Personal Stories

I Like Taking Free Hotel Amenities And Giving Them As Gifts To Friends And Family

This may be an Asian thing, or maybe it’s me. Raise your hand if you took hotel amenities more than you needed when travelling or a staycation to bring home to use.  Why not? Since you already paid for the hotel right? I usually take shower caps, razors, toothbrushes, hotel slippers and soap and shampoo. There’s also the free hotel tea and coffee bags.   Anything that requires me to pay for I will not take. Over the years since I became a working adult I had the ability to travel more. This allowed me to build my own stash of free hotel amenities.  Most of the time I will collect hotel slippers for my mom to wear at home. It is nice to bring home something from the hotel to create a more luxe experience at home.  I recently went to Japan and the toilet amenities were so adorable I requested more sets with the intention of passing them to my friends. I think my friends wouldn’t know the difference anyway. But I think sometimes it is embarrassing if your partner or the person you are travelling with is not the same type. There was once I had collected a small bag of free hotel amenities and as I checked out the porter wanted to help me with my bag.  I self-consciously declined the offer.   I know that it is okay to bring home some complimentary amenities but I know that if you are seen to be taking too much, it can be quite embarrassing.   I am also starting to realise that I hardly use the amenities once I bring them home – because I have my own soap and shampoo and sometimes they are too cute to be opened.  I have decided to stop hoarding as many of these items in future and to only take a few for keepsakes. This article is part of TSS Confessions, a weekly column where we delve into personal finance topics that are unscripted and genuine real accounts from people.