When two young men broke into a British family’s hotel room in Benidorm, a mum-of-two had a totally fearless reaction to the terrifying situation – and she has issued an urgent warning to holidaymakers
When a British mum was faced with a terrifying situation on holiday in Benidorm – her reaction was totally fearless.
As her family prepared to say goodbye to their holiday in the sunshine and return home to Eastleigh, Hampshire – they were warned about the potential for power cuts in the hotel.
So Becca Farley, 27, decided to stroll back to her hotel room to make sure that the family’s phones were charged up ahead of their flight home the following day, but things quickly took a terrifying turn.
Becca was staying at the Magical Tropical Splash in Benidorm, and was sharing a family-sized room – that set them back £2500 for the week – with her partner and two children, ages six and 11.
But the mum-of-two was on her own as she made her way back to the room. “As I got in the lift these two teenagers got in the lift with me and just pressed my floor level,” she explained.
“I honestly didn’t think anything of it because there’s five rooms per floor so I just assumed they were going to one of them.”
As she arrived on her floor, things got a little bit weird. The two young men walked straight into her room, the door of which was ajar, with a shoe being used as a wedge.
“I thought oh s**t I have obviously got off on the wrong floor, what a palaver I’m going to have to wait for the lift again. But it was the right floor,” she said. “It happened all quite quickly and they just strolled straight into my room.
“I then followed in after them, which in hindsight, I shouldn’t have because you hear horror stories and I think it could have gone sour.
“But I just didn’t really think and went straight into the room and shouted ‘What are you doing in my room?'”
One of the criminals began raising their voice at Becca, speaking in Spanish, but the incredible mum-of-two stood her ground, screaming “Get the f*** out, get the f*** out, get the f*** out.”
Eventually, given Becca’s screaming, the pair cut their losses and scarpered – giving her the opportunity to slam the door shut and lock it, but the ordeal wasn’t over. The intruders returned and began banging repeatedly on her door – leaving the mum-of-two “petrified” inside.
She said: “I know it sounds silly and people have said ‘you should have done this, you should have locked them in the room, you should have decked them’, but at that moment I think it was just that invasion of privacy.
“This is supposed to be your safe place when you are away, you’re away from home, we don’t travel all that often so we were really shaken.”
The incident massively impacted the holidaymaker, and she admitted “That night I did not sleep because I was flinching at every noise,” and added that, “If it had happened earlier on in the week we would have flown home.”
She reported the incident to the security at the hotel, and she was told that similar incidents had occurred recently – with one family having all their valuables stolen, including their passports.
Becca urged all holidaymakers to stay on high alert whilst they are away, and don’t let the relaxing nature of a break in the sunshine make you “naive”.
“I would advise just to be alert,” she said. “A lot of people have said we were scaremongering people not to go away, not at all.
“We will certainly go on holiday again, it’s not a case of us never going abroad again but I think it’s just having that awareness that if you are a lone woman, please be careful.
“I’m very lucky that I’m OK but I think it’s just a case of having your wits about you a bit more. When you go on holiday you tend to relax and become a little bit naive to these situations.”
She advised that people buy some padlocks and keep their valuables locked away in their suitcases whilst on holiday. “Obviously keep your valuables safe.
“I know some people say don’t use the safes, we personally lock all of ours and padlock them in our suitcases.
“I think it’s just a case of having your wits about you and knowing not to get comfortable in somewhere you’ve never been before.”
The mum-of-two added that she will be thinking twice after the scary incident and being extra careful the next time she goes abroad. “I’m considering getting a webcam that you can put in your room next time we go away. I will carry on locking my stuff away. I would never take the kids away on my own.
“I certainly wouldn’t have cleaners in my room ever again, not to say it definitely was them but they have access to your room.
“I don’t know if I would feel comfortable going up to a room on my own again,” she added.
Magical Tropical Splash Hotel has been contacted for comment.