Hi! We travelled to China, Hainan Island, Sanya City, in March, 2009. The place itself was GREAT! It was warm. It was sunny. BUT: We stayed at Sunny Sanya Family Inn, a cheap hotell there. The first evening (we landed in evening) as we arrived there, we wanted to have a walk and to see a piece of the surrounding area before going to sleep. So we left things at the hotell, luggage etc. I had been keeping my money purse hanging in my neck for almost "a clock round", meaning almost 24 hours. So I wanted to get rid of it and leave it to a small "safe" as they call it. It was not open as it was supposed to be - so I went downstairs to tell the girl in the reception that I want it to be opened. She gave a key to a guy who I suppose was working for them as a guard. He did not speak english but he opened the safe with the key and showed how to add our own code. So I did. He left. I had counted the money in Finland as we left for several times, did not use any money on the way there. But still - I am very very strick with my money so I counted the money once more and wrote the amount to the paper and put it in the purse, to a side pocket so no one would see it. And after a few minutes our travelmates knocked at the door and we went out for 30 or 45 minutes. Came back, took a shower and went to sleep.
The breakfast started at 8 so we woke up in time and went for breakfast. After we came back, we thought to get some money changed at the bank, so I took the "purse" from the "SAFE" and immediately realized that there was money missing- because I had a lots of 20 euro-notes, the purse was "fat" . But someone had stolen 400 euros . : one hundred as 50 notes and 300 as 20 notes. I went to the reception and they came to our room. They did NOTHING! Just telling me that I have counted the money wrong!HA HA HA HA!!! I handle money at my job every day hundreds or even thousands of euros! They told me that they would call the police. We went out because the trip was ruined from the first day! Walk walk walk! I suppose the police never were there. I think that the guy with the key went into our room after we went out. No one could came from the window because it was in the 2nd floor. Did not have a balcony. They always told me that they have been talking to the police. Ha ha. I told them to get a report from them so I can see truly if they have been doing something about it. Never got one. I suppose the guy is working for the owner, he gets a bit payed for stealing money from the tourists staying at hotell. In fact it is easy to know someone is leaving something to the safe if they do not leave the safe open. Now I realize that. I wonder how many have lost money this way..maybe at the same hotell? And after a week we came back home - the owner went for a vacation with her mother - probably with our money???I thing many tourists do not know exactly how much money they have, and then it is a piece of cake to steal bit by bit... AND this is not all mafia system at the hotell: someone had been peaking in our room for several times as we were out. My husband leaves his things in a certain order - even at home. He is very strict about those things - he knows even if I have touched his belongings. So he left his mobile telephone (closed, all the power witched off!!) to the table (it is useless to steal it because we use codes, and even I do not know his code, that is the truth - and he does not know mine - we do not need to know such things) - and as we arrived back to the hotell, the telephone was switched on, tried to put in the code. I suppose it would have been stolen if it did not have the code. But as you know (and he/she also did know) it is useless unless you have the code. And that thing happened many times. It could not be the cleaner woman - as the room was not cleaned yet. So SOMEONE WAS LOOKING FOR THINGS TO STEAL FROM OUR ROOM !!!! Do not go to this hotell!!! The girls at the reception were sweet, but I have no idea who of the staff was doing these things (unless it was this boy with the key). It was ruining the whole trip and holiday from the beginning.
The next thing is that after a week we found a place where they sold postCARDS! Finally! Because every time I travel I want to send cards instead of messages by email or phone. Real old fashioned postcards. We found the post office. Wrote the cards in the evening - there were 21 alltogether. Next morning we went to the post office to mail them. There was a guy behind the desk who took them and we gave him the money, it was something like 91 or 94 yuans. Did not get any receipt. So we thought the postcards are done and went on having the holiday... the postcards have not reached YET our kids, our friends in USA (Hi Susan!!) , not in Germany or here in Finland. Really pissed off with this system of theirs. 2 months... I think the guy jut took the money and threw the cards into a trash can... holy sh...!! Waisted money once again! It is so easy to be tourist and to get fooled in this country as they o not speak english and there eems to be no real rules. I tried to post a question concerning the cards, but one email address I found: it was returned to me. So never will get any anwers. And I think those postcards will never arrive...
