Stealing From Hotels: Harmless Thrill or Deeper Problems?

[rcjunkie]

When I stay at a hotel I take ONE hand towel... They are great as sweat towels during the summer when I'm doing anything outside...

I'm not particularly proud of it, but I justify it anyway. lol

One towel, one wash cloth, it's stealing no matter how you try to justify it.

[Roadhawg]

One towel, one wash cloth, it's stealing no matter how you try to justify it.

[Tritone]

I knew a guy who always stayed at a Holiday Inn when he was on
tour. He liked the size of the towels for his instrument, euphonium.
He talked a manager into selling him one. Every time he'd stay at a
Holiday Inn he'd leave the towel and take another. He bragged that
they'd been doing his laundry for free for years.

Inititals RM by any chance?

[Martin]

this thread makes me think of: -M



edit: embedding disabled... so here's a link!

[PennyQuilts]

Maybe i'm a little different too.....lol

Wow. I would no more steal a towel from a motel than I would from one of my kids. Or anything else. Grownups actually do this???

[PennyQuilts]

I knew a guy who always stayed at a Holiday Inn when he was on
tour. He liked the size of the towels for his instrument, euphonium.

Okay, at the risk of sounding a bit creepy, not being a music person, that sentence made my eyebrows go up. I didn't expect Prunie to write something off color so I looked up euphonuim. I was happy to see it was a musical instrument rather than a proper name or something. The fact that it wasn't capitalized should have tipped me off.

[Prunepicker]

Inititals RM by any chance?

Yes! A great player.

[Prunepicker]

Okay, at the risk of sounding a bit creepy, not being a music person,
that sentence made my eyebrows go up. I didn't expect Prunie to
write something off color so I looked up euphonuim. I was happy to
see it was a musical instrument rather than a proper name or
something. The fact that it wasn't capitalized should have tipped me
off.

It's very similar to a baritone but it has a larger conical bore.
Sounds similar to a trombone.

[PennyQuilts]

It's very similar to a baritone but it has a larger conical bore.
Sounds similar to a trombone.

You're such an geek, Prunie!! : ) (I say that with affection)

[Prunepicker]

You're such an geek, Prunie!! : ) (I say that with affection)

LOL! That's what I get talking nerdy. Thanx.

[Larry OKC]

When I stay at a hotel I take ONE hand towel... They are great as sweat towels during the summer when I'm doing anything outside...

I'm not particularly proud of it, but I justify it anyway. lol

Depending on the hotel of course, but with most requiring credit card info on file, I would check your C.C. statement when the hotel charge comes up and make sure you didn't get charged for that "free" towel. the last few hotels i have stayed at have a printed list of the amount charged for various items if found missing from the room. Usually much higher than retail and we aren't talking about used generic (non-logo) type items. Also depends on the items. As others have mentioned, consumables like toiletries are already paid for in the cost of the room and old ones are thrown out and replaced with new ones for the next guest. Some logo items (like ashtrays) may or may not be intended for the taking. When I worked for Wendy's, we expected the logo ashtrays to disappear. It was part of the stores advertising budget.

[TaoMaas]

Everything we do is like throwing a pebble into a pond. There are ripples of consequences that we often don't notice. We sit here and debate the morals of stealing a wash rag or hand towel, but even taking the remnants of the bar soap we used in the shower has deeper effects. Many hotels are donating their used soap to causes which recycle the soap and distribute it to less fortunate countries. http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/17/world/...-10/index.html

[PennyQuilts]

Depending on the hotel of course, but with most requiring credit card info on file, I would check your C.C. statement when the hotel charge comes up and make sure you didn't get charged for that "free" towel. the last few hotels i have stayed at have a printed list of the amount charged for various items if found missing from the room. Usually much higher than retail and we aren't talking about used generic (non-logo) type items. Also depends on the items.

Seems appropriate!!

[Roadhawg]

I made a reservation for next Sept. at a Holiday Inn using my Visa debit card and looked at my bank info online a couple days later and the full amount had been taken out. I wasn't expecting that, nor did I see it when making my reservation, so I called to cancel explaining I didn't expect that and will make them again after the 1st. They said I can cancel but I would lose the deposit, whole amount. After some arguing back and forth I was forced to keep my reservation or lose the $450. I pointed out the web page said a "small deposit may be needed" but it didn't say the whole amount. They told me the whole amount was the "small deposit". I've stayed at Holiday Inn many times but this is the last time and I'm taking a damn towel when I leave !!!

[RadicalModerate]

Originally Posted by Prunepicker:
I knew a guy who always stayed at a Holiday Inn when he was on
tour. He liked the size of the towels for his instrument, euphonium.
He talked a manager into selling him one. Every time he'd stay at a
Holiday Inn he'd leave the towel and take another. He bragged that
they'd been doing his laundry for free for years.

Tritone:
Inititals RM by any chance?


I have played an Epiphone . . .
I am even guilty of dabbling with a Hurdy-Gurdy.
I have never even heard of a Euphonium until just now.

