Choosing to stay at Lotte Hotel Seoul (West) is hands down the biggest mistake of my life when it comes to hotel stays. Once you read about my experience, you'll understand why.
On the second day of our trip to Korea, we rushed out in the morning and left some jewelry on the coffee table—stud earrings, a necklace, and a gold bracelet resting on top of a hotel tissue. When we returned from shopping in the evening, the gold bracelet was gone. Even stranger, the tissue it was resting on had also disappeared, leaving only the stud earrings and necklace as shown in Photo 1. Photo 2 shows the missing gold bracelet.
I called the front desk that night, but they were unconcerned and said it couldn't be resolved until the next day. I deeply regret not calling the police right then and there. The next morning, two staff members came to handle the issue. They offered to let us review the CCTV footage, but we declined, asking them to check the footage to see if I was wearing the gold bracelet when I entered. Unfortunately, because I was wearing a jacket, it was probably blocked and not visible.
Later, we called the police. When the officers arrived, they took our statement, registered the case, and asked if they could search our luggage. We didn't think much of it and agreed, though the police did inform us that we had the right to refuse. We cooperated anyway. During the search, there were about 4 to 5 hotel staff members present, and they didn't step outside or give us any privacy at all.
Before flying back home, we received no update on the investigation, and the hotel never called us. Ten days later, we called the police station to check on the progress, but there were still no results. I asked the police why they didn't search other areas of the hotel or potential suspects, especially since we had fully cooperated with the search. The police replied that they didn't have the authority to do so. I find this completely unacceptable. I checked my Trip.com account, which has been registered since 2016, and my spending over the past year alone reached 128,000 RMB, making me a top-tier Black Diamond member. Would I really try to frame a hotel over a piece of jewelry worth tens of thousands? Plus, in 10 years of traveling and staying at hotels, this has never happened to me before—Trip.com can verify this. Trip.com's customer service repeatedly contacted the hotel to check on the progress throughout the process. Although it didn't ultimately help solve the case, they did their best, and I appreciate Trip.com's efforts. However, I also suggest that Trip.com re-evaluate and carefully vet whether such hotels should remain on their platform.
When we wrote a complaint to hotel management, their response was that we had to pay a 25,000 KRW "mosaic fee" (blurring fee) just to release the CCTV footage to us. Furthermore, the CCTV footage they reviewed wasn't even complete. After returning at 10:05 PM that night, we went out again, but this was completely omitted from their report and the footage. Where did that segment of the footage go? If they pulled the records based on keycard swipes, how could they miss the time we went out that night? Could they have also missed footage of other people entering and exiting? This is why I believe there are major loopholes in the hotel's management and security. If they can't even get the entry and exit times straight on their cameras, how can they guarantee guests' safety in other aspects? How should a hotel like this be dealt with?
I bought the bracelet in 2023 for 4,100 RMB, and its value is now at least over 10,000 RMB. Due to Trip.com's review policies, I can't upload photos that I didn't take myself, nor can I post the evidence of the hotel's incomplete CCTV timestamps or the hotel's demand for a 25,000 KRW mosaic processing fee to release the footage. I'm simply sharing this so everyone is aware.
Original TextTranslation provided by AI
