Dubai: Emiratis who live part time in London say their heart goes out to the family that was attacked in a London hotel early Sunday.

But their heartfelt wishes for full recovery for three sisters pummelled by a hammer-wielding intruder who exacted violence with no apparent motive is tempered with advice based upon their experiences of living abroad away from the safer family culture of the United Arab Emirates.

Emiratis told Gulf News in interviews on Tuesday that it can be easy to simply forget that other big cities around the world do not enjoy the safety of UAE cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi where violent crime in a person’s home by strangers is rare.

Residents from the UAE living abroad sometimes forget that locking the front door leading into a flat or home -- a practice that is not common in the UAE -- is customary in Europe to guard against home invasions.

Emirati Reaction

“I’ve been staying at the Cumberland Hotel every time I stay at London, which has been since 1997. I was there a few months ago and was not happy with the security there, as a friend of mine walked up to my room at 8pm, and the front desk did not ask her any questions,” said Nahla Fadhlani.

Since this tragic incident, Nahla has no intention of staying in that hotel again because of its “bad energy.”

“Even though I’ll avoid that hotel, its not going to change the fact that accidents like this can still happen at any other hotel. Our behaviour needs to be changed and people from the Gulf have to be more careful when opening the door to people you don’t know, or waving around a bunch of bank notes and showing off your materialistic possessions. We don’t realise when we do such things, but it attracts the wrong kind of attention,” she said.

Noora Abdul Rahman, 28, has changed her holiday plans and has started looking to other destinations in Europe as she no longer wants to go to her usual holiday destination in London.

“I wanted to travel somewhere with my sister but after this violent incident, I won’t feel comfortable staying in a hotel room without my brothers around.”