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Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude

Posted By: Canadianeh

Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/14/2013 10:29 PM

We just got back from the only public nude beach in Mexico at Zipolite and its beautiful there and the town is very layed back and we enjoyed it immensely BUT 2 days before leaving our room was entered and all our valuables and cash and passports were stolen. We are convinced that someone on the Hotel Nude staff were involved in setting us up. Subsequent to that we found out that there are regular robberies of tourists with apparently no resolution. Tourists are victims to them and each new high season brings another batch of victims to feed off of. They stole our computers, phones and some of my wife's personal effects, skin cream, hair products, watch, glasses, costume jewelry etc and thats why we truly believe that some of the female cleaning staff or perhaps waitresses were involved.
Do not go to Hotel Nude or Zipolite as its infested with thieves with very little police presence or local interest in preventing this from occuring
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/15/2013 12:05 AM

Sorry for your bad experience, amongst other difficulties and losses, how hard was it to replace passports to get out?
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/16/2013 02:28 PM

It's Mexico...this is not shocking news. We had items stolen from us twenty years ago at our hotel while staying in Cancun. At least you did not get caught in a cross fire from rival drug gangs.
Posted By: bugambilias

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/16/2013 03:14 PM

Quote
Anonymous said:
It's Mexico...this is not shocking news. We had items stolen from us twenty years ago at our hotel while staying in Cancun. At least you did not get caught in a cross fire from rival drug gangs.


Oh boy! Here we go. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

Please don't paint the entire country with one brush.
Posted By: Canadianeh

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/17/2013 02:27 PM

I always loved the place and in particular the Zipolite villiage and the people that are there. However, I discovered that there is a pervasive crime ( thief ) elelment in that area because there is a lack of police pressence or enforcement. There were no less than 3 robberies that week alone and 1 was at gunpoint 3 days after ours. They are feeding the tourist element that is unaware of these circumstances and view us as "another batch of victoms" - quote, unquote. Its difficult for the honest residents but until they decide to clean up their community it will continue. They are poor, have very little income, many of them are young and become envious of the tourist ( well to do ) tourists that visit and hence the temptation is too great and hence it is a thief infested area of Mexico - don't go there unless you plan to protect your valuables, computers, cash AND passports every minute of every day. The relaxed manner in which the staff of Hotel Nude took to our unfortunate circumstance goes to underline the lack of care for improving this problem they have. There will be another group of victims to take our place - and thats the culture of the area. I firmly believe that there were 1 or more of the staff that were involved in setting us up and possibly even provided a key to our room as there was no sign of forced entry and it was in and out and done in less than an hour while we were our to get something to eat ( about an hour ).
Posted By: sailn

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/24/2013 10:52 PM

do the rooms have electronic safes?
until the business communities or the owner of the hotel? speak up , or provide for their own security (like guards at Jamaica resorts) it will continue.
In buenos aires many hotels provide TWO men on the front door 24 hours. seems the resort could figure out who does it, but the "rule of law" is not big in mexico (in my opinion).
Posted By: Canadianeh

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/27/2013 09:33 PM

They don't have room safes but apparently they did have a safe at the bar that we could have used for our passports but that wouldn't have saved our computers and phones and probably much of the other stuff they took.
The hotel ownners don't care. They didn't even bother to show up after it happened. This is a small place with about 18 units, a pool, kitchen and bar and staff that don't take it seriously and don't care either as all they want to do is hang around and collect some pay every day and maybe once in a while profit from the thievery.
Its a very poor community and low level of sophistication.
Posted By: Bill_S

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/27/2013 11:43 PM

One more reason to NEVER set foot in Mexico, sigh....
Posted By: mickeyandmary

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/28/2013 02:37 AM

amen to that
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/28/2013 03:31 PM

Quote
Bill_S said:
One more reason to NEVER set foot in Mexico, sigh....


Yes, I agree. Avoid it at all cost until they stop taking the tourist's dollar for granted. Boycott Mexico, and hit them where it hurts. Only then, will things change.
Posted By: bugambilias

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/28/2013 05:45 PM

That is as ridiculous as telling foreigners to stay away from Walt Disney World and the Grand Canyon because of the crime rate in Detroit.

We live in Mexico during the winter. Favorite question: "Is it nice where you go?"

See map here

Zihuatanejo is mentioned by the way.
Posted By: tiger79

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/28/2013 06:57 PM

Quote
bugambilias said:
That is as ridiculous as telling foreigners to stay away from Walt Disney World and the Grand Canyon because of the crime rate in Detroit.


Not exactly. Tourists (rightly) like to feel that they are in some way benefitting an area by visiting it and spending their hard-earned tourist dollars there. In return, they hope for a few sensible precautions - like a room safe in every room, like hotel managers who care, like staff who are trustworthy. If they don't get that experience, they don't go back. Even worse, they tell other people why they won't go back. That's why a lot of us have already crossed Mexico off our lists.
Posted By: mayaflya

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/28/2013 07:15 PM

Tiger, I think you are missing Bug's point, he's saying that you shouldn't judge an entire country by a bad experience in one area of it. Detroit vs Florida/Arizona. We travel often to Mexico and apparently experience it and it's people quite differently than you do.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/28/2013 10:01 PM

Quote
mayaflya said:
Tiger, I think you are missing Bug's point, he's saying that you shouldn't judge an entire country by a bad experience in one area of it. Detroit vs Florida/Arizona. We travel often to Mexico and apparently experience it and it's people quite differently than you do.


