Posted on 06/09/2005 4:31:02 AM PDT by kcvl
I'm not defending the hotel's actions, but just speculating as to their motive. In the U.S., it may not make a difference whether the men were direct employees of the hotel, or employees of the hotel's contractor (i.e., the security firm) because the family could bring a legal action against both the hotel and its contractor. May not work that way in Aruba.
Such preventive lawyering is commonplace in situations like this. Smacks of insensitivity in my opinion, but some businesses feel it makes good sense.
Never been to Martinique. French owned or influenced? My experience is that most French territories or former French territories are dumps.
Author: Carolyn Txxxxxx (---.r14.ncbldw.infoave.net) Date: 06-09-05 02:23 I visited Aruba from Feb 27-March 5 2005. I had a wonderful stay there and found the island most joyous at all times. What scares me about this incident is the coincedences of my last night there. I was also at Carlos and Charlies. I was greeted by what I believe was a security guard who almost demanded he was taking me to my hotel. I was staying at the Renaissance Hotel just down the street. Although I had been drinking I had enough sense to run across 2 lanes of traffic and catch up with my boyfriend and get back to my hotel. As nice as the people of Aruba were, there was definitely something wrong in that minute to me. I pray Miss Halloway is ok and returns safely to her family... Whatever happened that night will probably never be fully understood by us here, but Natalee knows our prayers are with her wherever she may be.
I was thinking...if nothing else good comes out of this, it may be a learning experience for Aruba law enforcement. FBI might have the investigative tools and expertise the Aruban authorities don't have, and this might be beneficial to the Arubans for future crimes.
Not challenging your figures, just pointing out that one of Aruba's selling points is its southern Caribbean location that is very rarely impacted by hurricanes.
Not challenging your figures, just pointing out that one of Aruba's selling points is its southern Caribbean location that is very rarely impacted by hurricanes.
***
That's true (re: Hurricanes). I believe the last time I was there, a tour guide said the last major hurricane was sometime in the early part of the 20th century...or maybe earlier. Now I haven't been there in the last five or so years, so maybe they've had one since then. But you're right -- major storms are rare.
And I also know a lot of people who vacation in the tropics during the summer. Personally, if I want heat, I can stay home in the summer, but some people love it at that time of year. In Aruba though, it might be hot, but it's also less humid that where I live.
Scary.
Now if they work for a security company but work at the hotel, it is splitting hairs regarding the facts for the hotel to jump up and say, no, these men are not our employees.
Not really. There is the impact on future hotel bookings to consider. The place is undergoing renovation with plans to open later this year. If it turns out that hotel employees are implicated, that is sure to be noted by travel agents and the public. This is a high profile case.
That seems a little definitive.
Sometimes bad things just happen randomly to people.
From ABC News:
Amy Bradley, a 23-year-old recent college graduate who was about to start a new job at the time of her disappearance, vanished in March 1998 while she vacationed with her family on a Caribbean cruise. The Bradleys were on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Rhapsody of the Seas, then a year-old luxury ship, and Aruba was one of the ship's destinations.
The Bradleys say three men who worked on the ship became friendly with Amy and wanted to take her to a bar in Aruba, Carlos' n Charlie's bar and restaurant — the same bar where Holloway was seen eating and dancing the night she disappeared. Holloway never showed up for her flight the next morning, and police found her passport and packed bags in her hotel room.
Bradley's parents say they last saw their daughter dancing along with her brother Brad at a Mardi Gras party on the ship before they retired for the night to the family's suite. The ship's computerized door-lock system showed that Brad returned to the suite at 3:35 a.m. March 24, while Amy arrived five minutes later. Brad Bradley said he and his sister sat on the suite's balcony and talked before he went to sleep. He said he last saw Amy sitting in a lounge chair on the balcony.
Yep, sometimes....
The Bradleys say three men who worked on the ship became friendly with Amy and wanted to take her to a bar in Aruba, Carlos' n Charlie's bar and restaurant — the same bar where Holloway was seen eating and dancing the night she disappeared. Holloway never showed up for her flight the next morning, and police found her passport and packed bags in her hotel room.
***
The few cruise lines I've been on -- it's ok to chat up the passengers, but socializing with them is forbidden.
Ivan came pretty close last year. I think Aruba had tropical storm conditions for a while as it passed to the north.
Ten years ago we wanted to take our three girls out to Montauk for a week in August. It's only two hours with traffic but we wanted to stay. We changed our plans when we realized that for less than the cost to rent a condo on the beach we were able to fly all of us to PR, rent a car and rent a 3br/3ba modern house on a quiet beach on the far side of the island from San Juan. The Carib off season is a bargain.
The Carib off season is a bargain.
***
Very true. I think most places, including Aruba, you can go for at least 50% off in the summer.
No question about that. I have friends who were trying to arrange a trip to The Bahamas this Fourth of July because it was so cheap.
As I live by the beach on the north shore of Long Island and would prefer to be in the U.S. on the fourth (I'll actually be on Block Island as it now turns out), I thought they were nuts. (But the prices were great.)
Isn't there an old song something about
Ruby-yyy don't take your love to Aruba - or something like that.
I might have that mixed up
....having said that, one can imagine what Howard Dean would say upon learning she was a Christian....that she had it coming....since we all look alike, you know.....(sarcasm emphasized)....
This sort of thing happens more often than one would think and rarely gets reported. A friend of my daughter's met some of her friends at a restaurant establishment near the college she attended. It was lunch, and no alchol was ordered. The girl was to have left from there to pick up family members flying into a nearby airport shortly thereafter.
She never showed up so family members were alarmed and called one of her house mates who lunched with them and traced her back to the restaurant parking lot where she had passed out in her car. Blood tests revealed that someone at the restaurant had slipped rohipnal (sp?), also known as the date rape drug in her food or drink. She was lucky and recovered after a short stay in the hospital.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.