Safes at Hotel Barracuda?

[waynel]

Many trips to Coz, first time staying at Hotel Barracuda (leaving tomorrow morning).I see their list of amenities says safe deposit box behind front desk. Is that just one box all guests use, or does each guest have their own box? Their amenities list doesn't specify. Thanks in advance.

 

[jmb]

There is a safe at the front desk for all guests' use available during specific hours (something like 9 am - 9pm). Whatever you wish to put in the safe will be listed on your receipt, then placed in a large envelope, sealed, and both the hotel & guest initial the envelope. There is a charge of $1 USD each time you want to take things out of the safe. I do use it for my passport and to keep extra funds, but have never had a problem with money or anything else missing that's kept in my room.

 

[waynel]

Outstanding jmb. The $1 charge each time is still better than an ATM fee, don't use credit cards (again, fees) and I don't like carrying large amounts of money. But yes, my passport was my main concern. Thanks so much

 

[DjDiverDan]

I think that arrangement would be a big negative for me. If I recall correctly, nearly every other hotel I have stayed at in Cozumel - Casa Mexicana, Casa Del Mar, Hotel Cozumel, La Cieba, Hotel Plaza Cozumel, Cozumel Palace (way back when it was Plaza Las Glorias), Fiesta Americana - ALL have had individual room safes, either electronic, where you set your own 4-digit code, or with a key & lock set provided at the front desk, where you could secure passport, cash, travel papers, etc. and access them any time. And a $1 charge every time you wanted to get in or out? No thanks.

 

[nodakdive]

I think that arrangement would be a big negative for me. If I recall correctly, nearly every other hotel I have stayed at in Cozumel - Casa Mexicana, Casa Del Mar, Hotel Cozumel, La Cieba, Hotel Plaza Cozumel, Cozumel Palace (way back when it was Plaza Las Glorias), Fiesta Americana - ALL have had individual room safes, either electronic, where you set your own 4-digit code, or with a key & lock set provided at the front desk, where you could secure passport, cash, travel papers, etc. and access them any time. And a $1 charge every time you wanted to get in or out? No thanks.

There was a time when all the rooms at Casa del Mar didn't have in-room safes. You can see the boxes behind the main desk. You had your own key, and just had to ask them to pull your box. No charge, of course.

I feel the same way you do DjDiverDan. Up the room rate a buck a night, but don't charge me to access my stuff because you don't provide a common amenity. It's only a buck, but still....

 

[DjDiverDan]

There was a time when all the rooms at Casa del Mar didn't have in-room safes. You can see the boxes behind the main desk. You had your own key, and just had to ask them to pull your box...

I think you are right - the Standard rooms at Casa Del Mar didn't have the in-room safes. About 5, maybe 6 years ago the Casa Del Mar put me into a Standard Room, those at the back overlooking the parking lot, even though I had reserved a Superior. Before they moved me, I seem to recall that one of the many shortcomings of those Standard rooms was no safe. Note - if you are going to book at Casa Del Mar, ALWAYS upgrade to a Superior Room - those Standard rooms are really kind of the pits.

 

[waynel]

I think that arrangement would be a big negative for me. If I recall correctly, nearly every other hotel I have stayed at in Cozumel - Casa Mexicana, Casa Del Mar, Hotel Cozumel, La Cieba, Hotel Plaza Cozumel, Cozumel Palace (way back when it was Plaza Las Glorias), Fiesta Americana - ALL have had individual room safes, either electronic, where you set your own 4-digit code, or with a key & lock set provided at the front desk, where you could secure passport, cash, travel papers, etc. and access them any time. And a $1 charge every time you wanted to get in or out? No thanks.

I understand. Must be a really old hotel. No elevators.

 

[PARADISE HUNTER]

Room safes would be a great improvement to my favorite budget hotel on Coz.

 

[DjDiverDan]

Frankly, I don't understand why they aren't included in every hotel room. It's not like they're expensive - you can find electronic hotel safes on Amazon for less than $30 per. The plain steel boxes with separate lock/key are even cheaper. And they can be installed by any idiot who can operate a wrench and get bolts into wall studs within a few minutes.

 

[ReefHound]

Hotel Barracuda is an older low-end no-frills hotel. I doubt they would invest in electronic safe boxes unless they did a major renovation and charged a higher rate. The bigger part of the cost is probably not the safe itself but securely installing it. The current system is largely useless except for handing over your passport on checkin and retrieving it on checkout.