A mum has urged holidaymakers to lock their balcony doors - after a man 'crept into her family's hotel suite' in the middle of the night.<br /><br />Rachel Brown, 42, was dozing off on the last night of a week-long break in Vilamoura, Portugal, with her son, Jaxon, seven, when she saw the curtain twitch.<br /><br />A man snuck into her second floor room at five-star Epic Sana hotel, forcing her to wrestle him out and onto the balcony, she says.<br /><br />Rachel, from Halifax, West Yorkshire, said he climbed across two neighbours' balconies then jumped around 13ft to the ground below and ran off - after stealing her Apple watch in the fight.<br /><br />The man has not been caught and wasn't seen on CCTV and Rachel wants to warn holidaymakers to always lock the balcony door.<br /><br />Rachel, a managing director, said: "When I first saw the curtains twitching I thought a bird flew in - then a man appeared out of the curtains.<br /><br />"It was terrifying. I had a young child in the room, so my instinct was to get that person out the room.<br /><br />"I started pushing him and hitting him until he backed out of the room onto the balcony - then I began shouting for help.<br /><br />"After he ran off, I was so scared for the rest of the night that I blocked my door with a sun lounger."<br /><br />Rachel said she shut the balcony door but not locked it before the man crept in around 10.20PM on July 22.<br /><br />She wrongly assumed she would be safe because she was high up and they had a private balcony.<br /><br />The single mum said: "He was in his mid-twenties and about 5ft 8in, and was tanned with curly dark hair.<br /><br />"I instantly shouted him to 'f**k off' and began hitting and pushing him back out the room.<br /><br />"Before he climbed off my balcony he grabbed my arm and pulled off my Apple Watch." <br /><br />Rachel said security were sent up to her room but there was no CCTV and hotel staff didn't call police.<br /><br />Her Apple Watch was returned to her after it was found in the bushes nearby.<br /><br />She was unable to report the incident to police herself until she returned to the UK, as her flight home was that morning.<br /><br />She has since reported the incident to the Guardia Civil via email, and lodged a complaint with the hotel, because she said they failed to call the police on the night.<br /><br />She has asked for compensation from the hotel as she feels the incident "ruined the holiday" but an email from the hotel manager declined her request. <br /><br />Rachel says her son is "traumatised" - as his bedroom back at home also has a balcony.<br /><br />"Now I'm home my son makes me go into every room and onto the balcony before he can go in," she said.<br /><br />"I've been more cautious at home with making sure all the doors are fully locked and the alarms set.<br /><br />"But I'm disappointed with how the hotel has handled it - it could happen again to someone else."<br /><br />Rachel now wants to warn other travellers to ensure all doors are locked and to take reasonable precautions to stay safe.<br /><br />She said: "If you have to get someone out the room, be loud, and get people's attention.<br /><br />"If you're on the balcony, if you're loud, they wil
