usvi-on-line
Gardeners - IN THE HOUSE
Gardeners - IN THE HOUSE
Okay - so Wednesday our group went to the east end to Lameshur. One member of our party stayed behind - he has a broken ankle and wanted to just chill at the house. He was in the downstairs bedroom - the rest of the house was open. Next thinig he knows............someone is rattling the door handle trying to get in the bedroom! Then he heard them walking around in the upstairs. It was the gardening staff. Why do they need access to the house if no live plants inside????? And I'm trying to decide how angry to be at the villa company / owners / crew / WHO ELSE??? Coincidence -- Now there's an Ipod missing. And we were told an Iphone disappeared the week before we got there. UGH.
Report it to the villa company.
BUT, everyone should always keep their villas locked, all the time, whether someone is home or not. Doors and windows. And all valuables, unless being actively used, should be securely locked in a safe or otherwise secured via steel cables etc.
It's just common sense. I do it at home, and here also.
BUT, everyone should always keep their villas locked, all the time, whether someone is home or not. Doors and windows. And all valuables, unless being actively used, should be securely locked in a safe or otherwise secured via steel cables etc.
It's just common sense. I do it at home, and here also.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
I don't see why they have to be inside the house - trying to get into the bedrooms is especially inexplicable. You should speak with the management co. if you haven't already. Just curious, how did he figure out they were the gardeners?
I second liamsaunt. We would never leave the villa open even when we were inside, let alone if we were staying in a closed bedroom. Some villas have been robbed while guests were in the pool (the villas weren't locked). They didn't realize it until they came back in. The degree of caution you have to have depends on the villa's layout but common sense is essential.
I'm so sorry this happened to you...
I second liamsaunt. We would never leave the villa open even when we were inside, let alone if we were staying in a closed bedroom. Some villas have been robbed while guests were in the pool (the villas weren't locked). They didn't realize it until they came back in. The degree of caution you have to have depends on the villa's layout but common sense is essential.
I'm so sorry this happened to you...
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Teresa_Rae
- Posts: 2053
- Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:44 pm
- Location: Downstate IL
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tedprosser
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 8:23 am
- Location: Coral Bay, STJ
Here is what I do to know what is going on at the villa when I am not around:
I always have a small hidden portable camera with me that records on motion detection to itself. It is no larger than a pack of cigarettes and you would never know it is there. It is very lightweight and easy to pack. It can record up to 20 hours of video on it's internal 8GB memory. I configure to only record on motion. It can run on 4 double A batteries or can be plugged into a wall outlet.
I always put it in the bedroom looking at most of the room and entrance and I make sure my bags are in view of the camera. I figure if anyone gains entry while we are gone they will look through the bags. I ALWAYS enable it when we leave the villa and disable it when we return. It takes 2 seconds to see if anyone was there while we are out.
I did this everyday when we were there in May. When everything is normal I will only see myself coming back to disable it. If anybody else was there, you will know it, you will know when and you will see them clear as day.
Funny thing about it on our last trip was that I knew the housekeeper was coming on Wed for a mid week linen change so of course I watched it with anticipation when we returned from the beach. Sure enough, she arrived and we watched her change over the linen on the clearly visible bed. She never went through my bags but my wife had a notebook with her handwriting on the night stand and she picked it up and started reading it and even flipped a few pages before putting it down. We were laughing but I was glad she was honest and not snooping through any of our bags.
Even funnier... I figured after she left I would next see myself coming back to disable the camera when all of a sudden I see this man enter the bedroom. The time stamp shows it is about an hour after the housekeeper left. He was dressed all in beige and had a Safari hat on and he looked like Crocodile Dundee. He walked all around the room and we are sitting there watching this guy wondering who he is and what he is doing when all of a sudden we could see he had a hand held sprayer tank -- he was the exterminator. Well he didn't touch our bags either but the funny thing is he also picked up my wife's hand written notebook and started reading it. We were dying laughing.
