Pinching stuff from hotel rooms/villas

[Januaryisjustaweirdmonth]

Do you do it? Is it acceptable, is it illegal? I actually have no idea.
Would you take bath soaps/bubbles etc, loo rolls, towels, a robe?
Just curious really
I’ve always taken the little bottles/soaps with me when I’ve left somewhere I’ve stayed and thought nothing of it.
Do people take more though and is that illegal actually?

@Dummycrusher I have a serious tea addiction (I take my own on holidays outside the UK😶) If I run out, hotel tea bags save the day until I can get to the shop. My mum gives me ones she gets from hotels.

Useful for camping as they are individually wrapped, or for going abroad when I'm unsure what the quality of the tea will be like.

The decaf sachets are always useful if random visitors are caffeine free?

Exactly! My mil only drinks decaf coffee and I don’t drink coffee at all so don’t buy it, so if we’re away I bring the decaf sachets home.

He talkes the toilet roll and all the coffees? Why would he do that? What a turn off that would be for me in a partner. It's also embarrassing.

Ok, so, what if on the hotel guide/pamphlets thingy, it says ‘Complimentary toiletries’ but they are large bottles? One in each bathroom, they’re not fixed to the wall, just large bottles…would you take those?

That just means that you can take as much as you need/want whilst you're there - but not help yourself to the bottle itself. Just like you can use as much electricity as you need whilst you're there, but that doesn't mean you can attach a hidden extension lead via a hole drilled through the wall and come back for evermore to connect up all of your appliances in perpetuity.

Funnily enough having moved house last year and STILL unpacking … I appear to have a minu bottle of shampoo and body lotion from
every single hotel I’ve visited in the last 30 years. Scores of the buggers. Yes I do use them occasionally when I’m travelling with hang luggage but no one needs that many.

will package the unused ones into bundles for the fold bank. And stop collecting them!

Oh I forgot those. Yes my entire pen stash is pens from hotels or networking events!

I have taken the mini toiletries, the shower caps and sewing kit for future travel in the past. Now however I prefer to decent my own toiletries into travel sized bottles and take those, leaving the ones provided untouched.

I have taken the biscuits and the bottle of water for the car but as a rule we tend to drink the coffee/tea. The only things I've ever taken from the dining room/buffet are our unfinished mini jar of jam or honey as DH and I only ever have a little bit on toast so invariably there is three quarters of a jar left. I hate waste, and we use them up at home.

Anything else (robes, towels, loo rolls) - absolutely no way.

it's noticeable now that a lot of hotels only have shower gel etc in the larger bottles screwed to the wall. P&O are definitely doing this in their cabins rather than the small bottles of White Company toiletries they used to have.

I've worked in a hotel when much younger and funny enough the other people who worked there took home much much more stuff than the guests. I was pretty shocked actually.

I always fill my water bottle and coffee cup up at the breakfast buffet. Why not? It costs then pennies to provide, they don't care I've paid for the breakfast at a good profit and why would I then go and pay again later in the morning for another coffee? I've also been known to take a couple of coffee sachets which we keep at home for visitors as we don't drink instant at home and saves buying a massive jar which ends up going to waste.

Oh and nearly forgot. Whenever restaurants used to bring loads of sachets of tomato sauce or mayonnaise for kids (instead of in a little bowl) I used to keep any unopened and we used them for camping and day trip picnics. I actually see that as a good thing as I could guarentee 99% of the time when the table is cleared they will end up in the bin rather than being reused. It's common sense to me.

Congratulations on not being poor! And conflating it with being desperate or weird.

@mamma2013 just told DH about the filling up the flask wheeze and he agreed it was brilliant! Unfortunately quality of hotel coffee is usually so poor that I bring disposable filters with built in coffee to make our own, but we could use it for tea.

And we do the sachet thing for ketchup as well - only where it has already been provided - again great for camping.

Better for the environment as well than fiddly little bottles

I know what you mean about the sachets

He takes the toilet roll and all the coffees? Why would he do that? What a turn off that would be for me in a partner. It's also embarrassing.

As for why would he take the coffee… to use it at home, I guess?! I think we’ve established that you are allowed to have all the tea/coffee/sugar? It’s fair enough not to want to be bothered with those little sachets, but I think most people can work out why someone else might take them? Some people like to watch every single penny. That’s up to them, surely, unless they’re actually stealing something that isn’t included?

Why would someone really need to take all of the coffee, tea, sugar. All of it, really?

😂

Congratulations on not being poor!

When I was poor, I couldn't afford to stay in hotels to be able to steal anything. I think if you are able to stay in one, you can probably afford your own tea and coffee.

@Luredbyapomegranate Thanks for reminding me of @SavoirFlair's post. I noticed it on the first page and it made me think there should be a small prize for the first Mumsnetter on a thread to be appalled by Brits abroad. You'd think no other nations had intensely annoying citizens like the people who push in the taxi queue or do performative parenting on the beach when you are trying to quietly read your book.

These are the kind of people who think because they're practiced a few words from the phrase book and wear stripey tops from Mint Velvet they blend in with the locals like in Allo Allo.

Then you lack imagination @Dummycrusher

The hotel room I am in right now has a whole range of different Pukka teas; I may avail myself of any I don't consume.

I've been poor and also stayed in hotels (quite nice ones) on work trips. Not every hotel stay is a holiday.

I guess nobody needs to, but it doesn’t take a vast imagination to work out why they would want to.

Yes, you are correct. It doesn't take a vast imagination maybe for the more dishonest, greedy people among us for sure.