The British were alerted while on vacation in a popular Spanish hotspot after a group of tourists cleared their hotel rooms by burglars. The thieves stole thousands of pounds of valuables, including their sun cream. Nigel Durbin, 50, met with friends and family at the Kareta Dorada Hotel in Fuerteventura to celebrate her weekly 50th birthday. However, his lawyer and fiancee Joanne Gallagher, 52, was in the restaurant on the scene, but the burglar entered the room.
They grabbed £8,000 worth of valuables on June 10th, including Tom Ford glasses, gold jewelry, diamond earrings, Apple Airpods and Armani handbags. In the hallway, Joanne's sister Jane Midley, 52, and partner Paul Inglis, 62, photographed three bags, jewelry and a cell phone worth £1,200, and discovered that the burglar had even been stolen.
The family is sure the criminal has passed through the hotel door, as there are no signs of forced entry and the door appears unstable. A hotel TripAdvisor review made a note to the hotel's note “Sheen Rehm Theft Police” in November 2024, and an October reviewer said they were worried about the break-in and “slept on the sofa next to the door all week.”
“When I was there, four apartments on the same block were robbed,” they said.
Now, as a family member who has recently been victims of crime has spoken out, we are making sure that other villas do not fall victim to the same fate.
“They're looking forward to seeing the world's most popular,” said Jane, an optical assistant from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
“We went out every night at 8:20pm, just like we had gone to the on-site restaurant. We didn't notice anything that came out. We came back around 11:30pm and unlocked the door.
“I put my bikini on top and knew where I had it, and I was far away, looking down, it looked like someone had put it in my bag.
Nigel added:
“The hotel doesn't bother you. This may have been stopped if you said, 'Always carry all the personal items of high value with you. Don't leave them in your room.' “I was a duck sitting.
The family arrived on June 6th and said it was not immediately safe due to the broken locking mechanism in the room. They noticed that the door handle mechanism was loose and later noticed that the lock had a hole in the frame, revealing the lock bolt. Jane's 32-year-old son, Jake Midley, was in another room but could not lock his door at all, he said, and although they reported to reception, they did not resolve the issue.
Both rooms remained tidy after the robbery, but there were no signs of forcing the room to enter or loot.
Nigel added: “No one knew what our room was about, except for the cleaner and maintenance staff. We bumped into other guests who said some properties had been robbed, but I didn't think much about it at the time. You really didn't want to believe it.
He said all the doors and windows were locked before they left, but when they returned it was open. Nigel and Joan have lost Tom Ford's prescription glasses, a 9-carat gold chain, a pair of Apple Airpods Pros, a jewelry box containing necklaces, chains and earrings, a rocket that once belonged to Joanne's late mother, and an ID document containing an Armani handbag.
Jane said: “We couldn't open the other windows, so they got the keys and opened the bedroom window to make it look like a robber.
“And the reception said, “Do you leave the door open and the windows open?”
“They were making it like we were stupid.
“The manager actually said there were quite a few robbers in the area. And what was we like? If we were told, as you know, there's a high risk of robbery, make sure everything is in the safety deposit box.”
According to Comet, Caleta Dorada Hotel did not respond to a request for comment.
This latest robbery comes when a British mom attacks a hotel room by a teenage thug in Benidorm. Becca Farley, 27, warned tourists to “keep your wisdom.” After a holiday with her partner's six sons and daughter, 11 people's holidays were ruined and she “absolutely turned stone.”
