The hotel's response looks -- well, not better, but slightly less bad. It is proper that the police were called.

I see from her friend's report on Tripadvisor that this happened at 3 a.m. The girls might well have been in bed asleep when this guy got in. That's not a nice thought. It also reflects badly on the hotel that an outsider might be in the building at that time, and not be challenged.

It looks as if a refund is going to happen. It's a small gesture, but better than no gesture at all. I can understand a procedure that they make a refund along the same path by which payment was made to them, but I think they should have bypassed the procedure and made a refund directly and immediately.

While recognising that it was a horrible experience, I hope your daughter and her friends are psychologically strong and that the bad experience did not totally ruin their weekend.

Nikki,

You wondered how common an incident like this is in Ireland. It is the first time I have ever heard anything like this happen.

I'm sorry it had to happen to your daughter.

We'll see whether the hotel actually follows up on the refund. It won't come to a lot of money in any case, as there were three of them sharing a room that cost just over $100 per night.

My daughter apparently did ask for some kind of compensation (good for her!) but this is all that was offered. And she says it was more implied than offered outright; they never actually said they'd refund the price of the room, they just asked for the Expedia receipt.

After finding the intruder, she says they discovered that the lock on the door wasn't working properly. If you shut the door but didn't force it very hard, it didn't fully latch.

Padraig, I fully share your feelings about how lucky they were not to have been sleeping in the room when the thief entered it.

I don't think the experience ruined her weekend, but I also don't think she will look back as fondly on Dublin as she will on some of the other excursions she is taking on weekends, such as Edinburgh, which she really enjoyed.

I had a conversation with Herself about this last night. She reminded me that many hotels here post notices in the bedrooms advising guests to use room safes (where provided) or deposit valuables at reception for safe-keeping -- otherwise they will not accept responsibility for guests' property. I infer from this that they have some general responsibility. If there was no room safe, and no advice to deposit valuables, the girls might have a case. A bad lock bolsters their case.

Of course, it would not be very convenient for them to pursue it.

By the way, Nikki, was your daughter wearing orange?

I hate when I hear that people stay so far outside the city. She would be better off closer to the city for the same price. My other half has his office not far away and it is a VERY industrial area. Just tp people in Future check if the hotel is outside the city as you could end up in a dodgy neighborhood. She shoudl write to the corporate headquaarters and send the police report and the way they broke in. This is not common in Dublin but hey it happens in every city which is why I advise agains some hotels and areas like many of us who live in Dublin post on this site. Trust us we live here!

Siobhan, if I were involved in the process of selecting the hotel I surely would have checked here.

Writing to corporate headquarters might be an idea if the hotel is not individually owned, but I don't know how to find out and I have no idea how to get the police report.

Padraig, there was no room safe. After the fact, the people in the hotel said they should have used the hotel safe; I do not know whether there was a sign to that effect in the rooms.

And I do not recall seeing my daughter dressed in orange since the stopped wearing the unfortunate shirt she once wore to school the day they had school pictures taken some years back.

Nikki, it looks as if you have an appetite to pursue this. Good.

The hotel's website: http://www.comforthotelcitywest.com/
I don't see an email contact address.

The corporate site: http://www.choicehotels.ie/hotels/co...FR0YXgodxTpbaQ
Email address at the bottom of the page.

I'm not sure how big that appetite is, actually. I think I will forward the information to my daughter and she and her friends can decide whether to pursue it. The safety issue is much more important to me. The compensation thing is up to the kids.

Still not sure how we'd get the police report if we wanted it.

Contact the local garda station and they may give you a copy. Police here are more approachable.

Local garda station? Where would that be and how would one contact them?

These would be the closest Try Clondalkin first. I added the international codes for you.
BALLYFERMOT BALLYFERMOT 011 353 1-666-7200

CLONDALKIN BALLYFERMOT 011-353-1 - 6667600

Siobhan (with a "b"), I thought of trying to help Nikki with this one, and realised that I could not make a good guess about which station served the area. My guess was Tallaght.

I'm not sure if it is actually that easy to get a police report here. By that I mean that I really do not know. It's not a regular part of the way things are done here that such things are issued.

Thank you both for your efforts. I will forward this to my daughter and she can decide what to do about it.

I think its is Clondalkin station closest but all three could possibly as its very close to Ballyfermot as well. Its such a weird no mans land area (i.e. no town centre). Nikki it cannot hurt to call the polic and ask. We let service industries away with murder here because we do not complain or take action when something goes wrong.

When I asked my daughter whether she wanted to pursue this, she strongly said she did. If she does call the wrong station, maybe they can point her to the right one.

So far no sign of a refund. Thanks again.

Nikki, I have a meddler's instinct, but I'll exercise restraint. I thought of emailing Comfort Inns to draw their attention to this discussion; it might cause them to pay more urgent attention to your daughter's grievance.

Maybe you or she would like to try that.

Citywest, is nearer to Tallaght, than to Clondalkin/Ballyfermot? ... correct me if i'm wrong, but I would try Tallaght Garda Station first, or even ask the management at the hotel which Station the incident is logged with.

Lucie is probably right I find this area of Dublin confusing as they are newer areas and less defined than the city centre. Its a good idea to ask the hotel. I would make sure she gets the compensation or any kind of it. Do they not have insurance they should claim against for the girls stolen property. I am appalled about the doors not locking that is dangerous.

Thanks for the further interest and assistance. Your meddling instincts are much appreciated.

I'm sending this all along to my daughter, along with the advice to call the Tallaght garda (does that mean police, I assume?) station. By googling, I found the number there is 01 - 6666000.