What you can’t take: Wooden hangers, glass bottles, and mugs – There is a chance that taking these items from your hotel room could lead to consequences beyond an extra charge to your room—including being “blacklisted,” NBC reports. Hotels keep a record of guests who trash hotel rooms or steal items, and they might ban those people from booking rooms again.
In rare scenarios, some people could get arrested. The Telegraph reports that a couple in Japan was arrested for stealing robes and an ashtray. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so only take the complimentary items that you really need. Remember, just because you can take something doesn’t mean you should.
Next, find out what hotel housekeepers know about you, and make sure you know how to spot hidden cameras wherever you stay. Sources:
Ousman Conteh, general manager at Claridge House Chicago Curt Asmussen, managing director of Obie Hospitality Joanna McCreary, general manager for the W Hotel in Austin, Texas The Telegraph : “Top 10 items stolen from hotels” Huff Post : “Hotels Can Track Those Towels That You Steal” NBC : “Hotels upgrade their ‘no-stay’ lists”
Originally Published: December 31, 1969
Will hotels charge you if you take a towel?
Consequences of Taking Hotel Property – If you take something from your hotel room, you can expect an extra charge on your bill. Robes and towels are so commonly stolen that many hotels now list the charge right on the hanger; they will automatically bill the credit card they have on file for the extra cost of replacing these items.
Robert Thrailkill, the General Manager of the Conrad Miami, once said: “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.” In some countries, including Nigeria, hotel guests have faced jail time for stealing items such as towels.
Again, it’s best to be cautious and ask reception if you are unsure whether something is complimentary—especially when you are traveling in a foreign country and are unfamiliar with the laws.
How do hotels know if you take a towel?
Guests place used towels in the return cabinet, which scans the RFID tag in each towel and removes them from the guest’s account.5. If a guest walks out with towels, those towels remain on his or her account. Hotel and resort management know exactly who has taken them and can handle it in any way they deem fit.
Can you ask for towels from hotels?
Why can’t I take stuff off the housekeeping cart? – Sure, there are some items you can “steal” from hotel rooms, However, housekeepers are often on tight schedules and may need those extra towels or mini shampoos for the next room. If you need items, ask if it’s OK first or call the front desk or housekeeping directly to make your request. Cavan Images/Getty Images
Do hotel staffs know if guests take towels from the hotel room?
Yes, your hotel knows that you just stole that towel.because they sewed a microchip in it We’ve all been there. We’ve all been frantically trying to re-pack and check out of the hotel on time when — just before we zip our suitcases — our eyes focus on the embroidered logo on the fluffy hand towels. “Should I?” we ask ourselves, imagining how classy it would look in our own bathrooms. Don’t do it. The hotels know, guys. THEY KNOW. According to a Miami-based company called Linen Tracking Technology, a lot of hotels stitch tiny microchips into their towels, robes, pillowcases, cloth napkins and other linens. The LinenTracker chips are currently being used in over 2,000 hotels-but don’t ask which ones. According to Linen Tracking Technology executive vice president : “Our properties like to remain anonymous. They benefit from the gained efficiency and don’t want to alarm guests that they have this technology,” The RFID-equipped chips were originally designed to help hotels keep track of their linens as they went back and forth to off-site laundry facilities (Hotels can lose an estimated 20% of their linens each month through various mishaps, most involving cleaning issues). But they’ve since started to employ that same technology to catch sticky-fingered guests who might try to make off with their in-room robes. When the chips are taken past the hotel’s entrances or exits, real-time tracking software sends an alert. The head of housekeeping (probably) isn’t going to follow you home, but those towels might show up on your credit card. Linen Tracker says it can supply hotels with as those without chips, and one can only assume just as soft. According to a recent survey by Novotel hotels, linens and bathrobes are the most frequently stolen items, which surprises no one. But the rest of the top ten featured pretty much anything that wasn’t nailed down, including remote controls (what?), light bulbs and the display trays and soap dishes in the bathroom. Sure, that makes sense: those things fit perfectly in the pocket of our stolen robes. : Yes, your hotel knows that you just stole that towel.because they sewed a microchip in it
How do hotels stop towel theft?