I disagree. Detroit is not advertised as a tourist destination. The area in Mexico is advertised as a tourist destination. If invited as a tourist, and staying at a property as a paying guest in another country, one expects and should demand a certain amout of security...just as they would in Disney(tourist destination).
Mexico tourist destinations are being targeted by criminals and invited guests are victims...and the problem is not being addressed. If this happened at Disney, the problem would be addressed immediately.

I find the comparison rediculous and nonsensical.
Posted By: bugambilias

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/28/2013 11:01 PM

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Anonymous said:Detroit is not advertised as a tourist destination.

I find the comparison rediculous and nonsensical.



Visit Detroit Website
Posted By: Canadianeh

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/28/2013 11:02 PM

I have to agree. It is a tourist area and thats about all that keeps it going except for the local farm community but they don't spend any time in the town of Zipolite except to maybe supply the local merchants.
One of the locals who plans to run for mayor and his wife referred to us as the next group of tourist victims when they described how we were viewed.
I was also informed since we left that unless I was prepared to stay and pursue this through some kind legal proceeding that it would not be pursued by the police. They turn their heads and forget it ever happened. The only purpose that the police report served was so that we had some documents to help with obtaining new passport travel documents and submitting our insurance claim when we got home. Did I mention that there no less than 4 robberies within the month I was there? I had no knowledge of that until it happened to us. The last one was 3 days after we had been robbed and it was while the victims were in their room and they were held at gun point for an hour.
Mexico is off my list - unless I get a clear sign that they have done something about it but that will not likely happen.
Posted By: bugambilias

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/29/2013 08:56 PM

In the debate on immigration reform in the US, the facts on safety in Mexico have become a casualty of politics. To change public opinion and policy, politicians sometimes throw fuel on the fire. If you make up an exciting story about "severed heads in the desert", it gets a lot of attention and people believe it. The homicide rates below are facts from the FBI, not political fabrications.

[Linked Image]

Dayton Ohio has a violent crime rate almost double that of the rest of the US and 1 in 212 people are resistered sex offenders.

Do we say that everyone should move from Ohio or withhold purchases and travel? Certainly not. We just stay away from the troubled areas.

Don't go to Cedar Point until Dayton does something about that crime rate!

Sounds pretty silly right? Parts of Mexico are very troubled other parts are just fine. It's a big country.
Posted By: tiger79

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/29/2013 09:50 PM

Quote
bugambilias said:
In the debate on immigration reform in the US, the facts on safety in Mexico have become a casualty of politics. To change public opinion and policy, politicians sometimes throw fuel on the fire. If you make up an exciting story about "severed heads in the desert", it gets a lot of attention and people believe it. The homicide rates below are facts from the FBI, not political fabrications.

[Linked Image]

Dayton Ohio has a violent crime rate almost double that of the rest of the US and 1 in 212 people are resistered sex offenders.

Do we say that everyone should move from Ohio or withhold purchases and travel? Certainly not. We just stay away from the troubled areas.

Don't go to Cedar Point until Dayton does something about that crime rate!

Sounds pretty silly right? Parts of Mexico are very troubled other parts are just fine. It's a big country.


But we're not talking about murder, we're talking about everyday thefts from tourists - thefts which ruin their holidays.
Posted By: mayaflya

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/30/2013 01:09 AM

Quote
Canadianeh said:

Mexico is off my list - unless I get a clear sign that they have done something about it but that will not likely happen.


If you had written "Zipolite is off my list" I would wholeheartedly concur...I think the point that some of us are trying to make is that Mexico is a BIG country. Just as Canada and the USA are. You are, of course, welcome to take it off your list for whatever reason you like. I am sympathetic to the poor treatment you received, and regret that it happened.
Posted By: chazo

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/30/2013 03:01 PM

I love that graphic. Reminds me of the old axiom: "lies, damned lies, and statistics". Yes, the murder rate for Mexico overall and Mexico City are lower than some cities in the US, but this graphic is massively misleading. It is meant to make the point that you should not paint the entire country with a single brush. But, it does so by painting the US with a single brush. They compared the national and one city's homicide rate to that of the cities in the US with the highest homicide rates. It's also not accurate in some places.

If we want to be fair, let's compare apples to apples here. The 2011 homicide rate for Mexico was 20 per 100,000, which is over 4 times the US rate of 4.7 per 100,000. While, some cities in the US have murder rates pretty high, in a list of the 50 most dangerous cities in the world, 5 of the top 10 are in Mexico. Yes, New Orleans has been pretty bad at 57.88 (2011, worst in US), how about Acapulco at 127.92 or Juarez at 147.77.

Worst of all, this comparison focuses on murder rates. Now, I'm certainly not wanting to get murdered, but I figure the chance I will get caught in the drug crossfire in Cancun or Zipolite is minuscule (but there is no way I'm going to Acapulco). What I worry about more is theft, since that's much more likely, and was the catalyst for this conversation. We just went to Paris and you have to watch constantly for pickpockets and other pretty crime. The tiny murder rate in France certainly does not reflect how much of a problem that is. I could not find statistics on petty crime by cities, but I'm sure even Cancun dwarfs the stats in most US cities. I'm not going anywhere in Mexico that does not have a safe in the room.
Posted By: Carol_Hill

Re: Thieves in Mexico - Hotel Nude - 12/30/2013 03:23 PM

All right, folks, I think both sides have made their point and this type of discussion leads the way most crime discussions do--around in the same circle, always leading to nowhere.
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