View Full Version : Stealing From Hotels: Harmless Thrill or Deeper Problems?



Prunepicker
12-05-2011, 09:42 PM
From ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/stealing-hotels-restaurants-psychological-problems-harmless-thrill/story?id=15075237#.Tt2bNlbNmCc)
Anand, a 24-year-old public relations professional, keeps a dirty little
secret -- his parents proudly fill their house with mementos from
hotels and restaurants around the world. Though they are well-off
financially, they rely on the five-finger discount.

"My mom has to do things the right way, but she enjoys what falls
into the suitcase after they go on a trip," said Anand, who lives in
Boston, but is too embarrassed to disclose his parent's home.

They started small: a few hotel shampoos and lotions, but it
escalated. From there they moved on to corkscrews with insignia
and expensive sandals.

<snip>

Ethicist Kaminer said people justify theft by assuming the hotel "can
afford it," but those costs are passed on to the traveler. She also
dismisses the idea that stealing is a way to stick-it-to-the-man.

"If you are upset about the political clout of the modern corporation,
stealing a bathrobe is not the effective way to address that,
especially if you give that bathrobe to yourself."

Still, she concedes, "there are different moral stakes for taking an
ashtray than snatching some sweet granny's purse."

ljbab728
12-05-2011, 09:59 PM
From ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/stealing-hotels-restaurants-psychological-problems-harmless-thrill/story?id=15075237#.Tt2bNlbNmCc) They started small: a few hotel shampoos and lotions, but it
escalated.

Taking hotel shampoos and lotions with you from your room is not stealing. Those are put in the room to be consumed by whoever rents the room. You are paying for those since they are figured into the price of the room. The same thing would be true of other consumable products like coffee or bottled water that are not in a minibar with stated charges.

Obviously things like towels, ash trays, etc. are much different.

rcjunkie
12-06-2011, 03:51 AM
Taking hotel shampoos and lotions with you from your room is not stealing. Those are put in the room to be consumed by whoever rents the room. You are paying for those since they are figured into the price of the room. The same thing would be true of other consumable products like coffee or bottled water that are not in a minibar with stated charges.

Obviously things like towels, ash trays, etc. are much different.

Much different, and keep adding to the ever increasing cost per night.

HewenttoJared
12-06-2011, 05:56 AM
That's a pretty awful thing to teach your kids.

Midtowner
12-06-2011, 07:20 AM
Much different, and keep adding to the ever increasing cost per night.

I imagine the rate of hotel thefts has remained a constant.

RadicalModerate
12-06-2011, 07:46 AM
Taking hotel shampoos and lotions with you from your room is not stealing.
Obviously things like towels, ash trays, etc. are much different.

I find it hard to believe that hotels still provide ashtrays for your stealing convenience.

(On the other hand, the last time I tried to wash my hair with an ashtray the results were less than satisfying . . . and I guess one of the primary differences lies therein.)

BBatesokc
12-06-2011, 08:12 AM
Taking hotel shampoos and lotions with you from your room is not stealing. Those are put in the room to be consumed by whoever rents the room. You are paying for those since they are figured into the price of the room. The same thing would be true of other consumable products like coffee or bottled water that are not in a minibar with stated charges.

Obviously things like towels, ash trays, etc. are much different.

My thoughts exactly.

SoonerDave
12-06-2011, 09:48 AM
I darned sure HOPE the previous person takes the consumable toiletries. I'm not one of these folks who rents soap.

RadicalModerate
12-06-2011, 10:46 AM
I darned sure HOPE the previous person takes the consumable toiletries. I'm not one of these folks who rents soap.

+1 . . . or even +2! adjusted for inflation. =)

Maybe someone needs to start an "Occupy Fairfield Inn" or "Occupy La Quinta" or "Occupy Holiday Inn Express" movement.

Oh. Wait . . . I think I saw that advertised.
(How quickly The Movement is co-opted these days) . . .

MikeLucky
12-06-2011, 11:06 AM
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

RadicalModerate
12-06-2011, 11:16 AM
. . . which makes you an Outlaw
and, by definition, part of The OTHER 1% . . .
yqSf8musx1E

I think I saw the "leader of the pack" in the above clip selling carpet or cars on a different channel.
Or maybe it was a time share at the Florida location of Hotel California?

(I vote for "Harmless Thrill" . . .)

Bellaboo
12-06-2011, 11:21 AM
Taking towels is wrong, I don't think they are built into the price you paid for your stay. The soap is a different story, but believe it or not, I just take the soap that we used, put it back in the wrapper, and put it in the plastic carry on bag. I rarely take unused soap, even though it's happened a time or two when it's really good.

Bellaboo
12-06-2011, 11:22 AM
RM,

You're a different cat. You keep this board interesting.

RadicalModerate
12-06-2011, 11:25 AM
Taking towels is wrong, I don't think they are built into the price you paid for your stay. The soap is a different story, but believe it or not, I just take the soap that we used, put it back in the wrapper, and put it in the plastic carry on bag. I rarely take unused soap, even though it's happened a time or two when it's really good.

Yeah . . . I'm different. =)

Bellaboo
12-06-2011, 11:27 AM
Taking towels is wrong, I don't think they are built into the price you paid for your stay. The soap is a different story, but believe it or not, I just take the soap that we used, put it back in the wrapper, and put it in the plastic carry on bag. I rarely take unused soap, even though it's happened a time or two when it's really good.

