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Original poster

What is it about hotels that turn us into kleptomaniacs?

127 replies

BabychamSocialist · 15/02/2017 14:21

I'm convinced something happens to us when we enter hotels that means we have to take absolutely everything that isn't nailed down. I know someone who works as a concierge for a big fancy hotel and he says that a maid leaving the trolley in the corridor is basically inviting you to stuff your pockets with as much as you can before they come back.

OP posts:
Parker231 · 18/02/2017 13:22

Everyone please do bring the mini toiletries back from your holidays or work trips - donate them to your local food bank or homeless shelter. They will be very gratefully received.

Iamastonished · 18/02/2017 13:58

I will start doing that Parker

Bluntness100 · 18/02/2017 14:04

The homeless shelter is a good idea.

I used to take th really nice toiletries and leave them in a small wicker basket in the spare room for over night guests to use, but no one ever did, they just used the main ones in the bathroom, so I stopped as they just collected dust. 😂

DeterminedToChange · 18/02/2017 14:07

Wouldn't homeless shelters etc prefer a normal block of soap? Those little ones aren't really worth having. You can get a pack of four soaps for £1 - why not donate that instead?

paxillin · 18/02/2017 14:28

Agree, you're not really donating them to the homeless shelter, either, you're just making a business donate them instead. Just buy some shampoo for the homeless shelter donation.

Parker231 · 18/02/2017 14:45

DeterminedToChange - I donate food weekly to my local food bank (just add a couple of items to the weekly shop) but my mum volunteers at the local homeless shelter where they provide showers to homeless people and they provide each person with shampoo and soap or shower gel. The individual minis are ideal for this. When they don't get enough donations of toiletries the shelter buys them but this money they could have spent on providing hot meals.

DeterminedToChange · 18/02/2017 14:50

But basically you're depriving the hotel of them and donating them to the charity, so you get the kudos for the donation, when really they were taken from their owner!

I would think that donating £1 worth of soap in four big bars would be much better than just donating the odd tiny bar of hotel soap.

KondosSecretJunkRoom · 18/02/2017 15:05

Surely a closer analogy would be regiftng an unwanted item to charity (presuming the stuff was in your room for your own use and you hadn't ram-raided the cleaning trolley).

Parker231 · 18/02/2017 15:05

As others have said previously the cost of toiletries is included within the hotel rate so they have not been taken from the owner - you're making it sound like theft! I work away from home about 10 days a month and always bring the hotel toiletries home (nothing taken from the trolley!). The homeless shelter have said the soap, shower gel and shampoo from hotels is ideal.

SecretNutellaFix · 18/02/2017 15:23

I know someone who bragged quite a lot about taking stuff from hotel rooms when she went on her honeymoon.

Then three weeks later exploding in anger when she recieved a letter from the hotel asking for the return of the dressing gowns and towels her and her DH had taken.

She asked what she should do- so I pointed out she cold either post them back or pay the fee the hotel was demanding for them.
"I saw I could buy them when I was there, but it was too expensive so I thought I'd take them instead. and they were much cheaper than these prices!"
I laughed and told her to make her mind up. She paid up. :D

She was a loatsome toad and lied about everything as well. I was very glad when I stopped working with her.

Madbengalmum · 18/02/2017 15:32

Those saying they dont want the toiletry freebies because they are not worth having, may i suggest staying in a different hotel! Over the last year we have had Elemis, Bvlgari, le labo, Aqua di parma and molton brown at hotels, so definately worth having. We have been actively encouraged to take them also. However, the best ever, never to be beaten was the full sized Hermes perfume,body lotion,shampoos, soaps,shower gel, deodorant etc worth £££'s, which again we were told to take.
You pay for these things in the room rate, so why not?
Taking from the trolley, well, that is questionable!

brasty · 18/02/2017 15:43

I stay in cheap hotels, and get cheap toiletries, I still take them.

NotCitrus · 18/02/2017 15:43

Lovely mini toiletries are wonderful after going swimming! Also I only really use moisturiser after a swim.

I used to take the mini coffee/tea sachets and biscuits to work - seeing as we got banned from ordering drinks for visitors, ensuring people who had travelled for hours to a meeting had a drink all came out of our own pockets. Biscuits obviously went to work too.

