Hotel Towels and Other Things Not to Take with You

I’m a big guy.  I would venture to say that I’m “bigger” than

about 95% of the non-Sumo wrestling population of the Asian continent.  When I checked into the J.W. Marriott hotel in

Jakarta, Indonesia, I laughed out loud when

I tried on the bathrobe that was hanging in the room closet.  It was some of the softest cotton my skin had

ever touched.  The J.W. crest was proudly

displayed on the breast of the robe; I couldn’t wait to try it on.  Honestly, I’ve had wetsuits fit looser than

this!  It was skin tight, the sleeves

came down just past my elbows, the bottom of the robe was above my knees, and

if I’d have scrunched into a “Mr. Universe” pose, I’m sure I’d have shredded

that robe worse than any garment the Incredible Hulk ever tore asunder!  Then I noticed a small sign, “These unisex

“one size fits all” robes are not complimentary, but are available in the gift

center for your convenience.”  Right.

I wondered about the

sign.  Do people just think “Hey look, free

robe!”  You bet they do!  After talking with the manager of the

housekeeping staff from several Marriotts, I can tell you that people think the

bed sheets, pillows, lamps, clothes irons, and coffee makers are

“complimentary” also.  You can get an

iron at Walmart for $10, do you really need to take one home from your hotel

room?  The only things in your room that

you can take with you are soaps, shampoo, lotion, mouthwash, sewing kits,

slippers (they can’t reuse those), and stationary with pens/pencils.  That’s the “free” stuff.

So much of the rest of the

room’s goodies have been taken by “mistake” that hotels have now taken to

charging you for them when you check out.

I love the fact that they do this!

They get some financial restitution, you get your new robe, and they

don’t have to accuse you of being a thief.

Everybody wins!

Don’t get me wrong, some of

these resort hotels have some super nice amenities.  The J.W. Marriott in Hawaii has bed sheets that are 1,000 thread

count Egyptian cotton… That’s certainly an upgrade from the sheets I have on my

bed at home.  Still, do I really want

some well laundered but “used” bed sheets to take home?  Certainly not for what the front desk would

like to charge for them.  Hotels

recognize the “good stuff” when they buy it.

To minimize the temptation of theft, most hotel chains now have catalogs

they place in the rooms, and websites to go to so you can purchase the same

quality stuff that you experienced in your room!

After trying on the robe, I

tried to cram my feet into some of Marriotts “Asian Slippers.”  Again, not even close… They might have made

good pot-holders though, now that I think about it.

EXTRA: If you have questions for Ken regarding

business travel, hotels, airplanes, etc, please send an email!  Your questions

will be recorded and Ken will answer the best ones in his Ask the

Expert podcast show