Hanoi Hotel "Broken" Into.......
 

My daughter is on a trip to Hanoi for grad school. Hotel staff knew they would be gone all day, as they left their passports in the hotel safe. Someone got into their room with a key card and methodically wiped them out -- laptops, etc. (Everything that would not fit in the hotel safe) I know there is nothing that the police can "do", and know this can happen anywhere, but is the hotel liable? Even if they are, what's the likelihood they will "do" anything? Thanks.

seems like vietnam law would govern this.. the police are the key seems to me

The likelihood that the hotel will "do" anything is nil, IMO. And that would be true whether the hotel was in Hanoi or NYC. The hotel is not liable - the terms of staying in a hotel always say that they are not liable - read them the next time you are in a hotel. The theft should still be reported to the police, as your daughter and her friends will need the police report to make an insurance claim. EVen if they don't have travel insurance, often your homeowner's policy will cover this sort of loss.

I am sorry to hear about that, not a fun thing to experience on a trip. I am guessing by the fact your daughter was using the hotel's main safe for passports rather than a room safe means that there was no in-room safe and therefore the hotel was not a major international chain. If it was a chain, then you should contact the general manger of the hotel and the corporate office of the chain to report the loss. (Go to the website of the chain and you should find some corporate office contact info, or have your daughter ask the hotel.) It is possible that the hotel's liability insurance will cover this loss. I agree with Kathie that your homeowners insurance may also cover it.

As an electronic key card was used to enter the room, the hotel will have a record of the time of entry, as well as the ID number of each key card used and who that card was issued to. You or your daughter should ask for a record of all entries to the room for the day in question. This will show the time and key card number of every entry that day. The hotel should also have a list of names of persons who were issued key cards with access to the room (like a housekeepers pass). If it was your daughter or her friends card which was taken from them as used for entry, that will be more difficult as then it may not be an employee who was involved. But the hotel should have a good idea of who was in the room at what time of the day based on the key card timings and ID numbers. They will at least look very stupid and culpable once they realize you understand how key cards are such excellent evidence, and they may offer something in return. You should also give this evidence to the police, and make sure the hotel understands you are doing so.

I have some knowledge of Vietnamese law, but it does not extend to innkeepers' law; however if the hotel is not liable for the loss, they may as a public relations matter, want to offer some gesture of compensation. As mentioned, their liability insurance may cover the loss. Most hotels have coverage for employee theft, and if the key card record indicates that only employees entered the room during the time your daughter was out, then their policy may cover the loss.

If this was a small local 2-3 star hotel and not a chain, I doubt you will get very far, but if it was a chain you may be able to file a claim with their insurance company. Even if the hotel is legally liable, the cost of pursuing a legal case in Vietnam most likely outweigh the value of the loss, so if you can't get reimbursement from the hotel or the chain simply by filing a loss claim with them, you probably are out of luck. If you live in the US and it is a US chain, you might be able to make a claim against the chain in a US court based on a poor management theory; but again the costs of making a claim probably would outweigth the cost of the loss.

I would also suggest you file a complaint about the hotel with the Ministry of Tourism in Vietnam, see http://www.vietnamtourism.gov.vn/english/.

Cicerone...good advice as usual. You always get to the point. Good info for any tourist.

One of my clients is a major manufacutors of those key card systems. They have cut down on employee theft in hotel rooms by somehting like 95% since they were introduced. This is my cleint's big selling point when they market them, although at this point they hardly have to; as they sell themselves on that fact alone. The systems are quite expensive (as is each card), but most hotels have them for this very reason. I have learned a lot from this client about these sytems and how they work.

Very interesting about those key cards!

If the hotel is not cooperative, your daughter should also mention that she intends to report the event on Tripadvisor, both as a review and a discussion on the Hanoi forum. She should tell them some advance notice (i.e. 48 hours) and then post a review. That will probably motivate the hotel to at least attempt to get their insurance to cover the loss.