Rhayader · 18/02/2017 15:50

With the toiletries is think there is a bit of "well I could have used this..."

I wasn't aware people steal towels etc, I accidentally stole a pillowcase for a baby pillow as DH just shoved a load of things into a suitcase and it was on the side. I'm not sure why they provided so many things to put in the cot for an 8 month old! My 3 year old doesn't even have a pillow yet :s

Iamastonished · 18/02/2017 16:15

"Surely a closer analogy would be regiftng an unwanted item to charity"

I did that this year with unwanted toiletries that I had won in tombolas at various Christmas fairs.

"Those saying they don't want the toiletry freebies because they are not worth having, may i suggest staying in a different hotel!"

And may I suggest that you pay for my hotel stay Hmm. What a ridiculous statement!

Madbengalmum · 18/02/2017 16:18

Iamastonished, it is only as ridiculous as proclaiming that the toiletries arent worth having. Rather a sweeping statement dont you think?

Iamastonished · 18/02/2017 16:27

Not really, no. Generally the more upmarket hotels have more upmarket toiletries. We don't stay in expensive hotels because when we visit family the ones near our families are pubs that do bed and breakfast, not posh boutique hotels. We also don't have the finances to fund a stay in an upmarket hotel.

Having said that the cottage we stayed in last summer had Molton Brown toiletries in, so I finally got to find out what all the fuss was about.

What sort of hotels do you stay in that provide such nice toiletries?

Madbengalmum · 18/02/2017 16:33

Very nice ones! The comment was aimed at the generalisation mentioned earlier, that toiletries in hotels were not worth having. I say they are, In my experience they are worth having. It is not dig at anyone.

BrowsOnFleek · 18/02/2017 17:43

I always steal the tea bags from hiltons - they're green/fruit teas and individuals wrapped in all kind of flavours so perfect to throw in my handbag for work.

Also stole This Works pillow spray & lavender oil from a crowne plaza as I was so excited by it! I don't rate the tiny shower gels etc so tend to leave them!

semanwen · 18/02/2017 17:49

Everyone please do bring the mini toiletries back from your holidays or work trips - donate them to your local food bank or homeless shelter. They will be very gratefully received.

Why- it is very un environmentally friendly. We should be using as few small bottles as possible.

Buy full size toiletries and donate. I give to a big shelter- they say they want big bottles not travel as the guests use more than 1 bottle at a time.

semanwen · 18/02/2017 17:56

Those saying they dont want the toiletry freebies because they are not worth having, may i suggest staying in a different hotel!

No. I virtually live in a 5 star London hotel at the moment. MB is their cheap range and if you ask you can have any. The RC do aqua di parma, four seasons l'occitane, most UAE Bulgari etc I spend 200 days a year plus in hotels - usually in high end hotels.

I use penhaligons at home (which a few hotels have but not the range I use) and my DH and DS use aqua di parma.

I don't need to take a £3 mini bottle worth of molton brown home with me and I think that you find that is the case with most people who stay in high end hotels. If I want MB then I would just buy it.

Imagine If it was to leak in my case it would cause thousands of pounds of damage- not worth it.

winniewigs · 18/02/2017 18:00

My dm and her friend stayed in a posh hotel at Disney world, and dm's friend had a little rubber duck in the bathroom. She asked my dm if she had a rubber duck in her bathroom, dm said no. Her friend, being American, complained to the hotel staff about dm's lack of rubber duck. When dm came back to her room, the bathroom was full of tiny Disney rubber ducks. Dm brought about 12 home with her. They weren't even travelling with any children.

MiaowTheCat · 18/02/2017 18:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RubbishMantra · 18/02/2017 18:18

The nicest and most expensive hotel I stayed in had Asprey toiletries. They were shite though. Stripped my hair into a knotty birds nest. Kept the floofy slippers though, which were replaced on a daily basis.

Madbengalmum · 19/02/2017 10:14

Semenwen, of course you dont NEED to take it home. We are not talking about need. You are not the only person who stays in lots of nice hotels!

And getting on your high horse, and trying to say that it is beneath you to take something home you paid for, when it will only be thrown away and wasted. Well then i have nothing more to say, only that you shouldnt cast aspersions.