Light hands @ hotels!?!

[BlacKnox]

I ran out of razors this morning & used a Bali Ritz Carlton job. Bought some razors this evening and couldn't help myself looking at the stockpile of razors, toothbrushes, soaps, shampoos... we've accumulated from throughout the world. My Japanese g/f believes that it's part of the tariff - to be honest now I also just automatically throw stuff in my bag. Is anyone else out there light handed @ hotels?

 

[Mal]

I'm not. Well, not intentionally!

Once managed to pack a wooden coathanger from one hotel into my bag, but that was because I brought some of my own as well, and when leaving grabbed the clothes still on hangers... oops one of theirs found it's way into my bag.

They never chased me up for it, and I havn't stayed there again since.

None of the hotels care about you taking their toiletries (that I know of). They are designed to be replaced. Nor do they care about the coffee and tea satchets etc. I suppose they just count it as the cost of doing business. One survey of room service staff I read said that a particular gender (to avoid being discriminatory, I won't say which) does it a lot more than the other...

One thing a lot of people like about the shampoo bottles etc is that they are the perfect size for travelling on short trips.

Other items (like bottle openers or bath robes, towels or their favourite - mini bar) they don't like being taken - and will actually charge you for them in a lot of cases if they find out you took them.

 

[BlacKnox]

Yeah Mal - forgot about the TEA!!! My g/f also liberally confiscates the stuff and my Mother loves the fact! Recently when visiting (the Mother ) she had tea from a different country every day - Monday - Taiwan, Tuesday - France, Wednesday - NZ, Thursday - Argentina etc etc etc etc...

 

[QF WP]

Ah, one of my favourite things to do...I have collected soaps, shampoo & conditioner, razors, nail files, tea, coffee and chocolate sachets...you see it in a hotel room, I collected (part of my tariff!!)

I have filled a 10 litre container. We use them for when family/friends come to stay in our spare bedroom ...it reminds them of being in a hotel room.

I'll never need any bathroom amenities again...

 

[NM]

I used to bring home the tioletries, but after a while I found they never got used and just took up space both in my baggage and at home. So now I use what I need while there and leave the rest.

I will sometimes take the decaff coffee sachets if I think I might want to use them somewhere else on the trip. I love my coffee, but if I want to sleep at night have to stick to the decaff after dinner. If an airline or restaurant can't provide decaff coffee, I will just ask for hot water and milk and pull out my own decaff sachet collected from a hotel room or similar.

 

[MetroAir]

I too have built up a veritable collection of hotel toiletries and found my spare bathroom was being overtaken by little bottles, razors, soap etc.

I now save up a years worth and give them to a Brisbane charity which makes up 'comfort packs' for homeless people.

At least someone gets to use them!

 

[thadocta]

I too have built up a veritable collection of hotel toiletries and found my spare bathroom was being overtaken by little bottles, razors, soap etc.

I now save up a years worth and give them to a Brisbane charity which makes up 'comfort packs' for homeless people.

At least someone gets to use them!

Absolutely FANTASTIC idea - have a stack of them myself (stuff, not homeless people, that is) - and have never thought of doing that. Will start immediately.

Dave

 

[arun]

I used to collect the toileteries and then stopped because it started accumulating. But I like both Lindsay's idea (using it for the guest room) and MetroAir's idea (of giving to a charity).

 

[BlacKnox]

MetroAir got me thinking - one man's trash is another's treasure...

Maybe someone, somewhere might be prepared to pay (perhaps auction fund-raising style) for collectibles from all of the great hotels of the world. I'm based in Japan, so not too practical to co-ordinate from here. But if someone in Oz is prepared to collect/ co-ordinate the collection/ presentation of premium hotel tidbits, I'd certainly be willing to mail any 4-seasons/ ritz-carlton/ peninsula etc stuff I have (following obligatory consultation with g/f). So, is this a worthwhile idea? Will other members support? :?:

 

[NM]

I have seen a lot of Qantas Business Class amenities packs auctioned on EBay over the past few years. So yes, people are willing to pay for such amenities.

 

[ksthommo]

What about those nice Qantas Club towels? Only need one more for a set

 

[Mal]

How do you get to keep the QF towels?

AFAIK, you need to hand over your boarding pass to them to get the towel, and then they return it when you return the towel.

 

[ksthommo]

Acquired one a while back in the Sydney International Lounge.
Back then didn't have to hand over your boarding pass, don't know
if it's still the same.

 

[oz_mark]

I used to 'collect' sample of the fine high quality bathroom amenities that you tend to find in hotel bath rooms, but like others I found it accumulated. Although I did find that compared to my ex wife I was quite restrained in what I took. I used to take the odd soap, or shampoo, but she would pretty much clean the bathroom out.

I still have an assortment of little plastic bottles with assorted brand names I have never heard of outside the hotel bathroom. Didn't feel like chucking them out, so the charity angle might be a good one.

At the end of the day, I think that the hotels just build it into the tariff, they expect the stuff to go. So much so that one hotel even gave me a presentation pack of their toileteries after checking in....

 

[Alan in CBR]

Acquired one a while back in the Sydney International Lounge.
Back then didn't have to hand over your boarding pass, don't know
if it's still the same.

It's still the same. They have a pile of plastic-wrapped towel sets and mini shampoo bottles in the corridor which leads to the showers. You grab one and find an empty shower cubicle.

 

[oz_mark]

I ran out of razors this morning & used a Bali Ritz Carlton job. Bought some razors this evening and couldn't help myself looking at the stockpile of razors, toothbrushes, soaps, shampoos... we've accumulated from throughout the world. My Japanese g/f believes that it's part of the tariff - to be honest now I also just automatically throw stuff in my bag. Is anyone else out there light handed @ hotels?

Holiday Inn have published a book about "borrowed" towels.

http://www.priorityclubpromotion.com/hi/towels/?WT.domain=www.holiday-inn.com&WT.vanity=towels