A mother's holiday was ruined when she claims a night intruder swiped her “irreplaceable” £9,000 rings from her hotel room as she slept in a “string of balcony burglaries”.
Vicki Pike had jetted off on a £4,091 Loveholidays package holiday with her husband Mark Pike, 56, and three other family members for a week in the sun on August 13.
When the group-of-five arrived at a three-star hotel in Tenerife, Spain, the 51-year-old claims she paid for a hotel room safe to put her passports and valuables in.
But after discovering the safe was faulty she alerted staff at the hotel reception who reportedly said they would fix it straight away.
For the duration of their seven-night stay, the mum-of-three alleges that the safe was never fixed meaning she had nowhere secure to leave her personal documents and jewellery.
Vicki was instead forced to hide her passports in the room and every night would leave her expensive rings on the kitchenette work top.
Sadly, as the couple slept on August 18th, the gran-of-two claims her wedding, engagement and birthday rings were stolen from the room.
The seamstress said she woke up “heartbroken” at the discovery and has now been left “grieving” the loss of her rings, which she says have been valued at £9,000.
She believes an intruder broke into the hotel over her balcony and entered her room in the dead of night as they slept - swiping the rings.
The couple were left terrified at the thought that a stranger was in their room with them as they slept - and what 'could have happened if they had woken up'.
She claims staff told them that there had been 'more than 20' balcony burglaries at the hotel and another guest was allegedly burgled on the same night.
On the night the rings were 'stolen', Vicki admits the pair did leave their balcony door ajar as the 'boiling' room had no air con and found her bag open on the table outside in the morning.
Vicki is now speaking out about the incident to warn other holiday goers to ensure they protect their valuables at all times while away.
Vicki, from Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, said: "In the morning [on August 19th], I went to put my watch on and then I couldn't find my rings. "I then spotted my handbag on the balcony and my stomach started turning as I knew something was wrong.
"We had left the balcony door open whilst we slept as the room had no air con and it was scorching in the room.
"I knew something was wrong and I burst out crying and I was shaking. I started panicking.
"I thought through the night I had had a dream and I thought Mark was on the balcony with my bag. I realised then that I must have seen the person as I was half asleep.
"All the fear then came over me as I thought about if we had woken up what would have happened.
"It was an awful feeling to think how close they were to us as they literally walked past us [in our sleep].”
The next day Mark had spoken to some of the staff and they said there had been over 20 balcony [burglaries] last month.
"Another woman at the hotel said that she had been [burgled] on the balcony that night too."
After speaking to a hotel manager about the incident, she claims she was told police would visit to carry out fingerprint checks on the room but says this never happened.
Vicki said: "The first two rings are absolutely irreplaceable. "The first is my engagement ring and the second is my wedding ring. The last ring my husband Mark bought me for my 50th birthday. "I know this sounds really weird but I think I'm grieving because they meant so much to us.
"Neither my husband and I had been married before and the rings meant so much to us.
"I always rent a safe everywhere I go. Even at home, I put my rings and watch in a safe [every night].
"While I waited for them to fix the safe, I was worried about leaving stuff in the room and I hid my passports.
"I left my rings on the kitchenette work top every night up to this point and this is where I left them on that night."
Since returning to the UK, Vicki claims she is now having to take prescribed medication to help her sleep at night.
And alongside the cost of replacing the three rings, she says she will also have to fork out further expenses for a vow renewal ceremony as she wants her new rings blessed.
Vicki said: "I'm completely lost without my rings. My husband struggles to look at my hand at the moment [because they're not there].
"Mark is even bothered about putting his own wedding ring on as he feels it's not right as he's got his but I haven't got mine.
"For me, I've got to renew my vows which will be another expense. "It's just a kick in the gut and it's heartbreaking.
“Now we've got to think about raising finances that we haven't got to replace them.
"I've got to replace them, get them blessed and get Mark to put the rings back on my finger with vows and then I can draw a line under it.
"Until this is done, I don't think I'm going to be right with it."
Vicki says following the incident she has reached out to Loveholidays via email but claims they won't take responsibility for what happened.
She claims she also reported the incident to police herself while on holiday but says they never attended the premises.
Loveholidays pointed out that they were an online travel agent and do not own or operate the hotel.
They said they were not aware of any other similar complaints from their own customers - but are not the only operator using the hotel.
A Loveholidays spokesperson said: "We are very sorry to hear of Ms Pike's experience and have investigated her complaint as a matter of urgency with the hotel involved.
"Our support teams have also been in touch with Ms Pike to offer advice on making a claim with her travel insurance provider."
The hotel said they did not wish to comment any further beyond what Loveholidays had said. The police have been contacted for comment.
