Let's Talk Hotels

So by now you travel a lot. When I'm at the same place for a while, I like to stay at the same hotel for consistency. Last time I was in LA I was at the Radisson. I have the highest status there now, so I've been working on my Hilton points, which necessitated my staying at a Hilton property this time. With my Silver status (so far) I get an upgraded room, fridge, etc., it's pretty nice. In California I tend to wake up on my own about 4 am, go to the gym and get to work by 7. Back at the hotel by 7 this doesn't leave me much time in the room itself. I have my little patterns going (iron everything the first night I'm there, keep things in certain places, etc.) So last night I'm in the room for about an hour and I look over near the microwave to where I keep my Blackberry charger (plugged in) and my hair trimmer (this short, short haircut needs a lot of maintenance). Well imagine my suprise to find both of them gone. Skip will tell you I'm the forgetful type, but I know where my stuff is in a hotel room. I had already been there four days. So I do a quick inventory of the room and also find out that my suitcase has been moved from a corner of the room to the middle of the floor. Ummm.... So I didn't find anything else missing. I searched in every nook and cranny of the room to make sure I wasn't crazy but didn't find the missing items.

I then went to the front desk to report stolen items. The guy didn't know what to do in this instance. He finally finds a report for me to fill out and I ask him the $10,000 question. I'm supposed to stay there at least four more weeks. If the person/people who clean my room find out I've filed a report, how will my stuff possibly be safe? He doesn't have an answer for me at all. So I decide to wait until the morning to figure out what to do.

In the morning I put the suitcase on the bed, open it up and there are my two missing items, all by their lonesome in the suitcase. Anyone who has ever watched me pack knows that the charger goes in my laptop bag and the hair trimmer goes in my toiletries bag, I would never just throw them in the suitcase like that. So what's up? The only thing I can think of is related to tips. I usually leave one tip ($20 for the week) on my last morning. Since this was on my last night maybe this was their way of scaring me into tipping them? Well I was goint to tip anyways, but it certainly worked and now I feel much less safe in hotel rooms.