Nightmare experience at the Hotel Berrière Carl Gustav

Two weeks ago my wife and I decided to take a short holiday to St Barth. We booked a nice room at the newly reopened Carl Gustav. On our third night at the hotel, around midnight my wife saw the lights come on in the living room portion of our room and woke me just in time to see our bedroom door open and two men walk in. I jumped from the bed screaming at the top of my lungs and the men ran out of the room. By the time I got a robe on, the men had completely disappeared. We immediately called the front desk and were initially told that it was maintenance people (at midnight)? My wife called the front desk back and was then told it was security people. We spent the rest of a very sleepless night very concerned that the intruders might return. No one ever reached out to us or came to our room to assure us that all was good, and that we were safe and secure. The next morning after I emailed the concierge the hotel manager responded and told us it was security people who had made an error. No one at the hotel seemed particularly concerned about the incident. The manager offered us a free massage (which we declined).
I thought the whole situation was totally unacceptable. That legitimate security people would run away, that no one from the hotel came to our room to reassure us, that no one from the hotel even called us. No call from the head of security or the night manager. This was an expensive room in what is supposed to be a world class hotel. If a hotel fails in it's most basic responsibility, to keep it's guests safe and secure, it doesn't matter how beautiful it's location or facilities are.

That is the worst case of hotel customer service disregard ever registered. It they cannot preserve the sanctity of your room and then refuse take responsibilty for the actions, they deserve to be blacklisted.

Whoa!! 2 men in my bedroom at midnight! You have every right to post this especially since no one from the hotel seems to care too much. Hope you are ok after this.

Oh my, callisto, that is horrifying and deeply disturbing! I’m so sorry this happened to y’all. It certainly makes me look at this establishment with different eyes. I hope you’ll keep us posted if you receive further communication from the hotel.

Shocking! Unacceptable! A free massage? How about an entirely free stay! One wonders if the Gendarmes should be called in to help sort this out? Invasion of your private space in the middle of the night is terrible! We would have been very frightened as you were.
Shame on Hotel Barriére Carl Gustaf for literally no response to this awful experience.
We are sorry your experienced this awful intrusion to what should be a time of bliss and happiness.

Here is a direct phone number- ask for Dominique Desseigne and share with him what happened to you-
https://www.hotelsbarriere.com/en/legal-information/legal-terms.html

stbartshopper said:

… ask for Dominique Desseigne…

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the PDG of le Groupe Lucien Barrière?

Years ago, I had an unfortunate experience at a Marriott in Kentucky. I contacted William Marriott. He responded personally and made things right. Ever since we have been loyal Marriott customers.

I will use your experience that should never happen to anyone to remind everyone to use your security locks regardless of where you stay.

I have stayed all over the world, and every hotel has security locks. I always use them, regardless of the location, one must take responsibility for their own safety.

The main reason for the extra lock on the door is for your safety and security.....the other reason is to make sure the maid, maintenance people etc. do not come into your room till you are prepared for them to.

And in my experience, I have never had a maid, nor maintenance person come in without knocking first.

My take on your situation is that whomever came into your suite thought the room/suite was not occupied, otherwise they would have knocked on your door to alert you of their intent.

I do believe that you should receive compensation. follow up with hopper's link with someone who can actually help. Not only for the compensation, but for lack of empathy from the hotel staff which I find odd and disturbing.

What a horrible experience that must have been. We had a very bad experience a few years ago dropping off a rental car in Cancun. We were coming back from Tulum and were staying a few days before heading back to the states. As soon as we arrived home, I went to the rental company's Twitter feed and posted about their location and staff there. Immediately, I received a DM and then a call. They resolved the issue for us and disciplined the person involved. Social media can sometimes be very useful to get to the person you need. Good luck--I hope that you find some satisfaction.

callisto said:

