My bag disappeared from hotel bag check, what should I do?

Hotel Bag Missing: Steps to Take After a Lost Item at Check-In/Check-Out

This past weekend, my wife and I stayed at a mountain resort hotel in Canada for a convention. Upon checkout on Sunday morning, we left two bags at the hotel’s bag check in the lobby. The staff moved the bags to a secure bag-check room, placed a numbered tag on one bag, and gave me the matching numbered receipt.

Later that afternoon, when I returned to retrieve our belongings, one of the bags—the one with the numbered tag—was missing. Front desk staff cannot recall handing it to anyone, and they maintain that the bag check door was never left open. My best guess is either a coworker miscommunicated or someone exploited an oversight: someone may have grabbed a bag when the door was ajar, or a similarly looking bag was checked out by a different guest and the tags weren’t verified.

I asked the front desk to review security footage to determine what happened. I provided my contact information and filed a lost-and-found report with the hotel. I’m reaching out to this community for guidance: has anyone experienced a similar incident, and what additional steps should I take? If the hotel cannot locate or return my bag, what compensation might they owe? Would pursuing a small claims court case be appropriate? The bag contained several high-value items, bringing its total value well over CAD 1,000.

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated.