Bondi Beach gunmen spent November holed up in tiny hotel room in Philippines, local staff say
In short:
Alleged terrorists Naveed and Sajid Akram spent almost a month holed up in a small hotel room in a city in the southern Philippines in the lead-up to the attack, local staff have said.
Hotel staff showed the ABC through the room they say the father and son stayed in, which consisted of two single beds, a TV and a basic bathroom.
The hotel is in downtown Davao, the biggest city on the island of Mindanao, a region that has been challenged by Islamic extremism.
The Bondi Beach gunmen spent most of their November trip to the Philippines in a small hotel in the city of Davao and barely left their room, local staff told the ABC.
Earlier this week, immigration officials revealed the father–son terror suspects, Naveed and Sajid Akram, travelled to the Philippines on November 1 and departed on November 28, just weeks before the attack.
It was believed they travelled to Davao, the biggest city on the island of Mindanao, a region that has been challenged by Islamic extremism.
Staff at the GV Hotel, right near Davao's city hall, told the ABC the two gunmen stayed there for the entire time.
The GV Hotel is in downtown Davao, near the city hall and the police station. (ABC News: Haidarr Jones)
They said the room was booked on November 1, when the pair walked in.
A copy of Naveed and Sajid Akram's passports was not taken because it was not required to book a room at this hotel, the staff member said.
The hotel is cash-only and staff said they did not have their copy of the receipt still on the premises.
Staff said that CCTV had been seized by police but their system was on a seven-day loop, with vision from November already overwritten.
Suspects only left hotel for a few hours a day, staff said
Naveed and Sajid Akram spent most of their time in Davao inside the hotel, two staff members told the ABC.
"The suspects did not leave the city as they were in their room the whole 27 days," the hotel's manager, Jenelyn, said.
"The longest they left the hotel is between one to two hours."
Staff said the Akrams only left the hotel for one to two hours a day. (ABC News: Haidarr Jones)
She said she did not believe the pair ever left the city, because staff "saw them going in and out of the hotel every day".
Staff showed the ABC the hotel room that they said the alleged murderers stayed in.
It was a simply furnished small room with two single beds, a TV and a basic bathroom.
Hotel staff said the pair stayed in room 315. (ABC News: Haidarr Jones)
The room costs 930 pesos, or $24 per night.
Whenever the pair went outside, staff noticed the father would always wear sunglasses, the manager said.
"They didn't look suspicious," a staff member, Angelica, said.
"They weren't approachable, a lot of people who come here come and talk to me at the front desk, but they didn't."
Hotel staff member Angelica, 20, said the Akrams barely talked to her. (ABC News: Haidarr Jones)
Staff recognised shooters in TikTok videos
Angelica recounted finding out about the attack.
"On Monday, my manager told me, 'You remember Naveed Akram?' And I said, 'Yes, ma'am, why?'
"'They are wanted,' she said.
"I searched it on Google and TikTok … I recognised them."
The hotel only accepts cash and no longer has the receipt from the gunmen's stay. (ABC News: Haidarr Jones)
Local media reported that the only items housekeeping staff found while the Akrams were staying there were "rubbish from fast food restaurants".
At one point, MindaNews reported, the son asked staff where he could buy a durian.