This has been an ongoing debate between my dad and I, sometimes so heated that we refuse to speak to each other for a whole 20 minutes. As strong as our relationship seems to be, sometimes I wish there was a hidden camera nearby when we have these silly arguments. We can not seem to agree on what’s appropriate to take home from a paid hotel room.
Without fail, we visited the argument yet again today, as we are preparing for our “Father’s Day Family Mattress Run” this upcoming Sunday. My crazy points family decided to book a total of 4 rooms this weekend at a local Country Inn & Suites to rack up nearly 200,000 Club Carlson points with Country Inn & Suites’ SOGO promotion.
All of us (and Kevin) plan on taking the two hour drive together in one car, checking in, and then checking out hours later without even spending the night. Via email, I half-jokingly (OK maybe I really was serious), told Dad that I would be raiding the 4 rooms of teas and bath products before checking out. His response was less than supportive: “not me, I have morals”.
Am I really that “immoral” for wanting to take home some of the products and teas from a room that I paid for? Jeez, that’s a harsh statement.
My argument: “If I’m staying at a hotel, I do not see anything wrong with taking home some of the in-room toiletries and trinkets. For instance, I love tea; I can not go a day without a cup or two. If the room I’m staying in is stocked with some high-quality teabags (especially Tazo, which we all know is somewhat expensive), I have no problem taking them with me. Same goes for travel-sized bath products; they’re good to have when I’m on the go, and the sizes are TSA friendly. Plus, they’re handy to have when guests stay with me at my apartment.”
Dad’s argument: “Not me, I have morals. Taking items home from a hotel stay is low, and you should be embarrassed of yourself; especially if you take home the pen, and the coffees and teas. The hotel will think you are super cheap and make note of it.”
As you can see, we fall at very opposite ends of the spectrum on this case. Granted, I have never taken home towels, sheets, or any other decor/furniture item from as hotel (people still do that?), but I sure as hell don’t feel guilty taking home some Tazo tea, pens, and good toiletry items.
Where do you stand? Feel free to comment below.
I’m with you. You are only taking what you paid for. It would be like walking into Macy’s, paying for a pair of jeans, and then walking out without the jeans you just paid for. If a hotel didn’t want you to take the toiletries, teas, etc. then they either would not put them in there to take, or they would charge for them.
Dear dad, from another dad.
My wife loves when I take the tea bags from a hotel. I paid for it in my room rate. Same goes for the other items. I find the memo pads the most useful. I stopped taking toiletries years ago. Most of them are low end, some heavily perfumed. FYI, every so often, I ask the front desk for a travel toothpaste.
Since we’re both dad’s, I’d cut the kid some slack. You may need the slack for bigger issues in the future, like debates on flying in coach vs first. ;)
Its part of what you pay for- they include it in the price so yes, i always leave with it all!
@ all…like a typical journalist, blogger, Angelina did not quote me correctly…My beef is with toilet paper, not pens or shampoos
@dhammer53- Happy father’s day…Slack?? paid for her college tuition etc…
@dad: you’re just angry that I’m beating you 3 to 0 with the comments… you also seem to have had tons of “beef” when you scolded me for taking the tea from the room in Chicago… old age is bringing short term memory?
@dad: I should have thought twice about the regional upgrade birthday gift I gave you…
wait, the argument is over taking the toilet paper? Forget the discussion of morals. Who wants really bad hotel-quality toilet paper?! :P
@Autolycus: Dad’s exaggerating so he could get more comments in his favor, LOL
I take the tea, the lotion, the soap, the shower caps, the pens, the notepads, and the extra roll of toilet paper in the cabinet. Feel free to see my blog titled: free pens
I also take pens from everywhere else. I can’t remember the last time I paid for a pen.
Angelina, my feeling is take what you want and quit egging on arguments between family members that you know will only cause strife. While you seem to enjoy the argument, it does not appear that Dad does. Time to get some maturity.
@Tiffany: LOL no wonder why we are friends
@Jon: Dad and I kid. We don’t have enough “beef” to cause some serious strife, LOL. Either way Dad +1.
@ Jon- No beef..Thanks for the vote..I owe you a beer!!
I think this topic has been covered in Friends!
I’m somewhere in the middle. I take all the partially used toiletries, since I know they throw them out after my stay which is incredibly wasteful.
As for unused toiletries or teas, etc., I will take them with me if I think there’s a chance I’ll like them better than what’s offered for free at the next night’s hotel. I’ll grab a Tazo tea but wouldn’t bother with a generic brand, for example.
I never take toilet paper or anything like that since I know 100% I’ll have that supplied at the next hotel and another full supply at home :)
Generally, I’ll take the toiletries if I like them. Some hotel chains use bath & body works toiletries and I’ll take a used on as a reminder to purchase these later on.
Also, like a previous commenter mentioned, hotel toiletries are usually a perfect size to easily get through TSA.
