I've stayed in a Malmaison (thanks, Mom! )
Nice experience.
Nice toiletries.
No, I didn't take them.
My take on this thread: not about whether it's right or wrong to 'take' toiletries.
But how the hotel handled it.
The OP spent £500+ in the hotel for a weekend.
But the last point that sticks in her mind is the letter she got about two plastic bottles of used lotion and soap.
Everyone who worked hard to do his/her job, yes, she'll remember them.
Not as much as she remembers her embarassment at that letter.
Was it worth it to the hotel? For the plastic bottles?
Guess so, judging from the accusatory, defensive stock response I got when I raised my concerns about their 'policy'.
Fair enough.
Will my retiree parents or their pals be staying at Stratton?
Will my cousin the sous-concierge at a 5 star hotel in NYC or her colleagues?
No.
Because I showed them this thread.
This is a service industry. That's the bottom line.
This is an industry that relies on the good experience of its clients in order to progress and continue to profit.
And their actions show that they don't care about that experience.
Well, plenty of others do.