What are my rights as a hotel guest: Theft personal property

I am writing using my husband's log-in. This past weekend my husband and brother played in the WSOP circuit event in Tunica. To make a long story short, my husband got in through a satellite event Friday, played the first round Saturday, knocked out day two (Sunday), however, we had secured our room @ the Gold Strike for an additional night in case he stayed in the event.

He came back to the room after having his aces cracked and we took my Mom to lunch, sightseeing and played a few games, during this time the room was cleaned. I know the jewelry was in the room before it was cleaned as I saw the boxes when I was packing and my husband wore them Friday and Saturday in the event. When we returned we finished packing and checked out.

Did not realize until we were back home Sunday night unpacking that his jewelry is missing. We called hotel security and a locked search was performed, NO JEWELRY! Called lost and found and the next morning the police department. We drove all the way back to Tunica yesterday to make a police report. Both pieces of jewelry are gifts from me to my husband and have sentimental value. The bracelet is sterling and engraved, the ring is a diamond and gold horseshoe ring.

I feel devastated; The ring is the nicest gift I've ever purchased for my husband and it is a Christmas gift from about ten years ago as a thank you for all the help and support he has given in helping take care of my Mom. He works very hard and has helped me take care of my chronically ill Mother for many years. We have been going to MGM properties for nearly 12 years and spent our honeymoon at MGM Grand in 2000. This situation breaks my heart in many ways.

Has anyone here had such an experience and if so what was the outcome? I'm hoping and praying that his jewelry is returned.

Since you dont have a real estimate of the time of the theft its probably going to be hard to review security tape footage of the elevators/etc. If the rooms used the electronic keycards there should be records of the different times the door was accessed.

I'm no detective. But if you didn't invite anyone in the room and there is no sign of forced entry then it was likely an inside job IMO. The hotel maid, handyman, or security staff would be at the top of my whodunnit list. The Hotel is suppossed to have their own internal investigation of stolen property for whatever thats worth. You can file a police report too.

Sorry for your loss.

Were the boxes stolen or just the jewelry inside them?

Both, the both pieces of jewelry were in one box. We gave hotel security and the police the time we were out of and back in the room. The room uses electronic keys and we checked the door upon exiting to make sure that it was locked.

I suggest you speak to an attorney, and consider a suit. Was there a room safe? Did you sign any type of "hold harmless" when you checked it. Did you even bother to read the fine print when you registered? Got pictures and receipts for the jewelry? They could help the police recover them from a pawn shop, if the theif pawned it. "Pester" the police detective/investigator in a nice way. Make certain he gets those pics to help in his investigation.

Stay after hotel security. As PJ said, they know when the door was opened, and surveillance could lead to a suspect/perpetrator. Were there other reported thefts in the hotel that day? Recently? Why was security not more vigilant if so?

So much, or so little you can do.

Good luck.

While it is illegal for a hotel to put hidden cameras in your room, I have heard of hotels running sting operations and putting hidden cameras in rooms with the blessing of the hotel guest.

I believe you when you say you lost your property to theft, but I don't know if you have grounds to sue? Unless you have solid evidence of the theft and not just what you are accusing them of, I don't think an attorney is going to say you have a good chance of winning.

Hi, thank you for your suggestions. The room did have a safe but it is tiny. I wish my husband had left his jewelry on. We did not sign any "hold harmless" when we checked out. When we registered they checked my license, and cc, did not see any fine print other than room charge agreement. I gave the police officer pic's and copies of our registration confirmation.

I'm looking for the receipt's now, may take a few days as these items were purchased a few years back. I don't know whether there other thefts, did find a story on tripadvisor https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g43984-d95894-r118542493-Gold_Strike_Casino_Resort-Tunica_Resorts_Mississippi.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT regarding a theft at Goldstrike but it is from September.

We are planning on looking at ebay and craigslist daily to see if anyone is trying to sell these items in the Mississippi/Memphis area. Thanks again.

Thanks for your reply. We are not even considering any kind of lawsuit at this time. We really just want the items back and hope that surveillance tape from hall monitoring will come up with clues that lead to our property.

PS: a sting operation sounds really great!

You might consider contacting all the pawn shops with pictures of the jewelry, if the cops have not.