Most of the time, I leave the pads, unless I’ve been using one to keep notes for personal use or work.
I don’t take the teas or coffees, but occasionally will take an unused bottle of water for some preventative rehydration on the way to the airport.
=M=
I travel light, so I generally can’t spare the luggage space, but I have no moral qualms with taking consumables that are budgeted in to the price of my stay.
I’m with both sides. It depends on how much I really value it. The little toiletries bother me if they just pile up, but I do travel to family and friends who don’t have guest bathrooms stocked and ready. I consider whether I actually liked the products, how well they cleaned, the smell, whether they were easy to open, etc. The HR Maui’s Spa Moana toiletries smell a bit too much like coconut, but they have good memories and otherwise fit this list.
I actually splurge on buying tea from Fairmont ($30+ a box, but delicious), so the little coffee and tea packets hold no appeal. I think the most I ever stole were a couple bottles of tea and water from the fridge at an Andaz before checking out, but I was planning to do some sightseeing and wanted a drink.
Items like pens, paper, tea, soap, shampoo, even toilet paper etc are consumables and the hotel expects you to use them or take them so I see no problem with it.
I would have a problem taking towels, sheets or other non-consumable items that are normally reused.
I’m with you. It’s budgeted in the cost of the room. I’ll even go as far as (gasp!) taking a to-go granola bar from the Club lounge!
I take it all.
First class bag stuff, hotels, etc
I put it in a huge box when I come home.
Donate those quarterly. The place I donate to, sells them to pay for stuff kids need throughout the year.
I heard of this story from Jacky Chan. Just thought its good to do myself
I generally take it all, unless i’m short on bag space, or i just have too much stuff @ home (100+ nites @ marriots means tons of marriot stuff)
Talking with some hotel folks, they usually assume that they will have to restock all of the disposable stuff anyways… so we’re not’stealing’
I used to take the travel sized stuff. Shampoo, conditioner, lotion and razor anyway. I found it hugely valuable to have them in the bag in case the next hotel didn’t stock them. But then I got married. :)
I would like to thank you for the blog Angelina…now I finally know why I can never find a damn pen in the hotel room!!!
I was traveling back and forth to London for 8 month…when I would fly back home for the weekend, my wife would insist that I brought back as many pens as possible…Marriott pens were the gold standard, whereas Sheraton and Meridien pens were a waste of space.
Angelina,
I am totally with you on this one. I read your post and my mind drifted back to the late 80’s and the show Golden Girls when dorothy asked her mother Sophia how packing in their hotel room was going and she replied it would be a lot easier if she had a screwdriver. I have a few cupboard drawers of toiletries at home, but have never stooped so low that any of my linens are “courtesy” of Hilton or Hyatt.
What a peasant. Leave the stuff as is. That’s like me saying “I paid for a movie theater ticket, but I’m going to fart during the entire movie”.. Yes that is your right, but it’s just rude.
I travel often for work and use to leave the unopened toiletries in the room until two things happened:
1) I stay exclusively at Marriott properties, so I can only speak of my experience there – Upon leaving one time I noticed a bag of discarded toiletry items in a trash bag, most looked unopened. I inquired and was told that it was their policy to discard all remaining toiletries after the guest checked out, regardless if they were used or not, for safety and sanitary purposes.
2) A co-worker of mine volunteered at a women’s shelter and she let me know that she always takes the leftover toiletries to the shelter for the women. I began to take them for her to put to good use. I think a shelter is a far better than seeing them tossed out by housekeeping. I sense that for liability purposes the hotel probably cannot donate them, so I do it for them.
I am torn as well. I used to take all the toiletries, but recently I held myself back due to the “moral” thing as your dad had put it. Now I just take the things that are either high-end (like good smelling lotion) or something that I need for my upcoming trip (shower cap sometimes is becoming useful and one that you rarely found in hotel sometimes). I think getting everything might be a bit cheap and those things do piled up. I still have a stack of lotions I got from few years ago, that I couldnt finish using up to this moment.
Anyway, my point is make your own judgement. Take what you need (b/c you already paid for) and leave those of what you dont need (or will be needed).
Isn’t 50k bonus for Radisson, notCountry Inn ? I thought CI had SOGO promo for 15k?
I think it is OK to take small disposable/one-time-use amenities such as lotions, pads, shampoo etc. Generally these items are expected to be replaced and are factored into the room rates.
Along with what Chris said, many properties do have policies to discard ALL disposable amenities upon check-out whether they appeared to be opened or not mainly to ensure sanitary conditions for the next guest. Even so, I generally only take products with me if I feel as though I will use them.
I sometimes collect shampoos and soaps. When I get a bag full I pass them on to shelters to be distributed to the homeless.
I take the shampoos and lotions! I have a friend who collects them to take to the homeless veterans.
I am absolutely with you Ang. I paid for the hotel and those are mine. I do not feel bad to get them stocked. If those accessories are not included in the price let the hotels come up with two rates, ALL AMENITIES INCLUDED RATE & NOTHING BUT TOWELS RATE. Lol. I may sound like a nerd but there are places in Mexico where this is practiced. Even in Kerala India there are some home run properties where they charge to provide toiletries.
In this context I feel worth mentioning this post from millionmilesecrets,
http://millionmilesecrets.com/2012/01/10/stealing-hotel-toiletrie/
If we do not have the time to do that, may be once in 6 months we can ship those to someone who does that kind of work.
I personally save some for myself and donate the rest to the needy.
@LR: I don’t necessarily consider myself a peasant, nor do I find it rude considering that whatever amenities I take home does not affect the next guest. But to each their own in this case.
@Stargoldua: Yes, you’re correct its 44K for Country Inn and 50k for Radisson, which brings us to a base of 176K, but rather than do a complete breakdown of points (2,000 pt online booking bonus per room, + 50% stay bonus for having gold status and/or 25% bonus for silver), I kept it simple by saying nearly 200,000 :)
PS I definitely agree that you keep what you need and donate the rest. Personally, I put those free bars of soap to work by stocking Kevin’s bathroom with them. I can’t remember the last time I actually bought Dove or Dial LOL. At least he’s covered. As far shampoos and conditioners, I only keep them for myself if they are high end or a good product. Most hotel shampoos are “clarifying” and I’m sure my lady readers know that means that it just strips your hair of moisture (or color in my case), so I avoid those… I love when a room has a travel toothpaste handy, I can’t tell you how many times that has helped because for some reason, toothpaste is usually the most forgotten item for me.
I’d love to start donating, so if anyone who has previously donated can provide me with information as to where to send them, I’d greatly appreciate it. It bothers me that hotels must discard what’s unused, but I do understand it from their sanitary/liability standpoint as well. I’m about to go on a tangent now, but when I work on film/TV sets, I’ve seen the caterers throw out dozens of trays of unused food (lobsters, steaks, salmon, you name it). It brings chills to my spine that they can not donate it because of liability reasons…
Anyway, I will continue to take what is in my room, but instead of keeping what I need and giving the surplus to my friends and family, I’ll donate the excess to those in need.
PS- I loved Million Mile Secret’s post about this topic as well – it was very inspiring.
You can donate to multiple orgs in your area – homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters all accept toiletries. Also places that offer stays for families with long term hospital stays (think Ronald McDonald houses near children’s hospitals, Fisher Houses near Vet/military facilities)
I do take some teas often, but I feel guilty if I take more than a few.
The hotel isn’t expecting you to take ALL of them. They just put several out to offer you a selection. Unused ones aren’t thrown away; they remain.
They’re being generous with their selection. I hate to penalize them for that by grabbing the whole stash.
I take the toiletries and the coffee/tea to donate to the troops (We have a donation box at the office and a lot of travelers) since I usually bring my own preferred stuff with me.
I think it’s ok to take the branded item that have the hotel name on them like the pen and soap. But you know you’ve crossed the line when you start taking the toilet paper or towels.
My mom gave me a disapproving frown when I took a box of Kleenex from my hotel room. In their mind it’s perfectly fine to use those products while you are a guest at the hotel. But going the next step and taking them home with you is where they draw the line. Their mindset is different than ours, taking hotel bath products home with you is almost the same as taking them from a friend’s house after spending the night there. It’s just wrong/improper.
In the end I’m with Angelina, the times have changed and this type of behavior is normal, even expected from hotel patrons. But! I whole heartedly believe that the older generations (my parents are 65 now) in general are much more respectful, polite, and grateful in all aspects. Nowadays people are always demanding and expecting more and we take so much for granted.
I digress… I draw the line at pens and notepads. How many pens do you actually use that you need to take another from the hotel? Isn’t everything done on the computer now anyway? Secondly, those actually do get re-used for future hotel guests.
I have worked as an event planner for several years and have been given the rundown several times by my colleagues at the properties that I have worked with.
Soap, shampoo, lotions, coffees, teas (if available), basically any of their branded items – not only do they NOT care that you take these, they LOVE it. It is basically free advertising to them. May properties (depending on the quality of the cleaning staff) will just through these out once a guest leaves. The per room cost is just not worth it to them.
Additionally, other items (dental floss, tissues, extra toilet paper, Advil – all the stuff that most hotels will keep behind the front desk) they are also happy to give away. But from a cost perspective, they don’t give these items out to everyone, only if you ask. I always do!
What you cannot take is any large items or anything bolted down, pictures, shower curtains, sheets, towels or robes. They find these items missing they will charge you. You’d be surprised by how many people try.
Not a issue you’ve paid for them in with the cost of the room
I take my little toiletries and put one of each type in little ziploc bags. I keep them in the car and give them to the homeless people that stand by the side of the road with help me signs. I also add the little pkg of nuts or granola bars you get on the airplane. They always seem to appreciate them. You can’t buy toiletries with food stamps