Beit Wakil - Theiving Staff

I just thought i would post this as the hotel is currently the lonely planet 'our pick' for Aleppo.
Normally I avoid anywhere recommended by LP like the plague, but I figured after a long period of austerity I would like a little luxury, so I stayed at the beit wakil hotel in aleppo.

On leaving I checked out to go to qalat samaan, and left left my bags with the 'secure storage room' and the staff there stole an MP3 player, headphones and two packets of cigarettes from my bag.

Not to mention that the laundry, after having it done, the staff just said 'oh, that form is old and those prices are wrong' and insisted i pay nearly double the list price.

I highly recommend you do not stay there.

Hi Mr. Yakkal i have just finished my visit to Beit Wakil and i investigate ur problem and i spok with the General Manager about ur case and there are 3 things 2 say 4 u:
First the managment were surprised for this shocking new and now they started a series of investegations including all the staff of the hotel so plz call the managment of the hotel and for staying in touch with ur subject in order to help u in ur problem and also thats a merit piont in ur problem and plz send us a private email: betwakil@scs-net.org to tell them ur full story

Thankyou for the replies.
I will email the address you provided.

I'm in Lebanon now, and to be honest not really interested in what was stolen, the total value is negligible (I could replace the goods with probably $20 for the MP3 player, $2 or $3 for the cigarettes) but it was more the principle of the matter - someone went into my bag and took it.

Thankyour for your interest, cheers, Luke

In fact you did great job today by reporting your personal problem here and I, in turn, reported them by showing them your original post. I found them really shocked as this is the first time to happen. I think better to tell them in your private message your complete story and the name of the person who took the bags from you that day.. i am sure they will take the matter very seiously. Thanks

I just arrived in Syria from a Jordan trip. I called the management in Beit Wakil who confirmed that Mr. Maghribi opened an investigation before me. This is a great job.

I read your comment that the stolen stuff can be replaced but the principal of opening someone's bag in a top end hotel is very strange and unexpected in Syria. I personally was very upset and Beit Wakil should be serious in investigating.

Wish you all the best in your Lebanon trip.

Yakkalot, you are either a liar or an idiot. Why did you not report this alleged crime at the time? Why have you left it up to the kindness of syriaroad to instigate an investigation?
This kind of unsubstantiated allegation -which could have serious commercial repurcussions for the hotel concerned - should not have been allowed on this site.

LP moderators should make sure any such accusations are backed by proof of a complaint having been formally made to the establishment concerned. The LP forum should not be reduced to a shop for rumour and innuendo.

Jackhavana, I'm not sure what brought that on, but I have been a longtime contributor the the TT and am not about to go off half cocked on some attempt to smear some hotels name without due cause.

As for why I didn't file a police report?
1. I noticed it at the bus station and wasn't about to go back into the city for it.
2. I had limited time and didn't have time to waste with a police report for $20-$30 worth of goods
3. I was on holidays and would rather see the rest of the country than worry about twenty bucks worth of walkman and cigarettes. I don't want people to go to jail or have hands chopped off or anything, simply warning others about what happened to me and to factor that into their travel plans if they wish.
This advice cost nothing for people to read, so if you don't like it, just close the window.

Why did I post this on the TT?
Because I feel other travellers have a right to be forewarned about issues like this, especially a hotel that has garnered considerable business by being the current LP Guidebook's "Our Pick" for Aleppo.

I have emailed the address that Syria Road and Amagribi very kindly provided, but I think it is poor form to post private email conversations on an open forum without express permission of the other party.
This is not something I liked doing, as I thought the hotel was lovely, and were it not for that and the laundry con, I would have nothing but recommendations for it.

Sincerely, Luke

We re looking forward your precious updates on Afghanistan,Yakkalot.
Enjoy your trip in Lebanon.

Interestingly I've heard no reply from them, despite what I would consider an extremely polite email requiring nothing more than a basic apology...

Hi Luke! Did you send them an e-mail but no respond from them yet?
It's really strange to find those who consider themselves responsibles in managing such top recommended boutique hotel, yet unable to respond quickly and effectively; though they showed me a kind of surprise to the extent they spontaneously responded to your post: (No.2 above) using my personal account with dramatic spelling mistakes I quickly corrected some. Hope the administration will soon respond, act in an urgent manner and let you feel completely satisfied.

No, no response.

By now I don't really care anymore though, it is clear their views of guests now.

Thankyou for all your help and concern Amagribi, I guess I will just have to let my warning to fellow travellers stand, as we all witness yet another place spoiled by 'LP Our-pick-syndrome' :-(

{quote:title=someone in a bad mood wrote:}{quote}
Yakkalot, you are either a liar or an idiot.

I've been reading Yakkalot's posts for years. I trust him more than probably any other poster here on Thorn Tree. Read his many posts and you will see he's neither a liar nor an idiot nor someone with an agenda. And, no, I'm not related to him. I couldn't even pick him out of a lineup.

OK Yakkalot, it seems I may owe you an apology.
It's just that I found it very strange that you felt suitably aggrieved by your experience to publicise it here on Thorn Tree yet weren't aggrieved enough at the time to report it directly to the hotel. (I don't accept that you had "limited time" or that the value of the items wasn't much - if it pissed you off enough to name and shame the hotel on a forum read by hundreds of travellers, then you should have had the common sense to break off your schedule and report it directly to the hotel. If you'd done that, they may have responded satisfactorily and immediately. As it is, you didn't give them that chance)
I speak as someone who worked and travelled in Egypt for six months, and who has travelled extensively throughout Syria. In all that time, I had only one incident involving the theft of something - a watch - from a hotel room. I dealt with it by approaching the manager, saying my watch was missing, and that if it had turned up by the end of the day, I would make no more of it, but if not I would report it to the police. Sure enough, within a few hours my watch had been mysteriously "found"(in a litter bin).
May I humbly suggest Yakkalot that if you have a similar experience in the future, you consider dealing with it in this manner before damaging the reputation of a possibly innocent hotel by make uncorroborated allegations.

Agree @ 12 that Yakkalot is one of the genuine posters on TT with lot of personal experience and based on ground realities (specially on Afghanistan).I as well do not doubt what he says,anyways.

Edited by: shandurheights

Jack, I'm not here to be judged by you.
There is no way I would've lost a day of my travels, something that I don't get very much of these days, to go and speak with the same people who just ripped me off while one of their mate's helped himself to my kit.
As it was I didn't get enough time in Syria for my likings, and if I had my time over, I still would've done the same.

The purpose of the TT is for tourists to come and share experience and receive advice for free from the global community.
This is me sharing what happened to me.

Regardless if I went back to confront them and they mysteriously 'found' my stuff in a bin too, the point is they took it in the first place and I feel other travellers should be warned.
Every action in life has consequences, and they should see that ripping off guests has consequences (although I'm sure they're too busy counting their money to care about little old me and this thread)

At the end of the day it cost you nothing to read this, so that is precisely how much right to complain about this you have.

Sincerely, Luke