Two weeks ago my wife and I decided to take a short holiday to St Barth. We booked a nice room at the newly reopened Carl Gustav. On our third night at the hotel, around midnight my wife saw the lights come on in the living room portion of our room and woke me just in time to see our bedroom door open and two men walk in. I jumped from the bed screaming at the top of my lungs and the men ran out of the room. By the time I got a robe on, the men had completely disappeared. We immediately called the front desk and were initially told that it was maintenance people (at midnight)? My wife called the front desk back and was then told it was security people. We spent the rest of a very sleepless night very concerned that the intruders might return. No one ever reached out to us or came to our room to assure us that all was good, and that we were safe and secure. The next morning after I emailed the concierge the hotel manager responded and told us it was security people who had made an error. No one at the hotel seemed particularly concerned about the incident. The manager offered us a free massage (which we declined).
I thought the whole situation was totally unacceptable. That legitimate security people would run away, that no one from the hotel came to our room to reassure us, that no one from the hotel even called us. No call from the head of security or the night manager. This was an expensive room in what is supposed to be a world class hotel. If a hotel fails in it's most basic responsibility, to keep it's guests safe and secure, it doesn't matter how beautiful it's location or facilities are.

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Consider filing charges against the hotel? I am not very familiar with premises liability law, especially here in St. Bart’s, but it might be worth looking into.

Horrible experience, would have asked for full refund, not paid the bill for any charges accrued & checked out immediately & contacted the island authorities.

Like Hopper I had a bad experience at a Marriott brand hotel in Winchester VA a number of years ago & got in touch with the top man's office & heard back from his assistant who wiped the charges away, also gave many miles to my Marriott account. Always start at the top.

Oh my gosh! What a terrible and frightening experience. It is completely unacceptable that the hotel has not contacted you and apologized profusely for what happened and made it right. The crime rate on SBH is extremely low, but this is a reminder to utilize all security locks, even here. I hope that someone from the parent company will contact you soon. Please keep us posted.

le_reve said:

Oh my gosh! What a terrible and frightening experience. It is completely unacceptable that the hotel has not contacted you and apologized profusely for what happened and made it right. The crime rate on SBH is extremely low, but this is a reminder to utilize all security locks, even here. I hope that someone from the parent company will contact you soon. Please keep us posted.

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security locks only have one flaw......YOU have to use them!!!!


although my sympathies are with the guests in this matter. very doubtful that the guests were in any danger. A= crooks, bad guys rarely turn on the lights in the living room to alert the guests of their arrival. most bad guys have flashlights...anyone ever watch the movies in here? and the guys ran out of the room as soon as the guests screamed at them....if the guys came into the room to make trouble, a screaming guy would not stop them. another thing, there are cameras all over Carl Gustaf, including outside the guest rooms, so I am sure the video footage has been reviewed and the hotel knows exactly who went into the guests rooms. Like I said before, this was a mistake, either the men thought the room was not occupied or they were called by another guest and entered into the wrong room. ( the men obviously had a pass key, so no crooks were involved) AGAIN...this would have been a non-story if the security locks were put in place by the guests.

I am by no means blaming the guests, I think the hotel should still compensate the guests regardless of their neglect to protect themselves just by putting on the security lock.

I think hotel security has a tool to deal with their own security locks.

JEK said:

I think hotel security has a tool to deal with their own security locks.

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I would bet this was not the case....my guess they used a normal pass key. the hotel would need to have special permission to open a security lock, guest in danger, etc. in other words, a very good reason for using a security tool, that would have to be documented by the manager, in this case the night manager for them to use a special tool.

Do modern hotels still use the chain lock or is it all electronic at this point so doors can be opened in case of emergency- as didier describes?

I managed a few resorts on Sanibel Island long time ago.....and I have been given the wrong room number a few times that I had to go into...when it happened to be an occupied room, I immediately apologized and explained the mistake.....would never turn and run like I was guilty of something.....and yes, they got a formal apology and other considerations....

A couple of years at the Maliouhana on Anguilla a hotel worker in uniform followed two young girls into their hotel room. When the father arrived the worker pulled a utility knife and demanded money. This is one of the best hotels in Anguilla or the entire Caribbean for that matter. The father fought with the maintenance man who ended up being killed in the scuffle. The police then proceeded to charge the father (who was protecting his daughters) with murder. The local press and residents turned against the father so he never returned to face trial. Anything can happen even in the nicest of places.

EEK
We remember that event well. A real tragedy!