Special warning regarding theft

Which tour; where?

Oh, that’s awful! I hope they didn’t lose all of their precious photos because of the stolen phone! : (

I guess I don’t feel quite so paranoid now. During the RS Adriatic tour, a gentleman kindly took all of our luggage up the steep hill on the Istria peninsula tiny village hotel. I placed my Cotopaxi in the bed of the truck, but I was the sole person who carried up my personal item - a small tote that had my iPad, medicine, purse - essentials. I just didn’t feel comfortable having that one in the pile left unattended in the lobby as we all walked up.

And a reminder when traveling independently. I leave off my Cotopaxi often at the next hotel when I arrive. At least 50% of the time a room is ready, but otherwise, I do take my essentials placed into my purse vs. leaving them in the lobby. It can happen anywhere.

I am so sorry for your tour mate. What a headache to deal with. I've had multiple friends in similar situation.
I have left my carry-on roller at the lobby multiple times, especially during my Morocco trip/tour as instructed. But I never left my backpack especially my essentials like wallet, phone, passport. Those are with me always.
Traveling alone, I also play on the safe side and always bring my backpack with me instead of asking someone I just met on a tour to watch my bag for me while I use the restroom, for example.

I am cautious where I leave my bags.

In Venice, a number of years ago, I asked if I could leave my bag. They said yes and directed me to an alcove that had no door and was not visible to the reception desk. It was next to the elevator and anyone could have walked off with a bag.

If a hotel doesn't put my bag in a separate room where only they can retrieve it, I don't leave it.

That is really unfortunate.

I can promise you though I am never not carrying my backpack with my wallet and my phone. I am keeping that on me. Would you leave your purse like that ??

I agree. I would never leave my phone, money or passport unattended like this. That seems to be asking for trouble. I’d be wary of leaving my clothes to be honest.

Based on another recent post from the OP, it looks like where this happened was Catania, Sicily. But of course theft can happen anywhere. I’ve taken many trips with companies like OAT that ask you to put luggage outside your hotel room by a certain time, for it to be collected by hotel porters for transportation, where it often is in the lobby for a while, and there’s never been any problem with that in my trips. And I’ve also personally had hotels hold my luggage often, with no loss. It’s low risk. Most thieves have no interest in the dirty clothes and toiletries found in most luggage, at least in most luggage left by someone in a pile in a hotel lobby. And I would never leave valuables in that situation. I wonder here whether this thief just got lucky, or had some reason to think that that particular bag was worth stealing.

I’m very sorry this happened to the person on the trip but it maybe shows a slight lack of common sense.
I’m not sure when the advice was given to leave luggage in the hotel lobby they meant a bag containing all a customers valuables.

I talked to a family in Amsterdam last week who had a backpack stolen while checking into their hotel in Amsterdam. The wife said they are generally hypervigilant with luggage while managing their four kids during check in. The dad turned his back for a moment to finish check in at the desk, turned back around, and his backpack was gone.

This also happened to one of our tour mates in Barcelona at the beginning of our Best of Spain tour in 2018. He lost a brand new pair of shoes among other things in his backpack. We had all been instructed to leave our luggage near the front desk prior to walking out the door to go to the train station so as not to clog the front entry. The guide wanted to gather us together to brief us on the day’s plan. A casual walker-by must have grabbed it.

A couple of years ago we were at security at Rome FCO airport, and a young attractive well-dressed Italian couple were chatting up the security agent in charge of motioning everyone through the metal detector. Then as my backpack and daypack exited the x-ray the young woman grabbed both bags. As she turned to walk away I blocked her way, held my hands out and thanked her, loudly, in Italian, for her kind assistance with my bags. The colour drained from her face, she handed me my bags. The security agent showed no interest whatsoever.

The lesson I learnt was not only the need for constant vigilance, but as well that it might be expexting too much for authorities to care about theft from tourists.

There are many warnings for travelers that sometimes are difficult to abide by. Sometimes the only thing that really makes sense is to park a car with luggage (hopefully concealed) while visiting an attraction. Same with having to leave luggage in an open lobby area. But, in those cases, I ALWAYS bring anything of real value--wallet, phone, camera, passport, credit cards, etc., with me in a very safe area of my purse.

That said, I'm very sorry this happened to the traveler.

As she turned to walk away I blocked her way, held my hands out and thanked her, loudly, in Italian, for her kind assistance with my bags. The colour drained from her face, she handed me my bags. The security agent showed no interest whatsoever.

This has happened with me too but I think it was an accident, but still I made it loud and clear someone had my rollerbag. When I noticed someone grabbing it from the tray, I was being "patted down" after xray and loudly said "Hey you, I think you got my bag!". The person was clearly shaken up as all security officers looked at her, she apologized and picked hers up.

Speaking of which, I always put my purse last in the xray but ensure it is all pushed through in the conveyer belt before proceeding to xray machine.

I am so sorry for that person! And although we all know how best to protect ourselves, I can absolutely see where once you have packed up, and been instructed to take luggage down and leave in reception, you would understandably do that thinking it was safe and that is the way to do it! SO difficult for that tourmate!
Appreciate the post so we are all reminded of such issues and we can remind ourselves to be vigilant!

I am so sorry for this man. What a way to start! So sad. That being said:

Wallet and phone in backpack.

