Imagine, Girl’s Trip… High key Bachelorette style in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Low key… only fans, trick bag, hot spot. Unfortunately, the tale you’re about to read isn’t fiction. This is the real-life experience of five, Black, professional women and an example of why protecting Black women should be more than a hashtag.
Cyd, a blogger/instagram influencer under the handle @ms_audacity took to her platform to share her nightmare occurrence from July 31, that luckily didn’t end in tragedy. Take the word “luckily” lightly, as it wasn’t due to the assistance of local police of hotel policy that they were protected. This was nothing but the work of our Higher Source and ancestors.
The post recounted her July 29 through August 2 travel for her sister, @advisedbysteph’s celebration, and stated:
Reposted from @ms_audacity
❌ Bachelorette Gone Wrong ❌
In a blink of an eye our litty Bachelorette weekend at the grandpalladiumpuntacanaturned into a literal nightmare. How… 🗣Negligence by grandpalladiumpuntacana
❌This hotel lacks basic security and allowed an assailant/pervert to deactivate our room keys(3 rooms), ❌Activate new keys to our roomssss, ❌Enter our roomssss, ❌Steal our clean and used panties and bras ❌And RECORD himself MASTURBATING to our panties on my work phone, that was left in the room.
We immediately notified grandpalladiumpuntacana Head of Security and Management, 🤯Per Oscar, Head of Security, “@Palladiumhotelgroup only has cameras in hotel lobby.”🤯@Palladiumhotelgroup tried to shut us up with a 4 night complementary stay. 🤯
@Palladiumhotelgroup did nothing to ensure this doesn’t happen to any other guest.
‼️Correct me if I am wrong instafam, but‼️ Isn’t it the hotels responsibility to take reasonable and necessary steps to protect the health and safety of its customers?! 🙃Instead the hotel went into full CYA(Cover your Ass) mode. 🙃
@Palladiumhotelgroup LITERALLY INSINUATED that we wanted the perv to enter our room and that we may have invited him over. ✅ Moral of the story. @PalladiumhotelgroupDOES NOT take the safety of their customers seriously. If you do opt to stay at any of their facility def. bring your own camera’s and hid your panties and bras. okkkkert.
👉🏾 Swipe to read email correspondence between grandpalladiumpuntacana and I.👈🏾
Please @ all travel pages and bloggers to SPREAD THE WORD. Your girl is def. SHOOKETH 🤯🙃 and we do not need this or something worse happening to anyone else at @palladiumhotelgroup ,PERIODT.
……#GrandPalladiumPuntaCana #GrandPalladium #AllINeed #Destination #PuntaCana #GrandPalladium #PuntaCana #VacationforReal #DominicanRepublic#Zentropia #hotel#WeddingsByPalladium#PalladiumRewards #OurWorldIsYourReward #metoo #FamilyResort #PalladiumHotelGroup #fitnessdaily #cardiologia #cardiotraining #gymmotivation #cardiotime #thewellnessevolution #bodybuilding #fitspo #fitnessmotivation #blm #monday #mondaymotivation #vacation #review
Black women, please speak up. Situations like these impact our mental health and perpetuate generational curses of masking pain and trauma for fear of being unseen and unheard. If we learned nothing from The Vagina Monologues and “My Short Skirt,” it should be the lesson not to blame women for assaults and acts committed against them, writing them off as “warranted or expected.” It is this very moment that we stand up as a sisterhood to expose injustices against women, particularly Women of Color and unmask offenders and their shelterers. We say “protect Black women,” yet our lives and safety are often swept under the rug and pushed aside.
According to the Grand Palladium Punta Cana website FAQs, your payment is protected, just not your life, as there is no policy ensuring safe accommodations:
WILL MY RESERVATION BE SAFE?
Palladium Hotel Group uses the most advanced security measures to ensure that your reservation is made in the safest way.
The site states “only adults” and “family friendly,” yet it’s giving “Only Fans:”
MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE CONCEPT “ONLY ADULTS” AND “FAMILY FRIENDLY.”
The concept of “family friendly” is aimed at offering activities and services for all ages, from babies to teenagers, with the aim of offering an unforgettable stay for all members of the family. Please check the hotel or resort that interests you, as the activities and services vary in each establishment.
MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE CONCEPT “ONLY ADULTS” AND “FAMILY FRIENDLY.”
The “adults only” concept offers a relaxing environment for those over 18 years of age, where adults can enjoy a holiday in peace and quiet.
Violation on another level. Aside from the lack of security cameras, the lack of identification verification at the concierge/front desk holds the resort liable for the occurrence, and management/marketing thought it would be a good customer service move offer complimentary stay in return. No; this is crisis-management mode, darlings! Thank God this group of women did not travel alone; however, where does it show upper management investigating, escalating to local authorities or tracking the incident to retrain staff, implement safety parameters and limit future occurances? Let’s also start with a full refund for the best practices lesson made at their expense.
Speaking with Cyd, the group of women, above all, want to ensure an alert is spread to ensure other women do not undergo a similar experience; but furthermore, that support isn’t shown to a corporation that does not value the lives of its patrons. She states, “When I say we are traumatized. I tell no lie.” She continues, “We would have like the hotel to lead with accountability for the lack of basic security and safety and then to actually conduct a transparent investigation to ensure this never happens again.” US, our sisters, our mothers… know that “Literally, if this can happens to a group of black educated women it can happen to anyone.”
Show your support and protect women globally, by sharing this post and notifying your local news outlet.