Hotel housekeeper makes off with big haul

When you stay at a luxury hotel - paying big money for the privilege - you expect hotel management to have vetted the staff.

Not so in one unnamed hotel at Knightsbridge in London.

A hotel housekeeper has been accused of stealing a suitcase of jewellery worth £350,000 ($668,000_ - and she has apparently gone on the run to her home country of Romania.

British media reports that detectives are searching for Marinela Manolesu, 28, who was working in an unnamed hotel in the upmarket area when the jewellery was allegedly taken on October 8.

More than 20 items including necklaces, bracelets and watches were stolen.

The Metropolitan Police said the woman fled the UK around a week later and travelled to Romania, and that officers have contacted the authorities there.

The housekeeper had reportedly only been working at the hotel for a short time before the theft.

But I must say that if I had over a half a million dollars worth of gear in my luggage, then I would not leave it in my hotel room for the staff to half inch.

That, surely, is what safes are for.