What is and what is not allowed to be taken from hotel rooms?
Le Figaro had an article (21/04/09) on hotel stealth by guests. If you are staying at a hotel, have you ever asked yourself which articles you are “allowed” to take and which you are not allowed to take without paying? As the Union des métiers et des industries de l’hôtellerie (Umih) declares, that list is rather short and sweet: basically just the little amenities (i.e. soap, shampoo, conditioner, etc. that the manufacturing brands should absolutely want to be taken home by the guests in an extension of the sampling campaign), including the branded pen, letterhead and notepaper. Other than theses amenities, however, there are apparently a number of other unauthorised items that are being added to the virtual shopping cart (virtual in absence of payment, that is). These other items include:
- Branded ashtrays
- Cushions
- Lithographs
- Shower heads
- Even… televisions
According to the latest fad: guests are now unscrewing low consumption light bulbs. Hotels are “fighting back” by clearly indicating the prices, doing discrete inspections right before checkout, or better yet, adding RFID to the more precious items… Thieves beware!
Well, interesting piece. The part on what can be taken and what can’t be. I have heard of bed linen and towels being taken, but TV, cushions and bulbs are new to me.
What was interesting is that I have heard of this from the 3 star and above rated hotels. The five star hotels have trouble even with the cutlery. Maybe we can find some sort of survey done on this….
@Sapna, you are right that there must be a big difference in the stealth of quality hotel amenities versus the lesser hotels, where sometimes you don’t even want to use the shampoo.
The plastic cap for your hair!!!
towels are cool too.
If we want to reduce the profit margin of luxury hotels, let’s just not go there… Although I might subscribe to something analogous to the “Garden gnome liberation movement” for some of the “art” we are subjected to!
More here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/730261/Hotel-larceny.html
Thanks for the comments — particularly the link to that 2004 article @Alexandra. We all have taken something from a hotel. The challenge I have is that some of the items a hotel should WANT to be taken. The issue is sorting out the “takeable” from the stealable. For those brands participating with hotels for the beauty products, ideally brands should want the product being taken home for further sampling. For higher ticket items, clearly the sampling (television, bathrobes, etc.) should be kept in the hotel room.