Irish broadcaster Lauren Guilfoyle has spoken of her horror after her hotel in Portugal was burgled when she went for dinner with a friend on holiday.
The Clare woman and her friend, who were staying in the resort of Albufeira, came back to find everything thrown around the room last week, RSVP Live reports.
However, they noticed that there was no forced entry and their room was one of many that night.
After finding their belongings displaced and their bags emptied, they sought help from management.
She told RSVP Live: "Our apartment was turned upside down but the door was fine and there was no forced entry.
"Our suitcases had been emptied and the place had been searched so we went down to reception and basically figured out that we were the fourth apartment that had been broken into on that particular night."
Lauren and her friend Aoife were lucky because they had their passports well hidden in the room and they had their money and phones while eating.
All that was taken from them was some clothes. However, other guests had wedding rings, money and phones stolen.
It transpired that three more apartments had been broken into and one of them was burgled while they slept.
Lauren explained: "They came in while the parents were sleeping and tiptoed around the two kids.
"They stole €1200 from the little drawers and then continued to tiptoe around the parents where they managed to steal a phone from under their pillow.
"Thanks be to god none of them woke up because God only knows what would have happened."
"They called the police and they figured out that balcony door was open so they obviously got in through that. "
After realising that more apartments had been targeted, they didn't feel safe enough to remain together: "We ended up crashing in a different apartment in the same complex with a load of other people because we just didn't feel safe.
"We went to the police station the next morning and we had to give a statement and that was it."
Afterwards, the management transferred them to a different hotel in the same group which was the complete other side of Albufeira: "They were all apologetic but they police that we met told us that this happens all the time in that place."
Talented Lauren reports on RTE Radio 1's Marty Squad and works as a physio with Tipperary GAA.