2 days later we pulled into the gas station to get gas and a guy jumps out of a truck that pulled into the next bay to fuel up and we all looked at each other and yelled "It's the exterminator" Haha.
I never go anywhere on vacation without my $240 portable hidden surveillance system. It rocks!!!
P.S. remember... you never know when you are being recorded on video. Don't think it is only the Spice Cam that can getcha.
Stay safe
Splash
I always have a small hidden portable camera with me that records on motion detection to itself. It is no larger than a pack of cigarettes and you would never know it is there. It is very lightweight and easy to pack. It can record up to 20 hours of video on it's internal 8GB memory. I configure to only record on motion. It can run on 4 double A batteries or can be plugged into a wall outlet.
I always put it in the bedroom looking at most of the room and entrance and I make sure my bags are in view of the camera. I figure if anyone gains entry while we are gone they will look through the bags. I ALWAYS enable it when we leave the villa and disable it when we return. It takes 2 seconds to see if anyone was there while we are out.
I did this everyday when we were there in May. When everything is normal I will only see myself coming back to disable it. If anybody else was there, you will know it, you will know when and you will see them clear as day.
Funny thing about it on our last trip was that I knew the housekeeper was coming on Wed for a mid week linen change so of course I watched it with anticipation when we returned from the beach. Sure enough, she arrived and we watched her change over the linen on the clearly visible bed. She never went through my bags but my wife had a notebook with her handwriting on the night stand and she picked it up and started reading it and even flipped a few pages before putting it down. We were laughing but I was glad she was honest and not snooping through any of our bags.
Even funnier... I figured after she left I would next see myself coming back to disable the camera when all of a sudden I see this man enter the bedroom. The time stamp shows it is about an hour after the housekeeper left. He was dressed all in beige and had a Safari hat on and he looked like Crocodile Dundee. He walked all around the room and we are sitting there watching this guy wondering who he is and what he is doing when all of a sudden we could see he had a hand held sprayer tank -- he was the exterminator. Well he didn't touch our bags either but the funny thing is he also picked up my wife's hand written notebook and started reading it. We were dying laughing.
2 days later we pulled into the gas station to get gas and a guy jumps out of a truck that pulled into the next bay to fuel up and we all looked at each other and yelled "It's the exterminator" Haha.
I never go anywhere on vacation without my $240 portable hidden surveillance system. It rocks!!!
P.S. remember... you never know when you are being recorded on video. Don't think it is only the Spice Cam that can getcha.
Stay safe
Splash
Life is like a river… you kind of just have to study it as it goes by.
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GraysonDave
- Posts: 479
- Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 7:41 am
- Location: Georgia
Noting too exciting as I have only had it for the past 3 or 4 trips. We did laugh when we watched 2 house keepers at the Aruba resort sit down in our room and chat for about 15 minutes. No Audio but they were stretching their legs and chilling out. Good for them. They work hard.GraysonDave wrote:Hey, Splash - What's the best thing you've recorded? Any good stories?
Life is like a river… you kind of just have to study it as it goes by.
Is it possible that something was stored inside the house that they needed access to? Or perhaps there's something they need to turn on from inside the villa?
Certainly you should contact the villa management company to check, but they may or may not have the regular schedule as some of that may be scheduled by the owners (although they should know).
Like Liamsaunt, we always lock up anything of value in the safe provided.
But rather than assuming the worst case scenario, gather facts and take proper precautions.
The reality is that the way many villas are designed they cannot be completely secured. So if someone wants to get in they can. Period.
After 14 years of travel to STJ and many, many villa rentals from Cruz to Coral Bay the worst problem I've had with invaders was a cockroach problem, because the owner skimped on the pest spraying schedule.
Keep in mind that the "gardners" sometimes take care of this function as well and need access to the house.
Just another perspective to consider.
