. The couple submits articles to Budget Travel Magazine, an authoritative guide to inexpensive lodgings in vacation destinations, owned by travel expert Arthur Frommer.
The magazine has a strong online following and the print edition reaches more than 600,000 Americans per month.
Mrs Cummings and her husband went on a day trip to Atlantis. When they returned to their hotel room, they discovered that the lock on the door to their room had been tampered with.
Upon entering the room and checking the safe, they discovered that $900 in cash had been stolen. They left the money in the safe because they did not think travelling around the island with that much cash would be safe.
Mrs Cummings only became more outraged when hotel staff members tried to convince the couple they had never put the money in the safe in the first place. Hotel management also allegedly tried to “hush” the matter and made no meaningful offer to compensate the victims.
This website has received similar complaints over the past several years from visitors staying at the The Nassau Palm Hotel on West Bay Street. Yet, apparently nothing has been done to tighten security.
“After someone came in here and took our money, the police told us they have on numerous occasions come in and told management that their security system is not up to par,” Cummings reportedly said.
Mrs Cummings said they intend to write an article exposing what they believe is a theft racket going on at the hotel.
When a local newspaper reporter tried to contact the hotel management, the calls were not returned.
Ministry of Tourism public relations officer Clarence Rolle refused to comment on the matter.
The officer in charge of the Fort Charlotte Police Station was not available for comment.