If you have any questions please ask. Delighted to answer...
So sorry to hear that you had had bad experience in Hainan Sanya. We were there in April 2009 and we enjoy ourselves very much tthere. We were also looking at Sunny Family inn which is highly recommended over the internet , run by this lady....In the end we opt for a more up-class resort -Eadry resort and everything was fine. Cost us more but if taken into consideratioons of your loss, I think we had a Very good deal.
We are looking forward to visiting Hainan again in December as FOOD and Shopping is cheap and good -in Haikou - Not in Sanya.
Wong
Sorry. I am rewriting this...some mistakes...
[ 06-Jun-2009, at 09:22 by 0707 ]
Sorry for you bad experience in Sanya.
My brother and his wife went to Sanya for their honeymoon last year.
I don't know which hotel they choosed, but I really know they had a very good time there.
Hope that next time you go to Sanya can have a great time and never troubled with such terrible thing.
Hi kirsi,
My wife and I were there last New Years for part of our honeymoon. We went with my Aunt and Uncle who spoke Mandarin and they had local contacts. From what I understand, the area is still fairly lawless and not completely under Chinese central government control. Something about native rights or something like that. I didn't quite understand the whole story. They've had to crack down several times I think. Still, the locals are fairly poor and will take advantage of you if given the opporotunity. Hopefully you didn't try the overpriced seafood ?!?!? We were told that it's quite safe in the resorts and tourist restaurants and areas. And indeed, the hotel we stayed at was spotless and very highclass compared to 3-4 star hotels I've stayed at in Western Europe and North America. We went to a Brazilian style restaurant in the city center and just stuffed ourselves silly. It was quite nice. Which is the "thing" about Sanya. It looks and feels very modern, but underneith, it's still very very backwards. If you pay for the higher end service you'll get the higher end service. You also have to practice "safe travel". We divided up our money and carried it, hidden, with us everywhere. Took our cameras and electronics with us as well. Never went out alone, etc. It's good rules to follow anywhere I think. Once, I saw a friend of mine's sister get dragged several meters down the street in Madrid after a motorcycle cameby and grabbed her purse. Despite all the hassels and dangers I still think travel is worthwhile as not everyone gets the chance to travel at all !
This is why I choose to be paranoid about safety deposits...
I don't use safety deposit boxes. I put any money or valuables in my suitcase and lock it. These days you shouldn't need to carry huge amounts of cash. just withdraw money for ATM's.
Try staying elsewhere on The Island. Sanya is overpriced and crowded .
0707:
So sorry to hear your bad experience.
Did you check whether the safe opened after you had locked with your code? Some safes don't work even after you have put the code as per my experiences abroad.
Did you check even after using the code if the safe can be opened with the key that guy had?
In a budget hotel in Shanghai, when i wanted to keep my purse in a safe locker, the receptionist told me that they didn't have one but would be willing to keep in a cupboard behind her reception desk that had no lock!!!!
Also it is strongly advisable not to keep ALL the money in ONE place. It is better to distribute so that in unforeseen bad circumstances, you can still have some money.
Never keep valuable things like expensive cameras and other electronic equipments, jewellery, credit cards in the room and go out.
Wish you could have made a complaint with the police and taken a receipt of your complaint .Though it may not have effect in the 1st case, the hotel will take steps to prevent such things in future as the number of claims with the police increase.
About the post cards: Normally no receipt is given to my knowledge unless it is a registered or some such special service. The guy should have affixed the postage stamps in your presence on those post cards(which is normally done) and put them in a box.
You too believed that guy and left. So the guy must have pocketed your money.
Hope you will take more precautionary measures in future travels.
Thank you for sharing your experiences and about this hotel.
take care.
0 Response to "travelling to hainan island, sanya city- some warnings"
Post a Comment