Five men wearing ski masks robbed the Best Western in New Iberia Thursday, stealing hundreds of dollars from a front desk clerk and a guest before locking them in a bathroom, the authorities said.

The early morning robbery appeared to be well organized, the hotel’s manager said. Armed with handguns, the suspects reportedly barged into the hotel about 4:30 a.m. — after security had gone home for the night.

Some of the men entered the lobby through the front doors while others came in from the back, said Ann Haynes, the hotel’s general manager.

This Best Western in New Iberia was robbed by five men wearing ski masks Thursday. - Jim Mustian / The Daily Iberian Advertisement

“(One victim) said they seemed to know exactly what they were doing,” Haynes said.

Both of the entrances were unlocked, and Haynes said the robbery prompted the hotel to re-evaluate its security. She said the security guard would stay on duty through the morning hours beginning Thursday night.

Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office officials obtained surveillance footage of the suspects, though it was not clear whether it would be useful in identifying the suspects. Haynes said the victims could only make out the eyes of the men through the ski masks.

One of the victims, a man Haynes said had just returned from Iraq, was working at a computer in the lobby when the men came in pointing their handguns. The men took several hundred dollars from his wallet, said Capt. Wendell Raborn, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman. They also demanded money from the cash register.

Raborn would not say how much was taken from the hotel — he called the amount “substantial” — but Haynes said 85 rooms were occupied that night, though many paid with credit card. The robbers forced the clerk and the guest to a bathroom, told them not to leave and locked them in, authorities said.

Before leaving, they apparently yanked the phone lines from their sockets and removed the wires to credit card machines.

Haynes said the guest somehow managed to escape from the bathroom and surveyed the scene before telling the clerk it was clear to come out. They telephoned the authorities and deputies responded to the hotel on Louisiana 14 about 4:45 a.m., Raborn said.

Investigators dusted for fingerprints and reviewed the surveillance footage. Raborn said the men could have driven away in a gray Buick spotted near the hotel around the time of the robbery.

Haynes said the guest checked out of the hotel Thursday morning. The clerk, she said, is “shaken up” but plans to return to work right away.

The Sheriff’s Office is looking for five black men in connection with the robbery.

Anyone with information about the alleged crime is asked to call 369-3711.