Hotel guests steal stuff from their rooms ALLLLL the time. So much so that Wellness Heaven, a Germany-based luxury and spa hotel guide, once surveyed 1,157 hoteliers to find out what their guests stole, who (in terms of nationality) stole what, the most bizarre stolen goods, and the theft preferences of those in 4 star vs.5 star hotels.
- Here’s what they found out,
- If you look at the link, well, I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that towels were, by far, the most popular items that were stolen from hotels rooms, followed by bathrobes.
- Blankets and pillows weren’t stolen nearly as often, but still happened often enough to only be halfway down the list (as opposed to, say, mattresses).
Some hotels have tried to temper the theft with signs in guest rooms, reminding them that they will be charged if towels, linens, etc. are missing from the room. 
PC: Sleep Inn & Suites Others are more genteel and tell guests that if they find their robes that enjoyable, they’re available for purchase in the gift shop (but also that they’ll charge you if you just steal it). 
PC: Ritz-Carlton From what I can tell, some of these hotels just give lip service. Others, I can promise you, follow up – in fact, USA Today once reported that hotels in Nigeria and Japan have actually filed police reports and pressed charges against guests for stealing their towels and other amenities.
- And I will bet you anything that if your hotel bathrobes from the Grand Floridian Resort Hotel And Spa at Walt Disney World is missing at the end of your stay, you’ll be charged for it.
- For a regular hotel that may not care so much as those in Japan, Nigeria and Disney World, you may figure that if it’s just the housekeeper who would need to report a missing towel or whatever, you might be able to get away with it.
But get this – for over a decade now, many hotels have had RFID trackers sewn into their towels, robes, blankets, pillows, etc., as a form of theft deterrent. 
PC: Reddit / aaronlikesbeer If you Google HOTEL ROBES TOWELS TRACKING, you get several hits that are companies that sell such trackers. Fresh Equipment, InvoTech, Towel Tracker, Those and other companies have patented washable RFID chips that can be sewn into towels, robes and bed sheets.
They’re flexible, washable, and can tolerate the high heat of industrial washing several hundred times. The trackers are an excellent way to keep track of linens in storerooms, and eliminate having to count how many washcloths you still have. However a fringe benefit is they can also tell you when towels are not where they’re supposed to be.
For example: RFID trackers, of course, only work in small areas. So that hotel in Albuquerque where you stole that bathrobe won’t be able to see that it’s now hanging in your bedroom at home. However many hotels have placed readers at their entrances and exits, so hoteliers are alerted by an alarm when a towel/robe/etc.
is leaving the property. And I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to have to explain how that super fluffy Ritz-Carlton bath towel get into my suitcase. So yeahmaybe think twice about taking that stuff. It may not be as easy as you think. Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved,
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Can I take the blanket from my hotel?
Bedding – Pillows, sheets, and blankets should never be taken. Comforters and duvets are also items that should remain in your hotel room as well. Plus, there’s a chance these have not been washed in months so I doubt you would want to take off with them.
What do hotels do with towels?
How Do Hotels Keep Towels So White? – Most hotels tend to stick to white standard towels to match their interior design. But the big question is, how do they keep them so white? Different hotels have different tricks to keep their towels from going gray. 
Some hotels prefer using new technology like Sonic Soak to keep their clothes white. This mini washing machine emits high-frequency ultrasonic waves to break down stains, dirt, and remove germs at a microscopic level. Coming to the best part, they are small and time-efficient.
Do you leave towels on floor in hotel?
