ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

A cleaner working at the Ritz hotel in Paris apparently managed to vacuum up a ring worth €750,000 with a vacuum cleaner, it emerged this month.

The owner, a Malaysian businesswoman and guest at the hotel, told police that she had left the ring on a table in her room before going out shopping in the city for a few hours. And when she returned, it was gone.

The woman suspected that an employee had stolen it and consequently filed a complaint. Police arrived to investigate while hotel staff followed up all leads. And the ring was eventually found among the dust and detritus in one of the hotel's vacuum cleaners.

The owner was delighted by the news, according to a Ritz spokesperson. "The ring was found thanks to the meticulous work of security guards," they said. "We would like to thank the staff at the Ritz Paris who mobilised this search and who work each day with integrity and professionalism."

The businesswoman was offered three free nights at the hotel to compensate for the inconvenience, though it is understood she has not taken the Ritz up on their offer.

This was not the first time that the Ritz Paris has been associated with missing jewellery. A member of the Saudi royal family reported the theft of jewels worth €800,000 from her suite in 2018, while a few months earlier armed thieves made off with more than €4 million worth of jewels from a display in the hotel's window.