Beware of Friendly Hosts!
- May 12, 2008
- Rated 1 of 5 by
fontanasmith from Klamath Falls, Oregon
My husband and I checked into the Folklore Hotel on Mar. 17, 2008. It's a moderate place - kind of quaint - but definitely comfortable and fairly clean. When we checked in, Bernardo, general manager, encouraged us to put our cash in his safe. Together we counted it out and then put in the safe. We stayed there for 3 nights and during that time we arranged a tour with Bernardo to the La Mitad del Mundo. It was good and informative. When we left the Folklore to go to Otavalo, we were told we could store our bags there so we only needed to take a few items. Good idea - we thought.. Took our money out of the safe and we ventured on.
While in Otavalo, we discovered our cell phones were missing, but we only thought we left them in our stored luggage. When we returned from Otavalo, we got our luggage from Folklore, and moved on to Casa Sol were we met the group we were to go to Galapagos with. Once again, we stored luggage while we were on the islands. After Galapagos, we moved on to other places in Ecuador and left our luggage there.
When we returned to Quito we retrieved the luggage from Casa Sol, and checked into Folklore again for the last three nights of our vacation. When we checked the contents of our luggage, the cell phones were not there, but all other items were present and accounted for - clothing, toiletries, the ipod I had hidden in the lining of the suitcase.
On our last night at Folklore, we began packing for our trip home. That's when we noticed things missing - a couple of shirts, the charger for the ipod (but the ipod was there), and a few other items. We finished packing and left the hotel or dinner. When we returned once more, we contacted Bernardo to make the final payment on our stay. That's when we noticed money missing from a hidden envelope. Then the following morning before leaving for the airport, I retrieved the pouch that contained ipod that was hidden in the siticase, and didn't notice the pouch was empty until I was in the cab.
All this time, someone was in our room while we were out taking things from the suitcase.
I can definitely take partial credit for the stolen items, (my stupidity for leaving them there in the first place). But I cannot recommend this hotel. Even though everything seemed on the up and up and the people are friendly.
Yes, I did contact Bernardo and he denied that that could have happened there. I know otherwise.