Small gestures – Tipping is likely one of the main sticking points for hotel cleaners, assuming you haven’t trashed the room completely. If you’d like to do a few extra things to help out, Quora interviewed Bruce Claver, who has, He offered this list of small things that will make workers lives much easier:
Strip the sheets off the bed and pillow cases and leave in a pile on the floor opposite the bathroom door.Take all used towels, washcloth, and bath mat and place in one pile on the bathroom floor.Take the trash can from under the desk and the trash can from the bathroom and place them together next to the sheets (by the bathroom door).Replace the iron and ironing board (wrap or retract cord of iron)Replace the tv remote to where it was on checkin dayOpen the curtains.
And never, ever make the bed. They’ll just have to un-make it. This story was originally published in 2019 and updated with new information on 2/18/2020. : This Is the Proper Etiquette for Leaving a Hotel Room
Can I take toiletries from hotel?
12 September 2017 It happens with most of us that despite not being a thief, we behave like kleptomaniac while being in a hotel. There is a wrong perception among us that if we have paid for the room, we are entitled to its contents. The instinct for gathering takes over us and we try putting things into our trolley.
- But there is a difference between collecting and stealing.
- You are not permitted to take everything kept in the room.
- There is nothing wrong in taking the little bottles of toiletries home; despite how unlawful it may feel (although it’s frequent for people to call it “stealing”).
- Your bill covers the cost of these free hotel items and hotels actually let the guests taking the toiletries home.
Those things remind the guests of the hotel along with advertising about it to others. These are some items that you can carry home from your hotel room.
Can I take a pillow from a hotel?
Every vacation, sadly, comes to an end — but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a little something home with you to help you remember it. For most of us that means picking up a tiny trinket in a gift shop, a small piece of jewelry, or a work of art to hang on our walls.
- But for the more rebellious, that little keepsake can be downright criminal.
- From the tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner to the comfy slippers and robes, hotels are filled to the brim with souvenirs just waiting for you to steal them.
- People will steal just about anything they can,” David Elton, partner of Home Grown Hotels in the U.K., told the Telegraph,
“Bathrobes, coat hangers, bed linen, mattress covers, towels, pillows, toilet-seat covers – pretty much everything in a room.” Shane Patra/EyeEm/Getty Images As we’ve highlighted in the past, hoteliers frequently don’t mind if you take little things like toiletries — in fact, they’re counting on it.
- Using it later could remind you of your stay and convince you to come back.
- But what about the good stuff like towels and robes? “It is a crime,” a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told the Telegraph,
- If we were to receive allegations, we would follow them up.” And people really have done hard time for doing the crime.
Take for example, the case of Bilikisu Dowodu, a woman in Nigeria who was sentenced to three months in prison in 2010 for stealing just two towels from the Transcorp Hilton Abuja Hotel. While you’re not likely to actually get arrested for stealing a towel like Dowodu (though let her story serve as a warning), you could end up banned from your favorite hotels.
According to NBC, most major hotels now have a computer data base with a “no stay list” filled with previous patrons who have stolen one too many coffee mugs and are no longer welcome to book a stay. Moreover, NBC reported that hotel chains are happy to share their customer intel with others. “Get in trouble at a Hilton in Miami, for example, and you may find it hard to get a reservation at a Holiday Inn in Seattle,” NBC wrote.
“That’s because extensive databases of individual hotels’ blacklists are being systematically centralized.” Sure, it may seem silly for hotels to start banning people for just a smattering of kleptomania, but tiny thefts can add up and do big damage to their bottom line.
“We had a guest that was trying to take a large mirror out of the room,” John Bowen, dean of the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston, told ABC, “People get fairly bold in what they try to take out.” He added that the 86-room property he oversees loses a few hundred dollars each month due to customer theft.
And as the American Hotel & Lodging Association found, theft can costs hotels an estimated $100 million a year. Even if they don’t call the cops on you, they may simply charge you for the stolen item anyway, so really, you’re not getting away with anything.
