Do you leave things in hotel room after departure for the maids to take if they want them?

I have a Sri Lankan connection and I know one of the things that is regularly sent are sanitary products - at times not even available and if so hugely expensive. I just did a check and this packet is roughly about a pound BUT when tied to local wages it is the equivalent of someone here on a 2000 pound a month salary paying 160 POUNDS for it.

A friend used to manage & clean some rental villas on behalf of the owners.
She never had to buy toiletries, fruit +veg & some other food for 8 months of the year. And a large amount of clothing went to the charity shops.

I'm not a regular hotel stayer so don't really have any experience of what I'd do, but it's irritating that people aren't reading the OP properly - she said UNused shampoo and toiletries, not half emptied.

I offer them to other guests.
I always leave a glass of small change with a thank you note, my DM used to leave the small change too.

It's not considered offensive if the hotel is in a developing country. For some people, that may be the only access to decent quality toiletries they have as their limited money simply can't stretch to anything like that.

I have an airbnb and it breaks my heart what people throw out Fresh fruits and veg. I love when people just leave the food in the fridge and the things there is nothing wrong with them me the maid/cleaner will happily take them into the house wash them and eat them. There is so much waste in the world. I love those half bottles of shampoo, deodorant etc. if you can’t take them home please people don’t bin them.

Forgot to mention, seconding @NewsdeskJC that all the shops and even supermarkets in hotel areas (eg Chelsea, South Ken, Mayfair in London for our hotel branches) are invariably obscenely overpriced, and staff have to shop there on a daily/weekly basis. I was financially ok renting and living in Zone 1, but this was way beyond that.

In the past I’ve given toiletries to the holiday reps as one of them told me she hardly had time to go shopping on changeover days……she was very grateful, even for half a bottle of shampoo, shower gel etc.

I used to work as a rep for Tui, many moons ago and maybe things have changed but the housekeeping used to collect the toiletries AND sanitary items. They (and me) regularly helped ourselves to the stash.

I don't think I have ever left anything in a hotel as I rarely have anything I don't want to take back home with me and if I'm somewhere with a tipping culture I'll just leave a tip.

However if I'm anywhere self-catering I will leave any unopened items we don't want in the fridge/on the counter on the assumption that cleaners may want them or can bin if they don't.

I've worked as a hotel cleaner when I was a student and also hate the word "maid".
Unless there was a note explicitly saying that an item was for the staff to take, I wouldn't have taken it, but put it in a lost and found.

Er no. I think you may mean well but it probably doesn’t translate as you think it does. I just see as yet more crap that they will be expected to throw away. Take your shit with you or dispose of it yourself.

Never thought about it. If I was the staff I wouldn't take anything in case the guest had forgotten it and returned to retrieve it. Do you leave a note?

When we went to Cuba it was mentioned that the cleaning staff would appreciate any unwanted toiletries, although that was 20 years ago so not sure if it's still the case. We left all our remaining currency as well.

In Cuba it would be appreciated as toiletries are expensive, so a tip for £5 would buy one small bottle of shampoo for example - so if you left a a fair bit it would be worth more in monetary value than leaving a cash tip

I was a cleaner in a hotel when I was 17 and had no money. Even then I wouldn't have dreamed of taking someone's leftover toiletries.

I usually ask the apartment neighbours if they want any of the toiletries/snacks/drinks on leaving day. If I haven’t seen anyone just leave these in a bag next to a tip for the cleaner.

These items are unopened or individually wrapped within multi-packs of course. I’d also wipe down and leave a half-full shampoo etc too.

This thread should be studied by anthropologists, it's amazing.

Half the posters are appalled at the idea of an open bottle of shampoo being fit for anything but the bin. The other half live in the real world.

I leave cash and any clothing/summer bags I wouldn't be using again. They can bin them if they want. I leave a thank you note too.

We leave unopened bits like coffee or biscuits in air bnbs and if they have bookshelves we will leave any books that we took and finished there. I wouldn’t leave opened stuff as it feels like you are leaving your leftovers that you can’t be bothered to bin.

We always tip.

I've done it on business trips when I've been given so many gifts by colleagues that I couldn't possibly bring them home. Things like packaged, sealed sweets and biscuits, unopened bottles of wine. I leave a note and tell them to take anything they want and dispose of the rest. Plus a bit of cash.

It depends where I am and how long I'm staying for. I don't tip in the UK or for one or two nights but I do tip somewhere like the US (where it's obviously expected) or if it's been a longer stay.

When I went to India the guide told us it would be appreciated if we left toiletries and the local children had our hotel toiletries, pens and school supplies.

Absolutely I do. I do make sure they are left dry and clean bottles etc though so if they do want them it's easy for them but equally not too much of a faff for them to throw them away.
In cape Verde there was a shelf for unwanted toiletries if you had forgotten sun cream etc you might be able to get something there.

Never done it at all.