Yeah . . . I'm different. =)

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

RadicalModerate
12-06-2011, 11:30 AM
But in a good way. =)

I would insert an old Sister Sledge video ("We Are Family") at this point,
but I don't want to get all maudlin or whatnot.
Plus I feel sort of like Frank Zappa did about disco.

Speaking of Stealing From Hotels (and Frank Zappa) . . .
File THIS one under "Deeper Problems" rather than "Harmless Thrill"
(they stole the fishing poles)

From 1971 (confirming the rate of theft as a constant):

ux8ED6cdNYw

Bellaboo
12-06-2011, 11:43 AM
We must be about the same age.....i was hatched in '53.

MikeLucky
12-06-2011, 12:15 PM
Taking towels is wrong, I don't think they are built into the price you paid for your stay. The soap is a different story, but believe it or not, I just take the soap that we used, put it back in the wrapper, and put it in the plastic carry on bag. I rarely take unused soap, even though it's happened a time or two when it's really good.

No, no, no.... a 500 room hotel has a normal towel inventory of 6,000 towels... and they replace them quarterly... so hotels throw away A LOT of towels every quarter.

Now, it would be better if all these towels would get donated to people of need, but unfortunately they don't... So, all I'm really doing is taking ONE hand towel out of the landfills...

See, I told you I justify it. :)

RadicalModerate
12-06-2011, 12:16 PM
I arrived the same year as this fine automotive product . . .
http://www.plan59.com/images/JPGs/chevrolet_1952_green_01.jpg
(The people in the car are all smiling because they just left a hotel with all of their soap and towel needs for the next year taken care of. Heading to a gas station for a .19 a gallon fill up. =)

SoonerDave
12-06-2011, 12:29 PM
No, no, no.... a 500 room hotel has a normal towel inventory of 6,000 towels... and they replace them quarterly... so hotels throw away A LOT of towels every quarter.

Now, it would be better if all these towels would get donated to people of need, but unfortunately they don't... So, all I'm really doing is taking ONE hand towel out of the landfills...

See, I told you I justify it. :)

Wichita, if the statistic you provided is anywhere near accurate across the board - linens effectively washed 90 times, then discarded -, it would seem obvious that an opportunity exists to get these sorts of items from the various hotel chains to organization such as Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or related entities. There are bound to be organizations who would find usable bath linens as a Godsend. I won't make any pretense of being someone who has been at the front of recycling, because I'm not, but to think that volume of what are almost certainly perfectly usable, if used, linens are getting thrown away is ludicrous.

Are there any health code regulations that would inhibit something like this?

Roadhawg
12-06-2011, 12:52 PM
I too am guilty... Whenever I stay at a hotel/motel I'm usually on the bike doing a road trip and I take a towel (smaller hand towel) down to the bike to get the dew off and toss it in my saddlebag.

RadicalModerate
12-06-2011, 12:57 PM
oops.

Bellaboo
12-06-2011, 02:08 PM
Looks like about a '52 chevy ? Unfortunately, not a ton of those left....

So I'm in good company.

RadicalModerate
12-06-2011, 04:28 PM
yup. =)

(I'm not sure . . . but I think Truman was still president when I was hatched.
Although at that point I was too little to understand the difference between Democrats. =)

Prunepicker
12-06-2011, 05:28 PM
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 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.

rcjunkie
12-06-2011, 06:29 PM
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
12-06-2011, 06:40 PM
One towel, one wash cloth, it's stealing no matter how you try to justify it.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7a/McGruff.jpg/220px-McGruff.jpg

Tritone
12-06-2011, 07:31 PM
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
12-06-2011, 07:48 PM
this thread makes me think of: -M


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALZZx1xmAzg

edit: embedding disabled... so here's a link! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALZZx1xmAzg)

PennyQuilts
12-06-2011, 07:59 PM
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
12-06-2011, 08:04 PM
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
12-06-2011, 08:27 PM
Inititals RM by any chance?
Yes! A great player.

Prunepicker
12-06-2011, 08:31 PM
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
12-06-2011, 08:58 PM
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
12-06-2011, 09:13 PM
You're such an geek, Prunie!! : ) (I say that with affection)
LOL! That's what I get talking nerdy. Thanx.

Larry OKC
12-09-2011, 09:45 PM
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
12-10-2011, 06:11 AM
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/cnnheroes-kayongo-top-10/index.html

PennyQuilts
12-10-2011, 07:37 AM
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
12-10-2011, 08:22 AM
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
12-10-2011, 07:28 PM
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
12-10-2011, 07:31 PM
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/cnnheroes-kayongo-top-10/index.html

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

lVdTQ3OPtGY

ljbab728
12-10-2011, 09:27 PM
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
12-11-2011, 04:33 AM
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
12-11-2011, 09:37 PM
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
12-11-2011, 09:46 PM
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
12-11-2011, 10:54 PM
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
12-11-2011, 11:01 PM
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
12-11-2011, 11:22 PM
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
12-12-2011, 08:37 AM
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
12-17-2011, 03:17 PM
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.

pure
12-17-2011, 03:19 PM
for those that don't believe me on those prices: http://www.shopmarriott.com/