Tony

Although my experience in Cancun is minor compared to some of these poor people, I would like to share my nightmare while in Cancun, Mexico. My wife and I planned our honeymoon in a place where we thought was safe and could get some sun and swim in the ocean. I had bought my wife a rather expensive diamond bracelet for a wedding present and she had other expensive jewelry. To be safe, we stored her jewelry, my watch, and cash in the hotel safety deposit box which was in a little room next to the front desk. Every day I would go down to get some cash. To get into the box my key and the hotel master key was needed. I knew exactly the physical location and the box number. A few days went by with no problems; I would go down and give my key to the hotel staff member and they would use their key and open the box. When I was done I would close the box and lock it with my key and theirs. One day I went down and gave him my key and he went to a different box. He opened the box and it was empty. I told him it was the wrong box. He said it wasn’t and said to look at the number on my key. I didn’t notice the previous day that when he gave me my key back that it wasn’t the right key!! After some arguing and me pointing to my box, I asked to see management. I explained everything and the manager said I had the key and this my box. After more arguing and threatening to call the police, which probably would do no good, the manager went and got a ‘master key’ and opened the box I said was mine and there was all my money and jewelry. I had to describe the contents to verify the contents were mine. Shame on me for not checking the key number when he handed it back to me. The guy made a quick switch of keys. I’m not saying all of Mexico is corrupt but a large portion of it is. You have a country where the average wage is well below the poverty level and perhaps these hotel employees are getting desperate after seeing tourists living a life they could never have. Tourists beware when traveling to Mexico…By the way, my wife also got violently ill after a meal there. My days of a Mexican vacation are, unfortunately, over. Cancun area can be a wonderful place for a vacation.