ronjrich

My wife and I have been disagreeing about this topic and so I wanted to ask other readers what they think... when staying at a 4 star or 5 star hotel, is it acceptable to take the little bottles of shampoo and the various soaps provided in your room on a daily basis? We recently stayed at a 5 star hotel and loved the shampoo, conditioner, soap and body lotion and she wanted to take our supply each day (we stayed for 5 days), insisting that the hotel expects you to do this and that they consider it a gift with your room each day. I was skeptical and think that a hotel does not expect everyone to pocket their toiletries... any thoughts out there? Any employees or managers care to shed some light on this topic?

nytraveler

I usually take the opportunity to try the samples unless I know its a brand I don;t like. And if I especially like them I take any leftover samples for my travel bag. That's why they're there.

jamierin

I'm with your wife on this one.


P.S If you like the stuff, make sure that you put it in your bag every day or else they won't replace it!

iceeu2

I'm with the wife and I agree with jamierin...if you like the stuff, stowe it away so they will leave you more.

alya

As a guest, I've always figured that the samples are part of the room charge that they are there for the taking.
Since they usually last for more than one day, I use the opened ones and generally pocket the unused ones. The way I see it is that is a good advertisment for Aveda - or whoever - and the more time I have to try the product the more likely I am to buy it in the future.

Now, flowers in the room I would consider a gift - not toiletries

alya

P.S

I'd leave the flowers!

Patrick

This morning my mom won bingo at her "nursing home". She was given a gift bag. I looked in -- tiny bottles of shampoos and conditioner marked Holiday Inn, Best Western, and Hilton. There were two miniture bars of Cashmere Bouquet too. Obviously you're not alone in taking your daily samples, but I thought this was a clever use of "recycling".

rapunzll

I usually take the shampoo and conditioner, but I make soap so I leave that behind. Hotel soap is no where near as good as my own handmade soap!

alya

Patrick

My Husband has a co-worker who collects the samples throughout the year and at her Christmas party hands them out in cute gift bags to friends/family who love the tradition.
Personally I put them en-masse in a nice bag in our guest room so if any of our visitors are short of toiletries they can help themselves.

happytrailstoyou

I collect the soap and use it as hand soap at home. And, others are right, if you don't put the soap away the housekeeper usually won't give new ones.

Grasshopper

My mom collects them for homeless and abused women shelters.

HowardR

Grasshopper beat me to the punch. These items are very welcome at shelters.
And, yes, you can take these amenities with a clear conscience.Yep, ronjrich, your wife is right on this one.

seetheworld

The educational institution that I am affiliated with collects soaps and shampoos for the women's prison and local shelter. And every now and again they come in handy at home when someone forgets to go shopping!

alya

Ok, ronjrich
the latest vote (including your wife) is 10-1, Not sure about Patricks' take on this. So, the question is do you give in? And, Will you allow her in the future to take toiletries without making her feel guilty?

rkkwan

I wait until the housecleaning staff isn't looking, and take from the cart a whole bunch of shampoo, soap, pens, notepads, TV guides, as well as rolls of toilet paper!

Nah, just kidding. I do take the shampoo/conditioner if it's one that I like. For example, the ginger-shampoo at Westins? Absolutely.

owa

ronjrich, I need your reluctance to take the shampoo and soap to rub off on my husband. He travels a lot, and can't leave anything behind. We recently moved to another house which resulted in my begging him to please not bring anymore home when I had to box all those litle items. I called homeless shelters, Ronald McDonald House, etc., but they all said they also were overloaded. I have now taken another approach with him--I'm going to throw them away. We are 65 and have enough soap for another 65 years! Anyone with another solution? Owa

Wildflower

We always took samples home for our neigbors who are not able to travel but love all those little things. You should see an expression on the face of 6 year old when she received a small bag of samples after each of our trips. She created some kind of games and played with them for weeks. She knows where each sample comes from and asked questions about these places. The biggest joy to us was to answer her questions about Africa when she was only four year old and then we had to show her on a map where Kenya and Seychelles are located. Two years ago we got her a giant map for her room and now she has every place marked where all samples come from. So these little samples could be a great educational tool as well. At least for that special little girl in the Adirondacks who told us that one day she will go to all the places we traveled to and bring her own shampoo and soap.

Owa, be creative. Please find a place or a person who is going to appreciate these items. How about someone who runs a day care center and uses soaps for kids to wash their hands. How about giving them to a school bus driver who will give them to kids on the way out. I would check school policy first. But I know one driver who gave kids hard candies. These are just two ideas but if you read all the above posts you get more.

Anonymous

ron, technically you are right, "The hotel does not expect everyone to pocket their toiletries." BUT the toiletries in your room are yours to use as you wish; they are not something the hotel is going to recycle, like the towels. So I must agree with the consensus: Take them if you have any use for them at all.

Wednesday

I admit, I do take them daily if it is a brand/scent that I like...I ended up with several bars from a hotel in Jamaica (the soap was English) and now when I use it I am reminded of the trip...

Rhea

For Owa:

In my community, items are collected
by the local bugle for our boys overseas.

I also volunteer @ a thrift shop & we
package 'em up (shampoo, conditoner, body & face lotion & cute individual soaps, etc.) in Saran-type decorated paper w/a ribbon & tag
w/a very nominal price for those less
fortunate who can then purchase a
"indulge-me package".