What? I can't imagine leaving these items. These items and passport are attached to me always. These are all I need to go on. He's lost these important tools. I am hopeful he is not traveling alone.

Last year I arrived early to the RS Paris hotel and left my suitcase at the hotel, in a room around the corner from the desk. Initially, I did not leave my PI (personal item) there (small BA PI). I went on a hunt for a particular museum, the bag became heavy. I determined I could live without everything in that bag except my cards, PP, phone and the physically small, prescription meds that I keep on me during travel days. While my camera was important, it was not that important. LOL. I did quiz the desk about storage and they took my PI. When I returned all bags were in my room. So, you really only need what he lost... Unfortunately, we often learn from experience...

I'm sorry this happened to your tour mate. It's unfortunate that he didn't think to keep his wallet and phone on his person. Hopefully he kept his passport.

I'm not a fan of being encouraged to leave our bags in the lobby. I've never felt like it was a really good idea yet we do it because the tour guide has said that we should. Now, I'm rethinking what my response might be on the next tour if they instruct the bags to be waiting - unless they have someone to watch them

This can happen on a train or a plane too.

"I'm not a fan of being encouraged to leave our bags in the lobby. I've never felt like it was a really good idea yet we do it because the tour guide has said that we should. Now, I'm rethinking what my response might be on the next tour if they instruct the bags to be waiting - unless they have someone to watch them"

I'm with you Tripleblessings, I would tell that guide 'No' unless the bags are going to be actively watched or locked away in a room accessible only by hotel staff. It's not clear to me what the purpose is of assembling bags in the lobby before breakfast, why can't they be left in the room and be brought down after?

David, bags can't be left in the way of housekeeping cleaning rooms. I do agree that bags in a lobby not actively watched is not optimal. But, if they don't have a storage room, there's not a lot a tour guide can do. I guess the tourist can sit there and watch the bag until its ready to be loaded, just like when my husband and I travel, we could just make our itineraries hopelessly complex by refusing to make stops when we have luggage in the car,

Some RS hotels only have one small, slow elevator, and those are the only times bringing your suitcase down when you come down for breakfast is suggested.
It's never required.

Carol, I appreciate the warning. There have been a few times where I've been asked to leave my bags in the lobby before they were put aside until check-in later in the day, and I left them, but after reading this, I might think twice about that. Of course, I am not in the habit of leaving personal items like a wallet and phone in my bags, but I often have a laptop in my personal bag, and I would hate to lose that. For that matter, I'd hate to lose anything in my bags! I think this is good information to have and to keep in mind next time you are asked to leave your bags behind without seeing them locked up.

As she turned to walk away I blocked her way, held my hands out and thanked her, loudly, in Italian, for her kind assistance with my bags. The colour drained from her face, she handed me my bags. The security agent showed no interest whatsoever.

I'm wondering if the security agent might have shown some interest if you would have said, "Hey, you're taking my bags!" instead of sarcasm, which probably went over their head.

"David, bags can't be left in the way of housekeeping cleaning rooms. I do agree that bags in a lobby not actively watched is not optimal. But, if they don't have a storage room, there's not a lot a tour guide can do. I guess the tourist can sit there and watch the bag until its ready to be loaded, just like when my husband and I travel, we could just make our itineraries hopelessly complex by refusing to make stops when we have luggage in the car,"

Thanks for that input Jules. I can't imagine that housekeeping will be in your room though if you are having breakfast between 7am - 8am, unless they do things differently with Euro hotel hospitality practices? Another solution could be to bring your roller bag with you to breakfast and park it near your table like some business travelers do, then again maybe this is something that doesn't work in Europe. On luggage in a car, that is a whole other set of security issues that involve common sense practices and if someone is actually willing to break into your vehicle to search your trunk then there's not much that can be done.

I'm just trying to brainstorm a solution here because if one is already packing the "RSE Way" by keeping everything in an airline size-compliant carry-on bag along with a personal bag then there is no margin of error for having anything stolen, everything packed is necessary and its loss is unacceptable.

"Some RS hotels only have one small, slow elevator, and those are the only times bringing your suitcase down when you come down for breakfast is suggested.
It's never required."

Hi Liz, thank you for that insight. Good to know that bringing your bags down at breakfast time is only a suggestion at certain hotels but not required. The key in those circumstance would be to allow enough time at the end of breakfast to go back to the room for luggage retrieval so as not to hold things up and cause unnecessary delays which would be rude.

I can't imagine that housekeeping will be in your room though if you are having breakfast between 7am - 8am

Once I came back to my room after having breakfast to find that housekeeping had already come and left - cleaned the room and bathroom. I don’t make much of a mess so it probably did not take them long. This was not on a Rick Steves tour but happened in Europe a few years ago.

"Once I came back to my room after having breakfast to find that housekeeping had already come and left - cleaned the room and bathroom. I don’t make much of a mess so it probably did not take them long. This was not on a Rick Steves tour but happened in Europe a few years ago."

Hi Mary, thanks for sharing that experience. It looks like everything went ok in terms of having your luggage in the room with housekeeping doing their thing. Much better than leaving your bags unattended and unsupervised in the lobby for sure. Do you recall if there was an option to put a 'Do Not Disturb' door hanger on the outside of your door when you were in Europe or is that mostly just a U.S. thing or confined to larger Euro hotels?