Friend a victim of villa break-in

[susan & herb]

I haven't purchased any door or window alarms yet. Just started looking.

[Diana2]

We had a break-in while staying at a resort in Bonaire. After that incident we purchased a motion sensor alarm at Radio Shack and my husband made some things for the windows so you couldn't open them from the outside. We've never felt the need to bring them to STJ.

[alw1977]

We wrote our friend to ask the name of the villa. His first response was that it was called the "Do Break Inn."

Ha! At least he hasn't lost his sense of humor along with his iPhone.

The villa was Allesandra in Chocolate Hole. (Upper?) At least he'd already given his fiancee the engagement ring and it was on her finger and not in a bag somewhere. That would've hurt.

[PA Girl]

We wrote our friend to ask the name of the villa. His first response was that it was called the "Do Break Inn."

Ha! At least he hasn't lost his sense of humor along with his iPhone.

The villa was Allesandra in Chocolate Hole. (Upper?) At least he'd already given his fiancee the engagement ring and it was on her finger and not in a bag somewhere. That would've hurt.

Yikes! That would have ben so awful if the ring was stolen.

Years ago, Mr. PA slipped my anniversary gift into his checked bag during a transfer at SJU. The bags went missing and he admitted to putting it (a gold and pearl necklace) into the outside zippered pocket. The bag eventually caught up to us and the present was still in the pocket.

[liamsaunt]

We wrote our friend to ask the name of the villa. His first response was that it was called the "Do Break Inn."

That's funny.

The laptop locks are important if you are bringing your computer. I have only rented one house that had a safe large enough to fit our laptop.

[augie]

The villa was Allesandra in Chocolate Hole.

Wow - I know of quite a few people that have stayed there, and I've never heard of this happening to any of them.

[pipanale]

To pimp the house I stayed at: Morgan Point's safe is large enough for 2 laptops, a big Nikon camera with lens and crap, assorted travel documents, wallets, MP3 players, etc.

Bottom line: you could fit a baby in that safe.

[promoguy]

Whenever I hear people say use the safes, I always wonder....hmmmmm. Do residents use safes?

/just asking

[alw1977]

promoguy - my thought is no. You know the saying "don't sh*t where you eat?" My thought is that the crooks mostly steer clear of robbing residents. If they did, then public outcry would eventually cause a crackdown, community patrols would get stronger and they would be effectively out of business. Unless they wanted to get into the home invasion biz.

Now tourists are a whole other situation. There's a new crop of us every week and our guards are down. We're on vacay! And we're drunk so we sleep soundly.

[promoguy]

alw, it was basically a rhetorical question. BUT you have provided the answer that I knew but others should always consider when also considering how their loss will be handled by the local PD.

[Teresa_Rae]

Allesandra was broken into last summer as well when a forumite was staying there. I wonder if it is an easy target for some reason?

Here's the thread:
http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... ra&start=0

[alw1977]

promoguy, thanks for reminding me that I've really become slow in recent months. I've developed parenthood ditziness.

[promoguy]

promoguy, thanks for reminding me that I've really become slow in recent months. I've developed parenthood ditziness.

Fret not!!! It'll eventually go away. But that might be easy for me to say, since it's been so long I've forgotten.

[mahojim]

Afternoon, y'all.
I know that plenty of you wonderful folks have been there a butt-load more than I have, but in my 14-15 visits to STJ, staying in a different villa each time, I've never had an issue.
That doesn't mean that I'm not concerned about it, though. Last year I asked the villa co. specifically for those "sliding glass door jam jobbers", and they appeased me with no problem.
I would definately be interested in any websites that provide the motion detectors/ door & window alarms; I think Splash from the forum sent me the info before, but I nerdily erased it... (maybe it was the motion activated camera...? -info on that would be groovy too...)
Like I said, I've (very thankfully) never had any issues, but it's always better safe than sorry. No pun intended.
Smiles-
MJ

[alw1977]

I don't mean to deviate, but does anyone know if a rental agency has to disclose whether a rental has experienced break-ins if you specifically inquire? I would think the answer is YES, because if they lie to you and then you are a victim and actually get hurt, they knew about the risk and failed to guard against the risk and/or fully inform you.

Since we will have our infant with us on our next trip, I have written the villa owner to ask if they've experienced any break-ins and if so, if she can let me know of any entry points so we can take extra precautions, including bringing our own alarms. I'll be curious to see if/how they respond.

I don't care about my belongings at all - but it's my biggest fear to have my infant son in the room with us when we wake up and there's a stranger there. Things tend to go badly when mama bears' cub gets threatened.