The things people take from hotels

PUB GUESTS SEE THE LIGHT – AND TAKE IT

David Ellis

THERE wouldn't be too many of us haven't done it – seen the unopened toiletries in the hotel room we're about to vacate, and helped ourselves to at least some, if not all, of them.

But talk to hoteliers, from those running 5-star places in the biggest cities to others with a half dozen rooms in country towns, and you'd be amazed at just what else some guests decide should be theirs.

Like the three blokes at one city hotel in the UK who, dressed in overalls, nonchalantly wheeled the pub's nightclub piano right past staff in Reception, through a service door and down the street, never to be seen again.

And here in Australia, others who've borrowed hotel luggage trolleys, and walked them off loaded with suitcases and suit and garment carriers – and tucked away amongst those, their room's flat-screen TV or the fridge from the mini-bar.

Which makes those toiletries like shampoos, soaps, body lotions and shower gels seem pretty boring stuff to want to knock off. And which is why most hotels cost these into the price of the room from the start, as they expect the majority of guests will help themselves anyway.

RELATED STORY: Light-fingered guests

But internationally, would you believe the most things pinched after hotels' toiletries are actually light globes from bedside and floor-lamps. And after them room and pool towels, bath mats and bed sheets, even batteries from TV remotes and the remotes themselves, followed closely by room service crockery and cutlery, snacks and drinks from the mini-bars, pot plants, hairdryers, coat-hangers… and even those Bibles put in rooms by the Gideons.

Plus more bizarrely some guests have unscrewed and taken off with the numbers from their room's doors, while at one hotel in the UK a couple checked-out – and took the owner's pet dog with them.

But you CAN take things home. Just be prepared to pay. One Marriott GM told Traveloscopy:

"A guest room should feel like a home away from home. If the guest enjoys something enough to want to take it home with them, they are welcome to do so, but at a charge. We give guests the option to purchase the items that they are fond of, with everything from the 700 thread count linens and mattresses to the Conrad Miami signature terrycloth and waffle robes."