There seemed to be a time whenever I was a guest at the homes of other people where I would be given a terry cloth towel with the words Holiday Inn embossed on it or embroidered into it.
In the years in which I have traveled, I never took a towel home from a hotel property. Amenities such as shampoo or soap, sure — but not towels or robes or carpeting or sink fixtures or sprinkler systems or a grand piano, for that matter.
Apparently theft of items has become an issue with one hotel chain based in Australia called QT Hotels & Resorts, where supposedly accommodation is anything but ordinary…
…and its policies seem to be anything but ordinary as well.
As a guest in a room at a QT Hotels & Resorts property, you will find — amongst other items — a menu of room items on the desk called Desire, according to this article at news.com.au.
Want that eye mask? That will be nine dollars, please. At $175.00, the robe is a steal. A shoe horn will set you back ten dollars.
After reading this article pertaining to glasses in a hotel room which are likely to have not been cleaned properly, I am not sure who would want to take them — but count on a dent of $14.00 in your wallet or purse if you do.
I do not understand where the mentality to take items from hotel rooms emanated. Is it the desire to have a free souvenir from the trip? Was it how hotel properties were marketed at one time? What exactly are the 17 items you can supposedly take from a hotel?
For me, the amenities a hotel offers are invaluable to me for use during a trip. The fewer items I can carry with me, the better; and the lighter is my bag in order to carry it, the better. With the restrictions on traveling with liquids in place for years as a security precaution so that someone cannot create an explosive device during a flight, gone have been the days when you can carry that huge bottle of shampoo from home — not that I would tote one that size anyway…
…so it stands to reason that I would not want to take something bulky like a coat hanger. Besides, who knows what was on that coat hanger before I came along. As it is, I sometimes hesitate to use the coat hangers anyway; so why would I want to take them? Why would anyone take a coat hanger?
I have been in some hotel rooms were some items were anchored down to the surface and could not be moved — let alone removed. What do I have to do — move the night table next to the bed so that the bolted-down alarm clock can be in the right position for me?
Actually, no — the night table would be anchored as well. Never mind.
Anyway, it is nice to know that if I need a razor to shave or a small tube of toothpaste that I can usually get one free of charge at the hotel property at where I am staying; although I am sure that it can be argued that we all pay for those amenities anyway as part of the room rate whenever we are guests at a hotel property.
“Marriott and other establishments usually want people to grab bottles of lotion, shampoo, conditioner, soap and other amenities before checking out”, according to this article written by Vadim Liberman over at FlyerTalk, as it is all right — and even encouraged — for you to take the toiletries and certain amenities from your hotel room. “After all, hotels put a lot of effort into choosing the right products for their rooms. Nothing validates those decisions more than an empty bathroom shelf.”
Whew. I do not feel like a thief after all. Good. I will continue to take those little sewing kits — they have saved me several times while traveling — as well as certain other items from the hotel rooms at which I stay.
Besides, many of the items have the name of the hotel or brand on them, which can amount to some “free” advertising…
…so does this mean that the towels from hotels in the homes of people can also be considered “free” advertising?
Even if it does, I still won’t take them. I would rather throw in the towel on that one.
There are frequent travelers who do collect amenity items from hotel rooms and donate them to charitable causes to help those who are less fortunate.
By the way, you would think that the name of the frequent guest loyalty program of sorts of QT Hotels & Resorts — called Priority Guestrewards — would be anything but ordinary as well…
