][1]Back in the Nineties, Quaglino’s in London’s West End used to get their ashtrays nicked at a rate of 1000 a month. Designed by Sir Terence Conran and costed at £8.95, the aluminium ashtrays were very popular with light-fingered memento-seekers.
At £8.95 a pop times a thousand, that was quite a hit for the restaurant to swallow but it’s nothing compared to some of the stuff looted from Best Western Hotels. According to their annual review looking into their stock levels, over the last year, items which have gone missing include a Christmas tree, a suit of armour, a two piece leather suite, a 12ft long model of the supersonic jet Concorde, and a cigarette machine.
One guest even managed to clear out an entire hotel room – taking absolutely everything inside, except the bed. Their ill-gotten haul included a bedspread and matching curtains, a plasma TV set, a hairdryer, kettle, cups and saucers.
Whoever pinched the suit of armour must have got a shock when they woke in the morning, rubbed the kebab from their eyes and found a 15th century knight at the end of the bed.