Malaysian women find hidden camera in holiday apartment while vacationing in Portugal

[UPDATE, June 25]:

In response to AsiaOne's query, a spokesperson for Booking.com replied that they are aware of the case and have suspended the property from their site.

The spokesperson said: "At Booking.com, we do not tolerate improper behaviour from our accommodation partners and in the very rare instance that we're made aware of such a situation, we investigate immediately.

"We are refunding this customer in full and are covering any extra costs related to their relocation. We have also suspended the property in question from our site, pending the results of a full investigation."

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[Original article, June 24]:

Do you get the feeling that someone is watching you?

A trio of Malaysian women definitely did, after they discovered a hidden camera in their holiday apartment, with the experience leaving them scarred.

According to a Facebook post written in Chinese on June 20 by Rubee Woo, she was spending her first night at their apartment with two of her female travelling companions when she found the camera.

They were having a vacation in the city of Porto in Portugal.

As reported by Portugese media, The Renaissance, Woo's friend was about to take a shower when she felt that something was amiss with the power socket in the bathroom.

However, she was unable to tell what was wrong until she inspected the socket with her phone's flashlight and found the hidden camera lodged within.

Woo and her friends were scared and thought about leaving to find another place to stay for the night, but it was already past midnight and they were afraid of alerting the owner of the apartment, who lived one floor below.

Hence, they decided to call the police who arrived 30 minutes later and proceeded to remove the camera.

At this time, Woo and her friends decided to head to a hotel instead.

She wrote: "We quickly packed our bags, handed the apartment keys to the police and left. By the time we reached the hotel, it was 5am.

"When we left, the owner didn't dare to look us in the eye."

Woo also alleged that because the owner seemed "shifty-eyed", she was "200% sure" that the owner was guilty.

POLICE REPORT MADE

Before her departure, Woo also claimed to notice the policemen smoking with the owner of the apartment and was unsure if any action would be taken.

She said: "I feel like they might not take any action and I didn't want us to be bullied just because we're Asian. That's why we decided to make a report with the tourist police the next morning.

"However, they informed me that there won't be an update so soon."

As such, they planned to continue with their travels, with Woo expressing hope that the owner will be punished.

ACCOMMODATIONS MADE VIA BOOKING.COM

As the accommodations were made via travel fare aggregator website, Booking.com, Woo confessed that this incident has made her more critical of reviews made on the website.

After all, the apartment they booked had a score of 9.2 and the owner even seemed "friendly" and even advised them on the traffic conditions in the city.

She wrote: "Please, please, please, be wary of hidden cameras. I used to think that it wouldn't happen to me and now it has."

AsiaOne has reached out to Booking.com for a response.

bryanlim@asiaone.com