I just wanted to throw out a quick message of warning to other travelers. Always be careful of ‘gifts’. I thought when I got to my room that this was a holiday gift or a thank you something.

Seeing this in the room on the bed made me excited and happy. I knew of a few people immediately who would love such a thing. I even took out the manta and put it near my luggage that I hadn’t even unpacked yet to try and keep it from damaged during stay.

Unfortunately the story turns dark. I hate lies. I hate deception. I hate being baited. I could easily see a family coming in and the kid picking this up from the bed and playing with it, the sign says it’s ok to take this. But if you don’t keep the sign or you don’t fully read things, you’re on the hook now.

I just happened to knock the sign over and noticed the writing on the other side. I got angry real fast. I feel that there should have been some indicator or marking on the front to look at the back. This is what the front looks like up close. Nice clear bold print to bait you to take this thing home.

Than the bait shows its duplicitous nature.

I hate shady crap like this. I’m used to this place and they are better with the giant water bottle giving some indication of not being free. To be fair though, it’s just a number. There’s no signage about cost their either. No dollar sign or other money symbols. Perhaps they just charge in your local currency? Are there supposed to be five bottles in the room? Do you get 5 bottles of this? The plot thickens…

So bottom line to people out there who may not travel as much or have family that doesn’t pay much attention, when I get to the room, I make sure to put bottles like this away, even in the closet up high if there are going to be kids, or less intelligent adults, in the room. And now I know I need to double check everything for hidden costs and baits. Regardless of things in the room, always check your bill when you leave. If they send you one electronically, check that too. You’d get a new bill after you checked out with this aquatic creature here. Maybe in the future I’d use a one time number that I cancel after checkout to make sure there are no extra charges I wasn’t aware of.

Be safe,

SFA