Cash, devices stolen from Ramada Hotel visitors

The personal belongings of several persons disappeared on Sunday afternoon after they visited the Princess Ramada Hotel Poolside; and until now, no assistance has been rendered by the management to retrieve those items.

One of the persons, Taalib Persaud, related that he was at the poolside with a few friends at about 16:00h while their items and clothing were packed and placed on nearby tables provided.
After spending a short time, they exited the water and then realised all their monies, phones and wallets were missing. Immediately, efforts were made to track the phones, which showed that they were being taken away from the premises of the facility.
“My friends and I were all in the water. We packed up our stuff, including our clothes, phones, wallets and money, on the tables provided, so we can swim. When we came out of the water to get something to eat, we realised that all our money, phone and wallets were missing. We quickly began to track the phones and saw that (they were being taken from the) Princess very fast.”
Persaud related that they ran towards the front of the Hotel, but the person had already exited. Adding to that, the gate security made no attempt to stop the cars from leaving the compound.
A senior security official later turned up and calmed the situation, instead of locating where their belongings were taken. They were also denied access to review the security footage to determine what had transpired.
“Every time we asked to see the security video, they denied us any help…I still have the location of the devices but since we don’t have the security footage from the Princess hotel, we can’t get the Police to arrest anyone…We still received no response from anyone.”
The concerned man related that employees of the hotel have indicated that such incidents are frequent, but nothing is done to curb this issue.
“It was said by workers of the Princess Hotel and Casino that, of recent, these incidents are continuously occurring and nothing has been done about it. Also, even the Police said there were numerous reports of this problem,” he explained.
<<Guyana Times>> understands that some of the stolen items included an iPhone 10XMax, an iPhone 8Plus, wallets with cash, American driver’s licence, credit cards, debit cards, Visa cards and a sum of over $300,000.
Persaud warned that the facilities are unsafe to use, since little security is provided. Adding to that, no assistance is provided to retrieve lost items. He noted that a friend from overseas has lost all of his belongings.
“When continuously asking the head of security for further help with the security video, no assistance was given. Everyone must know that Princess isn’t a safe place, to have to pay to use the pool and still have to continuously watch your bags from people going in and stealing your things. I have an American friend with me who came to spend some time in Guyana, but now he’s going home with none of his personal belongings. This is shameful on behalf of [Ramada] Hotel.”
The matter was reported to the Police, but Persaud said he was informed that there was no development as of Thursday morning.
Efforts to meet management of the hotel proved futile.