There’s also another option if you love that robe: Call up the front desk and ask if you can have it, or if it’s for sale. Many hotels (especially those that invested in good robes) have those kinds of items available for purchase. And if you really, really want to “steal” something, go for the little things that hotels are happy to share with you, like the soap you already used — or maybe even a mug or a few coffee pods if you’re feeling brave.
Leave the sheets, artwork and electronics where they are. It’s not like you can take it on your carry-on anyway.
Do hotels go through your bags?
Hotels scan for security reasons,not for alcohol. food and drinks are prohibited to enter as there are bars and restaurants inside so you do business for them.
Can I take the blanket from my hotel?
Bedding – Pillows, sheets, and blankets should never be taken. Comforters and duvets are also items that should remain in your hotel room as well. Plus, there’s a chance these have not been washed in months so I doubt you would want to take off with them.
How do hotels stop towel theft?
Hotel guests steal stuff from their rooms ALLLLL the time. So much so that Wellness Heaven, a Germany-based luxury and spa hotel guide, once surveyed 1,157 hoteliers to find out what their guests stole, who (in terms of nationality) stole what, the most bizarre stolen goods, and the theft preferences of those in 4 star vs.5 star hotels.
Here’s what they found out, If you look at the link, well, I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that towels were, by far, the most popular items that were stolen from hotels rooms, followed by bathrobes. Blankets and pillows weren’t stolen nearly as often, but still happened often enough to only be halfway down the list (as opposed to, say, mattresses).
Some hotels have tried to temper the theft with signs in guest rooms, reminding them that they will be charged if towels, linens, etc. are missing from the room. PC: Sleep Inn & Suites Others are more genteel and tell guests that if they find their robes that enjoyable, they’re available for purchase in the gift shop (but also that they’ll charge you if you just steal it). PC: Ritz-Carlton From what I can tell, some of these hotels just give lip service. Others, I can promise you, follow up – in fact, USA Today once reported that hotels in Nigeria and Japan have actually filed police reports and pressed charges against guests for stealing their towels and other amenities.
And I will bet you anything that if your hotel bathrobes from the Grand Floridian Resort Hotel And Spa at Walt Disney World is missing at the end of your stay, you’ll be charged for it. For a regular hotel that may not care so much as those in Japan, Nigeria and Disney World, you may figure that if it’s just the housekeeper who would need to report a missing towel or whatever, you might be able to get away with it.
But get this – for over a decade now, many hotels have had RFID trackers sewn into their towels, robes, blankets, pillows, etc., as a form of theft deterrent. PC: Reddit / aaronlikesbeer If you Google HOTEL ROBES TOWELS TRACKING, you get several hits that are companies that sell such trackers. Fresh Equipment, InvoTech, Towel Tracker, Those and other companies have patented washable RFID chips that can be sewn into towels, robes and bed sheets.
They’re flexible, washable, and can tolerate the high heat of industrial washing several hundred times. The trackers are an excellent way to keep track of linens in storerooms, and eliminate having to count how many washcloths you still have. However a fringe benefit is they can also tell you when towels are not where they’re supposed to be.
For example: RFID trackers, of course, only work in small areas. So that hotel in Albuquerque where you stole that bathrobe won’t be able to see that it’s now hanging in your bedroom at home. However many hotels have placed readers at their entrances and exits, so hoteliers are alerted by an alarm when a towel/robe/etc.
Is leaving the property. And I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to have to explain how that super fluffy Ritz-Carlton bath towel get into my suitcase. So yeahmaybe think twice about taking that stuff. It may not be as easy as you think. Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved,
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary or put ads on our site? Click here for more info, Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
What do you do with towels at a hotel?
45 Have completed this act. I’ve Done This Count me In The next time you’re staying at a hotel, when done with your towel, leave it hanging or on the sink. It’s one less towel the staff need to pick up from the floor. It’s a small act but can make a difference.45 Have completed this act. Share:
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