I am not smarter then hotel maid !

Ah, if only you hadn't written "Hiding Place" with permanent marker on that particular pocket!

It may not have been the maid. In some hotels, the maid may open a few rooms at once to clean. Since they don't really know the guests, anyone could go up to your room, say they forgot something and go in. It's usually a different room than the maid is currently working in.)

That's why most of us keep our money and valuables in our money belt or in the hotel/room safe. Not just in your luggage.

I once did something equally dumb. The lock on the in-room safe at our hotel was broken. I was so sure that no-one would know that I put all my extra cash in it and closed the door tightly. Of course, the money was gone when we returned to the room. We were assured that the staff wouldn't have done such a thing but the management did take a near exact amount off our bill. Won't do that one again!

I'm still waiting to find out where Brangwin is, since neither Google Maps or Mapquest seems to have heard of it.

Well,, lesson learned. I still see posters who say they lock stuff in their suitcases in their rooms. I think that is hilarious,.,like if a theft went in a room, saw a suitcase,, picked it up,, oh, its locked,, MUST be something good in their.. LOL

I use hotel safe. I also only take out( from my atm) about 300 euros every few days,, so I would never lose all my money.

It isn't always the maid. Anyone who works at a hotel can gain entrance. The front desk, the maitenance person are examples. Most hotels try to hire responsible, trustworthy people of course, because the other type can ruin a hotel reputation, but those bad eggs do slip through the cracks.

If you are in a hotel, with a key card system and something is stolen, insist that the front desk check to see who was in your room. These key cards do leave a trail, telling whose card and what time it was used. One can really pinpoint a thief this way or clear someones name.