Certainly you should contact the villa management company to check, but they may or may not have the regular schedule as some of that may be scheduled by the owners (although they should know).
Like Liamsaunt, we always lock up anything of value in the safe provided.
But rather than assuming the worst case scenario, gather facts and take proper precautions.
The reality is that the way many villas are designed they cannot be completely secured. So if someone wants to get in they can. Period.
After 14 years of travel to STJ and many, many villa rentals from Cruz to Coral Bay the worst problem I've had with invaders was a cockroach problem, because the owner skimped on the pest spraying schedule.
Keep in mind that the "gardners" sometimes take care of this function as well and need access to the house.
Just another perspective to consider.
*Another fine scatterbrained production
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tedprosser
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 8:23 am
- Location: Coral Bay, STJ
Here's what has happened so far............
Caribbean Villas has fired the landscaping company - I think it was Alfredo's. If you are renting through CV and they are STILL using Alfredo's please let me know - AND BE VERY SCARED!!!
There was absolutely nothing in the house they needed access to. NADA. They did lift my Ipod.
I am not a believer in the whole "I have to keep myself locked in/out of my own house WHILE I'M IN THE HOUSE" theory. I will not be made to feel a prisoner anywhere. Most of these houses have 7-8 entrances. We are a group of 11 - that would mean everyone would have to have a key to get in/out of each room / building. If this is an island where I cannot feel secure and safe while I do things like go to the bathroom or sit in the pool, I won't be back.
Before everyone yells at me for the above paragraph - I know there are people in every city, town, and state in the country /world that you cannot trust. This is not unique to St. John and I understand that. My point is - these are workers contracted with CV to do a certain job. This job did NOT entail gaining entry into my home. I should have some sense of security and safety in my own home!
Caribbean Villas has fired the landscaping company - I think it was Alfredo's. If you are renting through CV and they are STILL using Alfredo's please let me know - AND BE VERY SCARED!!!
There was absolutely nothing in the house they needed access to. NADA. They did lift my Ipod.
I am not a believer in the whole "I have to keep myself locked in/out of my own house WHILE I'M IN THE HOUSE" theory. I will not be made to feel a prisoner anywhere. Most of these houses have 7-8 entrances. We are a group of 11 - that would mean everyone would have to have a key to get in/out of each room / building. If this is an island where I cannot feel secure and safe while I do things like go to the bathroom or sit in the pool, I won't be back.
Before everyone yells at me for the above paragraph - I know there are people in every city, town, and state in the country /world that you cannot trust. This is not unique to St. John and I understand that. My point is - these are workers contracted with CV to do a certain job. This job did NOT entail gaining entry into my home. I should have some sense of security and safety in my own home!
I don't think anyone was or will be yelling at you, NCSue... and I'm sorry if you've taken my words as offensive towards you.
It really depends on the villa's layout how cautious I could be and would be, and I would take precaution "accordingly". I've never completely locked myself in the villa to feel like a prisoner, no... But I feel more comfortable if I take appropriate (to me, I guess) precautions like locking the doors and windows that are out of sight or not being used. I imagined things like that were common practices (whether it's true or not) and that's why I mentioned it.
I'm so sorry this happened to you on your vacation. If there is a consolation, you did end up saving CV's future guests from possibly having the same experience with the landscaping staff. Glad to hear that CV acted quickly to get to the bottom of this, as they should.
It really depends on the villa's layout how cautious I could be and would be, and I would take precaution "accordingly". I've never completely locked myself in the villa to feel like a prisoner, no... But I feel more comfortable if I take appropriate (to me, I guess) precautions like locking the doors and windows that are out of sight or not being used. I imagined things like that were common practices (whether it's true or not) and that's why I mentioned it.
I'm so sorry this happened to you on your vacation. If there is a consolation, you did end up saving CV's future guests from possibly having the same experience with the landscaping staff. Glad to hear that CV acted quickly to get to the bottom of this, as they should.