Delhi man cons five-star Roseate House hotel for free two-year stay

Modern luxury hotel reception counter desk with bell

A man was allegedly found to have stayed in one of India’s top hotels for two years, without paying his bill.

New Delhi police received a complaint from the Roseate House regarding one of their former guests. The man in question was accused of conducting a scam, failing to pay for his room for over 600 days.

The hotel near the New Delhi Aerocity claims it is owed 5m rupee ( $113,000) by the guest.

The five-star squatter checked into his hotel on May 30, 2019 making a booking for a single night, but stayed there until January 22, 2022 according to the Indian Express. He appears not to have acted alone.

Even though the hotel did not receive payment, it appears one of the staff members had been extending their stay.

“The staff of the hotel allegedly forged, deleted, added and falsified a large number of entries in the account of the said guest in the Opera software system of the hotel,” alleges the hotel’s police complaint.

“The accounts were falsified to conceal the actual outstanding dues from the senior management to avoid detection of their willful illegal acts.”

This was done by swapping bills with other guests or passing expenses onto other rooms.

The guest left last year without paying. The police complaint was filed on May 24, but there have been no arrests.

“As per hotel rules, if a guest owes more than 50,000 rupees to the hotel, the staff has to inform the seniors and push the guest for payment. However, this was not done,” a member of the police told local media.

The Roseate House hotel describes itself as “one of the best five star hotels in Delhi Aerocity.”

Five-star hotel scams

This is not the first overstaying scam to be seen by Delhi’s luxury hotels.

In January Delhi police were looking for a man who fled a hotel with an unpaid 2.3m rupee ($45,339) bill and silverware.

The guest who gave his name as Mohammed Sharif and claimed to be a UAE national stayed at The Leela Palace hotel for over four months before disappearing.

Police were summoned after the guests’ cheque bounced and, after investigation, said that the guest was using fake documents.