Yes, we also take the soaps, shampoos, lotions, etc. In the meantime I have become a collector of those little things and I will never use them.

We absolutely take them! My linen closet is overflowing with soaps, lotions, shampoos, etc. that we have collected over time. The best are the bars of soap at the Disney resorts. What a great idea to donate them. My husband is also obsessed with all pens and pads of paper in hotel rooms.

I always assumed (perhaps wrongly) that, like rolls left on the table, any unused toiletries were tossed by the cleaning staff. So, of course, I take them. Thanks to the others here for the idea of giving to a shelter.

I use the soaps in our spare bathroom for guest, then each guest always gets a fresh bar of soap.

Thank you Fodorites for once again proving that I'm not a total nut! LOL! The first thing I do when I get to a hotel room is pack up the tolietries. What do I do with them? I either keep them (especially the Neutrogena products), donate to a shelter or I give them to a co-worker (she sends packages of hotel tolietries to her husband's impoverished relatives in Jamaica).

I take them, keep some soaps for the guest bathroom, and donate the rest to a women's shelter.

My mother does the same for a soup kitchen she is involved in running; the recipients are so pleased to have items of their own as well as items with which to keep clean - total self esteem booster!

I too am laughing! At least I use what I need before taking the rest. My brother is the worst...he used to travel to Europe frequently, and each time he'd keep the little cloth case of overnight toiletrys (business class?). His closet is overflowing with these items! He really needs to donate them to a shelter. Personally, I like to keep the pens from the hotel.

I'm such a Yankee that the idea of waste is horrifying to me. So it always bothers me when the maid replaces a slightly used, open soap with a brand-new one.

But has anyone ever asked or seen what actually does happen to the things we don't lift and take home?

I take things I know I'll use but generally leave what I know would fill up my linen closet 'til the next move, when I'd just toss 'em. (And yes, this is a constant source of friction with MDH, who hoards hoards hoards.)

As a point of tight-fisted, hyper-morality, I don't think the hotels are in business to supply shelters with soap. But they _are_ in business to charge me three times the cost of a new dress just to change my sheets, so I do take the soaps and shampoos, etc.

To the last poster's question as to what hotels do with left over toilettries, Canadian Pacific Hotels (now called Fairmont) began an aggressive program 4 years ago and now reclaims over 80% of used soap which is sanitized and sent to shelters and the third world. This program, and many more environmental efforts, have led to many environmental awards. It started at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto and the lady who championed it is something of a local hero.

I haven't bought a bar of soap since 1966. or shampoo.

I also have tons of hotel towels - so thick and soft!! That biz started cuz I borrowed two suitcases from a friend who owned kitty-cats - unbeknownst to me, they slept there! gotta love cats, but not their hair on the black sweaters... anyway, I lined the insides with the hotel towels on the way home to avoid having to have my stuff dry cleaned again... (hey, for a one month stay they charged my room almost 10K - they can give up a few towels!)

and you oughta see my bathrobe collection!

A great use for the shower caps (besides the obvious) is to wear one while you are painting your ceiling. No more paint in your hair!

I gotta ask, since so many of you take this stuff to donate to worthy causes: are you sure that the hotels are throwing them away? I would hate to think that the big hotel chains raise their prices by $20 per night to compensate themselves for the loss of the little soaps! I'd happily pick up a package of soap to donate in return for not getting dinged in hotel prices!

I stayed in a motel that practiced the same policy. We had the ice bucket from the Ramada Inn up on the hill, the soap from the Quality Inn and I think the soap was from the Comfort Inn. The room also had a few velvet paintings on the wall, but it was clean and the room was huge.
P.S. Our wake up call was the train that passed directly behind the building at 7 am.

I have 3 strategies for hotel toiltries. 1. Soaps from resorts and posh hotels (if the wrapper or soap have the hotel name on it) go in a large decorative jar in my guest bath. 2. Twice a year my company collects all that we (the business travelers) have saved to give to the local women's shelter (The Spring). 3. I put several items in ziplock bags and keep the bags in my car to give to the homeless on the street corners. This might sound anal, but I am a trainer and I also include a marker so they can make a better sign.

Hey Mustangs81! Now I know how that little guy at the corner of Courtney Campbell and Memorial got such a nice looking sign.

I actually don't load up on hotel shampoos and soaps. I think it's because my mother was an overzealous collector of such things and I didn't want to get in the habit or start another useless collection. Also I'm faithful to my chosen shampoos and the hotel shampoos don't do it for me. I did take a few bars of soap recently just because I liked the smell of it, but that was probably the only time. What I do take - sewing kits and the stationery which I use all the time. Hmmm...I am a fanatic hand washer so I do like that idea of carrying the small bars of soaps around to use in unequipped public bathrooms. So maybe now I will starting taking them home....

Yes, I've been taking the shampoos, lotions, etc. for years..finally got my hubby to clean out his medicine cabinet of years of soaps..as a matter of fact I could write a travel story about each one..but they will go to a woman who does packages up for xmas at a shelter...which I think is the greatest idea..as is the sewing kits and shower caps...I bring my own toiletries.. Right now I have another huge bag full which I'm going to make sure my friend gets those shortly..

OK, I thought I was the only one who did this. I have a cabinet full of them.

The best are from the Metropolitan Hotel in London. Their soaps and shampoo,moisturiser and bath soak are all from Kiehls so they are actually worth something!!

Anybody wanna buy some bath soak?

I don't usually take anything home (I'm allergic and have to stick to unscented products), but once they had the most beautiful Gilchrist & Soames products (English Herb Soap, English Shell Soap, shampoo, conditioner, Camomile soap) in such pretty packages that I brought them all home and placed them in my bathroom in a basket lined with a gorgeous doily. I've been dusting them for years...

Who stops there? I haven't bought sheets for my double bed at home in years!