Sentosa hotel responds to foreign guest's claim $3,000 stolen by housekeeper

[UPDATE] In response to queries about the incident, Village Hotel Sentosa told local media that the tourist had contacted it about an envelope containing $3,000 soon after checking out.

The hotel immediately conducted "a comprehensive search of the room, its surrounding areas" and of its staff. It also conducted a second search in front of the tourist once he returned, said a spokesperson.

However, the alleged missing cash was not found in either of the searches.

Police then conducted two separate searches - one at 2pm and one by senior investigating officers at 6:32pm.

"Both searches yielded negative results and investigations remain ongoing," the spokesperson said, adding that the hotel has been fully cooperating with police while remaining in contact with the tourist to provide support.

A happy holiday in Singapore took a sour turn when this tourist's $3,000 was allegedly stolen by a hotel housekeeper.

A Taiwanese tourist, known as Chang Shuoyang, said his cash was taken by a housekeeper at Village Hotel Sentosa on Friday (Oct 17).

In his post on Threads, Chang said he checked into the hotel on Thursday evening (Oct 16) and went to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Singapore.

Before leaving, the 28-year-old said he placed around $3,000 worth of cash in a plastic bag from Marina Bay Sands. He then left the bag on a white counter in his hotel room.

According to Chang's post, the plastic bag with cash was stolen on Friday.

"When this happened, I felt so helpless," Chang wrote in Chinese. "The hotel manager said he really trusts his staff and there was no way such an incident would happen."

Rummaged through hotel's garbage

Chang, a property agent, said he rummaged through the hotel's garbage collection to no avail until the police arrived.

After searching the housekeeper and her storage locker, the police found the same Marina Bay Sands plastic bag Chang used for his money, he said.

"The hotel manager was really shocked when the police found the plastic bag I used to put my cash. Because the Sentosa hotel would not have a Marina Bay Sands bag!"

According to Chang, the housekeeper denied taking the money and was taken by the police for further investigations.

"With advanced policing technology, I should have some updates by tomorrow noon (Oct 18) and I will let everyone know," Chang wrote.

He added that the hotel has yet to offer compensation.

In his post, Chang urged others to be careful when travelling in Singapore.

"This totally changed my image of Singapore," he said, adding that it was his first time experiencing theft at a high-end overseas hotel.

He told AsiaOne that the hotel has not provided him any compensation nor apologised for the incident.

The police, in response to AsiaOne's queries, said that they received a call for assistance at 10 Artillery Avenue on Oct 17 at 1.35pm. 

The police said that a 34-year-old woman is currently assisting with investigations for the offence of theft in dwelling and that investigations are ongoing.

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Additional reporting by Bhavya Rawat

jengjee.hoon@asiaone.com