- Local
- Community
- Journalism
Support the independent voice of Miami and help keep the future of New Times free.
Elizabeth Maneiro and two friends stepped out of her white 2008 Infiniti EX35 at the front entrance to the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. A valet handed her a ticket stamped 11:52 p.m. November 28. That was the last time the 38-year-old sales marketing associate saw her luxury SUV.
Two hours after Maneiro and her pals finished sipping drinks at the hotel's iridescent lobby bar, she handed the retrieval ticket to the valet counter clerk. An hour passed. "It was a busy night for them," Maneiro recalls. "They had, like, eight to ten valet runners out there. When I asked them about my car, the counter clerk told me they were still looking for it."
Then there was Elmi's revelation that one of the gates to the garage had been tampered with. "I told him he needed to call the cops," Maneiro says.
After Miami Beach Police arrived and she made a claim with the hotel's
insurer, she went home. The Fontainebleau paid for a locksmith to open
her apartment door and for a car rental, but Maneiro -- who three weeks
ago moved to Miami from Hackensack, New Jersey -- is still upset. "I
haven't slept," she says. "I valeted my car thinking it would be safe
with them."
Elmi referred Riptide's questions to the Fontainebleau's communication
director, Mabel Debunza, who confirmed the hotel lost Maneiro's car.
"This is an isolated incident," Debunza insists. "This has never
happened before. We are working with the police, and we are doing our
best to rectify this embarrassing situation."
Keep Miami New Times Free... Since we started Miami New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Miami, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Miami with no paywalls.