Please be advised
that I have never cleaned a Euphonuim
with a towel, stolen or otherwise.
even if my initials are RM.

(and my wife wears cloth coats and I have a dog named Chequers . . .)

[RadicalModerate]

Everything we do is like throwing a pebble into a pond. There are ripples of consequences that we often don't notice. We sit here and debate the morals of stealing a wash rag or hand towel, but even taking the remnants of the bar soap we used in the shower has deeper effects. Many hotels are donating their used soap to causes which recycle the soap and distribute it to less fortunate countries. http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/17/world/...-10/index.html

Let us pause now . . .
In appreciation of the values of ripples . . .
And donated, re-cycled soap.

[ljbab728]

I made a reservation for next Sept. at a Holiday Inn using my Visa debit card and looked at my bank info online a couple days later and the full amount had been taken out. I wasn't expecting that, nor did I see it when making my reservation, so I called to cancel explaining I didn't expect that and will make them again after the 1st. They said I can cancel but I would lose the deposit, whole amount. After some arguing back and forth I was forced to keep my reservation or lose the $450. I pointed out the web page said a "small deposit may be needed" but it didn't say the whole amount. They told me the whole amount was the "small deposit". I've stayed at Holiday Inn many times but this is the last time and I'm taking a damn towel when I leave !!!

It's quite common now for many hotels to offer their lowest rate with a restriction that it be prepaid and nonrefundable. You have to watch that closely when making reservations if that is a problem.

[oneforone]

Yet we wonder why so things are nailed down in hotels.

I would like to think the items everybody use (soap, shampoo,coffee and water) are fixed expenses that are built into the price of the room. The bottles are tiny for individual use. I would hope open hygiene items are tossed for infection control reasons since most of the bottles have a safety seals on them. I stayed in an Embassy Suites not too long ago that had a couple of candy bars on the counter with a note that asked you to leave $3 on the counter if you ate them. I left them there. I couldn't help but wonder how many people ate them without paying.

[MikeLucky]

Depending on the hotel of course, but with most requiring credit card info on file, I would check your C.C. statement when the hotel charge comes up and make sure you didn't get charged for that "free" towel. the last few hotels i have stayed at have a printed list of the amount charged for various items if found missing from the room. Usually much higher than retail and we aren't talking about used generic (non-logo) type items. Also depends on the items. As others have mentioned, consumables like toiletries are already paid for in the cost of the room and old ones are thrown out and replaced with new ones for the next guest. Some logo items (like ashtrays) may or may not be intended for the taking. When I worked for Wendy's, we expected the logo ashtrays to disappear. It was part of the stores advertising budget.

Yeah, I would have no problem with them charging me for the towel. In fact, when I started doing it, I kind of expected to be charged for them.

[ljbab728]

Yeah, I would have no problem with them charging me for the towel. In fact, when I started doing it, I kind of expected to be charged for them.

So if you walked out of Walmart with some towels without paying do you think it would be OK as long as they charged you for them later?

[onthestrip]

Why do I assume that the people that take towels and shampoos from hotels are also the same people that tip about 12% at restaurants?

[ljbab728]

Why do I assume that the people that take towels and shampoos from hotels are also the same people that tip about 12% at restaurants?

Actually, I think you would be very wrong in that assumption. And, as mentioned several times previously, taking towels and shampoos are very different issues.

[blangtang]

My worst hotel sins include swimming in the pool of a hotel I wasn't staying in and enjoying a free complimentary breakfast at the same place. I will let you know that Hampton Inn has a very good and nicely prepared breakfast.

[MikeLucky]

So if you walked out of Walmart with some towels without paying do you think it would be OK as long as they charged you for them later?

Oh hell no... lol. That's the thing... On multiple occasions I've had items fall into the corners of the shopping cart and when I notice them at the car I go back in and pay for them... usually to some very strange looks from the store employees. It is VERY out of my character, but for some reason the single hand towel is just a thing for me... I mean there's a reason there are stories about this topic. It's because for some reason it's viewed differently.

Why do I assume that the people that take towels and shampoos from hotels are also the same people that tip about 12% at restaurants?

At restaurants I start at 20% for tips and go up from that for better than average service. And if I stay at a hotel for longer than a day I almost always make a point to leave a tip for the housekeeper. And I tip nothing short of $5 for pizza delivery.

[pure]

I've been in the hospitality business for six years, and spent a little of that time at the front desk. Well, most hotels nowadays will leave a catalog in the room with the "about the hotel" book and it basically states that you can purchase any item through mail-order or at the front desk but if you don't want to do that, you can go ahead and "take" what you want from the room and we'll bill you for it. So, if you like that iHome iphone dock/clock, go ahead and take it and you'll see a charge for about $200 on your credit card statement. Take a pillow and you'll see a $50 charge. I know most people won't take the bed, but it you do, it's about $1400.

Even before all my years in the hotel business, I stayed at some non-chain hotel years ago in Florida and because of the heavy spring break crowd, there' was actually a list in the room of the cost of the item if you break it/take it.