Russian Tourist Says $1,000 Vanished From Hotel Safe in Manhattan; Hotel Blames Only the Cleaner

A Russian traveler has accused a pricey Manhattan hotel of failing to protect her cash after she says $1,000 disappeared from an in-room safe during a six-night stay. The woman, identified only as Polina, shared her account with the Russian outlet Lenta.ru; the hotel is not named in the report, and no dates are given.

Polina said she and two friends booked a triple room in the historic center of New York for $3,000, expecting solid service for the price. Days into the trip, she opened the safe to retrieve money from a separate envelope and found $1,000 missing.

She reported it to the hotel manager, who promised to check who had entered the room besides the guests. That evening, Polina received a letter saying only a cleaner had been inside, and the hotel said it found no evidence of theft. She was unconvinced, noting the hotel had no hallway cameras and arguing that a lone cleaner does not mean no one else came in.

Polina then turned to ChatGPT, which told her hotel safes keep logs of recent openings and that a technician can retrieve them. She asked the hotel to check, and the safe's records showed it had been opened while the guests were out, with someone on staff who had safe access accompanying the cleaner.

The hotel returned the missing $1,000 in cash but offered no compensation at first, Polina said. She eventually secured one free night. The report did not include a response from the hotel, and the safe-log claim could not be independently verified.