What’s the Best Gift From a Hotel?
Tiny bottles of shampoo, soap and lotion are slowly disappearing from hotel rooms. And not in the usual way, when you collect them all in a bag and put them in your medicine cabinet. Hotel chains are replacing bottles with wall-mounted dispensers in bathrooms. Marriott plans to migrate 1,900 of its hotels to the new system this year, according to the Wall Street Journal , and the InterContinental Hotels Group is also moving.
Wall mounted dispensers save time, money and plastic in hotels. And they can be more convenient for long journeys and people who just need a lot of shampoo. But of course the switch is also like the hotels are giving us one less freebie. What should we bring with us to the next Airbnb? Our own travel kit from the dollar store? How are some plebeians?
Therefore, we condemn or celebrate the last little change, just as we mourn the mini-bar or spit on its grave . We resent the disappearance of the free coffee bag, or we thank the hotel for selling Stumptown instead. And we are adjusting our habits because we cannot hold back the course of history. This cosmic dance of explosive decay and permission denialtwists all of our hands collectively .
Anyway, hey, what’s the best freebie you’ve ever gotten from a hotel? What’s the best freebie you’ve gotten more than once ? Ethical free gifts are preferred; a stolen robe is pleasant to the touch until the bill arrives.