Beware of thieves

[Toxdoc]

We own a timeshare (week 51) at the old aruba grand (now the beautiful Riu) and have been going there for many years...we were there in 2007 just after it reopened and had a wonderful time...this year was quite different...before we left we saw lots of postings on travel sites warning about room robberies at the Riu and were quite concerned...we mentioned this to the time share desk when we checked in and were told that this was not a problem...nevertheless, we took precautions anyway (i.e., carrying $$ & passports at all times, keeping our room door to the corridor chained most of the time, etc.)...however, on christmas eve our room was robbed while my wife was sleeping!!! they took i-pods, speakers, cash, jewlery and had to reach across my sleeping wife to steal her cell phone!! it was very scarry & creepy...the management was totally unsympathetic to what happened almost to the point of denial...i insisted that they call the police so i could get an official report because they didn't want to...the woman staying in the unit below ours with her 3 small children was awakened at 4 am and saw a mans head inside of her window...they way the thieves got into our room is because the sliding window locks do not work and it was easy to open the window from the deck, reach in and unchain the back door and open it...takes less than 15 seconds...we could have been told about this on check in, but were not...check out other intersites and see for yourselves how this is happening...it was a very unsettling experience for all of us and ruined what should have been a wonderful week in aruba...we will not be returning until some meaningful action has been taken

[cindyo]

Toxdoc, I do not stay at the Rui, but I am very disturbed at the reaction of the management, and their seemingly lack of help. I hope you reported it the police yourself, and I hope your belongings were covered by your homeowners. cindyo

[CandyC55]

Hey that makes me a little scared as we will be staying at the Westin right next door!!! What the heck is going on??? Especially being in the room while your wife was sleeping!! They have no fear obviously....

[Randi]

Has to be an inside job?

[katb161]

We just returned from the heavenly island. We were at the Holiday Inn and a couple in our tower had a laptop and video camera taken from their room. Unfortunately, it happened when one of the cleaning crew was in their room. The safe is right there at the door and their valuables were on top of the safe. (too large to put into the safe) However, we have been told of thieves recently climbing balconies to access rooms. Make sure your patio door is locked!! No floor is out of reach apparently. We were quite dismayed when we heard all of this because we have been travelling to Aruba for quite a number of years.

[ash]

I am so sorry to hear of your robbery. That is terrible news to hear - for you and all of Aruba's visitors. I've noticed many rent-a-cops in the downtown area and I thought it was to keep the low life drug dealers and pick pockets away from the cruise ship tourists as well as show a presence of "the Law" to visitors. Now the criminals are going into hotels and rented homes? It is scary, but it is starting to sound a lot like Jamaica - where you basically don't leave the resort because of the local crime! Unfortunately, this is a direct result of putting all economic eggs into one basket; ie tourism, and when that basket comes up short, the crime increases.
Glad to hear you called the police because obviously the RIU doesn't want to take responsibility.

[arubaerin]

My husband are leaving next Friday for Aruba. We are very excited to get to the sunshine however disturbed by reports of increased crime. We actually heard there are alot of people selling drugs and more crime around the beach walkway of the High Rises has anyone heard anything about this and is anything being done by the Aruba police?

[Randi]

We were just in Aruba over the Christmas vacation period and did not find any problems with drugs around the high rise district at all. Now we are in our late 40's so we wouldn't exactly look like the type drug dealers would be seeking out! However, our teenagers have told us in the past that if someone wanted drugs they could be found but they have never been approached. They go out at night but we instruct them to use the same judgment and caution they do at home. They do not walk along the boardwalk at 2am, they take a taxi back to the hotel for $5. We walk the boardwalk all the time at night but not late at night or the wee hours of the morning.

Aruba is very safe but you still must have common sense. Crime is everywhere but it is nothing like in the US or Canada!

[Arubalisa]

There have been "punks" selling marijuana on the boardwalk since at least 1999. They didn't bother us and we didn't bother them. The police know they are there as do the Visibility team.

[arubamark]

What boardwalk are we talking about? Not that I am looking to score any grass or anything.