Nottinghamshire family stuck in Madeira after passports and phone stolen from hotel room

Tobi Hughes·
Madeira News

Thanks to Simon Cook for this link.

A Nottinghamshire mum and her two sons are stuck in Madeira after their passports were stolen from their hotel room. Hayley Frame, 50, of Carlton, flew to the island from East Midlands Airport on Monday, August 29, with her eight and nine year old sons for their first holiday abroad since 2019.

The self employed social worker had originally booked and paid for the three of them to go to the South of France, but the holiday was called off in late July due to a number of flights being cancelled. Just when it looked like they wouldn’t be having a summer holiday, Hayley spotted a Jet2 holiday to Madeira which she booked at the start of August.

Hayley said: “We arrived on Monday from East Midlands but we were early so we couldn’t check into our rooms, so we put our bags in the baggage room downstairs in the hotel but I kept all of my important documents with me. We went for a walk around the area, and it was so hot as we were in travelling clothes and we were boiling, so I said to the boys, lets get our swimming stuff and go to the pool, and then check in later.

“We were getting changed into our swimming stuff and the reception lady came through and told us our room was actually ready now. We went upstairs, but we were half in our swimming stuff and half not, so I said tell you what boys lets just dump our stuff and then quickly jump in the pool and come back, so that’s what we did.”

The family returned to their room in the Jardins d’Ajuda hotel no more than an hour and a half later, and starting to unpack their things. Hayley said: “My son was asking where the iPhone he uses for games was, and I couldn’t find it and I then I couldn’t find the charger, but we had unpacked everything at this point.

“It took three maintenance men to try and fix the door as it wasn’t the lock, it was the frame that had been forced.

“All I kept getting told was that these things in Madeira don’t happen, these things don’t happen, they kept saying that I need to look again, I need to look again, like I had lost them. I haven’t lost a charger, a phone, and three passports, and the door had been forced.

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Tobi Hughes

17 Responses

  1. I guess there wasn’t a wall-safe in the room. A terrible thing to happen but there are worse places to be stuck awaiting replacement passports.

  2. Goodness me a awful thing to happen. They are right those things don’t happen in Madeira. But it did, I would say that’s probably foreigner who done that rather then Madeiran people. But look at this This way there’s worse places to be stuck without a document.

  3. Madeira has changed so much and now I am on my own I am not going to travel abroad to anywhere and we used to go to Madeira most years and we worked out that we went more than 20 times to a lovely hotel that is now just an empty building made me cry.

  4. A single Mum with two little boys this
    Must have been a scary ordeal for her
    Especially never having been to Madeira
    Wonderful island i hope the family get home safely and the thief gets caught.

  5. If the family need a cheap room until documents are replaced we have 2 spare rooms and 3 spare beds x

  6. Amanda, that is so kind and thoughtful. Just think, no phone. Where do you store all your info…..on your phone. How do you get things done without it? OK so it sounds fun to have an extra week, but it’s not like she can relax, anxiety screws you up, finding accommodation and replacing documents doesn’t “ just happen”, another week takes additional cash which may not be readily available. Expenses piling up at home, insurers who will look every which way to avoid paying out or even offering interim help. A hotel in denial. That’s not a week of fun!

  7. The police won’t do much ..did they take fingerprints of the door..frame ..I doubt it ..lots of problems with break ins .. businesses… Houses …..which never gets reported.by the press….plus most of the time when caught…the fk..rs are let go due to paperwork and soft criminal court ..I’m afraid it’s all over ….the Europe we live in .

  8. She could not communicate in English in Madeira? How many gins did she have? When stories are extrapolated with this kind of drama “I am stuck and cannot even communicate” it tells me something “stinks” in the story…

    1. No gin involved in my case, just 5 minutes spent in Continente, opening my bag to take out reading glasses, bending to read a price tag… that must have been the moment when my purse went with the bugger. After reporting to police, a lenghty procedure, I later went to the shop and at the information counter I got my then empty purse back. I asked for security cameras, yes they are available to the police. Unfortunately nobody cared when I reported back to the station.

    2. There are plenty of people who don’t speak English in Madeira. I think you are biased against the story not because it stinks, but because it is not flattering.

      1. I think you are right. Anything that doesn’t paint Madeira in the best light or is even mildly critical, and it’s dismissed. Most people in Madeira don’t speak English or very, very poor English.

  9. Unfortunately these things are pretty common now. Last week in Funchal I lost(??) my wallet. The zipper on my bag was open. Shortly after I discovered the loss the bank phoned, somebody had handed in my wallet. When I collected it the cash of course had gone, so had my residence card, BUT my bank card was still there. Was it theft or simply a loss? The cop suggested to declare it as a loss because a theft would take years to get thru the courts and I would be unable to get a replacement ID.

  10. These things don’t happen in Madeira? funniest thing I have heard all day ?I would start the day investigation with the hotel staff.

  11. I was in the same hotel 3 weeks ago. The hotel name is told in original article. There are security cameras on every floor!
    The family also stored their suitcases in the luggage room at first. The staff does not give a receipt for the bag, and the room is not locked or secured.

  12. We live here in Madeira and my passport went ‘lost or missing’ sometime in the last month or so. I used hmgov website to apply for a Emergency Replacement Document. After 2 failed attempts I managed to pay the required €110 and it will be delivered in two days time. Reason the 2 attempts failed, I found out after phoning Lisbon again, was that I had used the wrong search engine… not Safari, must be google Chrome .. but they couldn’t have TOLD us that!

    1. You don’t even know the difference between a search engine and a browser. Come on, that’s your responsibility, not anyone else’s, to use an up to date and modern browser.

  13. Who jumps in a swimming pool before checking in, hot or not? She sounds awfully irresponsible, always put your valuables and essential documents in a safe. Where was the father? Maybe if someone with a good head on their shoulders were in charge of the family, this would not have happened. Single mum? If it’s transcribed, she doesn’t sound very educated.

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