Room 315, fast food: What Bondi terrorists did in Philippines hotel for a month

Room number 315 in Davao city in the Philippines is where the Bondi Beach terrorists spent nearly a month. The father-son duo spent most of the time in GV Hotel's sparsely furnished room, which had two single beds, a TV and a basic toilet. Sajid Akram and his son Naveed rarely spoke to the staff, according to several media outlets that spoke to the staff of the budget hotel in the Philippines. The staff recalled a quiet routine, with the two venturing out at at the most for two hours.

Immigration authorities have confirmed that Naveed and Sajid Akram travelled to the Philippines on November 1 and left on November 28, only weeks before the Bondi Beach attack. Investigators believe the father and son stayed in Davao, the largest city on the island of Mindanao, where Islamist militant groups, including Islamic State East Asia (ISEA), have had a presence.

Philippine Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said in a statement: "A mere visit does not support allegations of terrorist training, and the duration of their stay would not have allowed for any meaningful or structured training." He added that the presence of the ISEA had been heavily degraded after the 2017 siege of Marawi, with only 50 militants estimated to be active fronm its peak of 1257 members in 2016, and that there have been no recorded terrorist training by IS-affiliated groups since.

Employees of the GV Hotel said that the two men checked into a small budget property in downtown Davao close to city hall and a police station and remained there for the entirety of their stay. The room was booked on November 1 when the pair walked in and paid in cash.

Staff said the men stayed holed up in room 315, a sparsely furnished space with two single beds, a television and a basic bathroom costing about 930 pesos or roughly 24 dollars a night.

"The suspects did not leave the city as they were in their room the whole 27 days," hotel manager Jenelyn Sayson said, adding that, "the longest they left the hotel is between one and two hours." Employees said they were seen entering and exiting the hotel daily and never appeared to leave the city.

The hotel did not take copies of their passports as this was not required and staff said receipts were no longer available. CCTV footage from the period was also unavailable because the system operates on a seven-day loop and recordings from November had already been overwritten when police arrived.

Whenever the pair stepped out, staff noticed the father almost always wore sunglasses. Even so, employees said the men did not raise suspicion at the time. They kept to themselves and avoided conversation with staff and other guests. Housekeeping staff later found little evidence of activity inside the room beyond rubbish from fast food restaurants, according to local media reports. At one point, the younger man reportedly asked staff where he could buy a durian.

"They were not approachable," staff member Angelica said. "A lot of people come here and talk to me at the front desk, but they did not." Angelica later recognised the men after seeing news and social media coverage of the attack. She said she searched online and quickly identified them in TikTok videos.

- Ends