Women Travelers - Best Hotel Toiletries

I am new to this forum. I found it because I looked for reviews about Conrad Tokyo, which I am going to this Sunday. In the review I found that the Conrad has Shiseido toiletries. I am kind of obsessed with hotel toiletries and thought, since I browsed through this forum and found this "Women travelers", that there might be some other like me... :-D

So... where have you found the best toiletries?

I LOVE Molton Brown and at the following hotels they have Molton Brown:

MacDonald Bath Spa, Bath, UK.
The Capital, London, UK.
The Goring, London, UK,
Palacio Estoril, Estoril, Portugal
Continental Oslo, Norway

I also liked the toiletries I got at Peabody Orlando and at Cascais Miragem. I can't remember what it was, but they were good. And... oh yes.... At Steigenberger Dusseldorf they had really nice toiletries and all kind of... soaps, shampoos... buffing-files... bath-salt... mmmm.... :-D

In my travelblog: www.reiseshoppaholic.blogspot.com I have reviews from my trips and ALWAYS have pictures of the toiletries... :-D

Is it only me who is obsessed? (I can't wait to go to Conrad Tokyo.... :-))

xxx

Welcome to Flyertalk and specifically to the Women Travelers forum.

Molton Brown's a little spicy for me, but Steven Case's Exclusive Resorts properties has it (or at least some do). Hermes and Bulgari are spicy for me too (do men pick most of these out?), but I do like Aveda, the Trump spa products, products they give at the Peninsula (no name that I can see on the tin soap box) and Miller Harris.

You sound like a woman after my own heart (shopping and travel - though I'd add spas and food), but I admit I looked eagerly at your blog for shopping tips, and couldn't find them! Are they hiding?

Just noticed ...you're Norwegian too (or at least based in Norway!).

Hi there, and thank you for answering!

I have to admit... My blog has recently been very much a hotel review-blog due to lacking of time and committing to my other blog, as that blog is more work-related. Sorry... I promise to update with more shopping-tips as that is my favorite hobby... :-D But there ARE some shopping-tips in between.

I am also very interested in spa's as I work in that industry. :) Unfortunately I don't always have the time to get a spa-treatment, but I try to, at least, use the spa-facilities. at the resorts. In between there are some spa-reviews in my blog. :) OK, I can see now that I have to order my blog-entries... Sorry... again... Will do that when in Japan, as I have heard it's very uncomfortable humid and hot there now that it looks like I will need some "inside-activities" in the middle of the day. :)

And food.... OH YES, I am a food-wreck! :) I can't wait to try out the Gordon Ramsey restaurant at Conrad Tokyo, although I have heard it is overpriced and not that good... I'll try it by myself... :)

And yes, I am from Norway. ???

xxx

Aha, I looked at your blog... found your name... and from your las name it looks like you are from Norway? Haha, I have lots of friends with the same last name... :-D


xxx

Welcome to Flyertalk and specifically to the Women Travelers forum.

Molton Brown's a little spicy for me, but Steven Case's Exclusive Resorts properties has it (or at least some do). Hermes and Bulgari are spicy for me too (do men pick most of these out?), but I do like Aveda, the Trump spa products, products they give at the Peninsula (no name that I can see on the tin soap box) and Miller Harris.

You sound like a woman after my own heart (shopping and travel - though I'd add spas and food), but I admit I looked eagerly at your blog for shopping tips, and couldn't find them! Are they hiding?

Just noticed ...you're Norwegian too (or at least based in Norway!).

I love your blog. I am a vegetarian and I love shopping and travel also. When my sister and I travel together, shopping is usually for the most part our main focus.

I like L'Occitane, Bulgari bath products. I am not a big fan of Elemis and Molton Brown.

I have a ton of Molton Brown collected on British Airways so I never have to purchase any. I was given a double amount last trip. I guess I looked like I needed it.

Welcome to FT! :)

I also like luxury hotel toiletries and I am a man. That said, the question of what the best hotel toiletries are is "methodologically problematic". ;) I mean some people have the weirdest allergies to the weirdest stuff or the weirdest smell or structure preferences. So the question for the "best" perhaps should be reworded into most exclusive or most expensive.

I think it would be more interesting to ask which hotel uses non-fragrant toiletries or hypo-allergenic ones, or those not tested on animals or those that don't contain anything that can cause cancer, in bio-degradable bottles, or even without bottles (dispensers). Also the question of which hotel provides the most complete line of toiletries would be interesting. For example I rarely see toothpaste and that's the thing I'd rather see than moisturizer or conditioner.

Then there is the question of how that is in sync with women (and a few men) who complain or bend over backwards to bring their own supply because they don't want to use the hotel stuff.

Two little beauty jokes for the sake of vanity.

A lady comes into a cosmetic store and asks which anti-wrinkle cream they can recommend. The clerk says: "Ma'am, you should take this one. We have it on sale in the 10kg bucket."

A lady goes to see a plastic surgeon and asks: "Doctor, what is the best you can do for me?"
The doctor says: "I'm sorry, but we don't do decapitations."

This from a man who is a sucker for feminine beauty and women who take care of themselves. :)

Till

I was given a heads up to a similar thread on toiletries in the Luxury Hotel forum:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxury-hotels/336404-favorite-toiletries.html

Hi

Sorry for not getting back to you! I am still in Japan. The Conrad was.... nice... :) so was the toiletries. :)

Thank you for your warm welcome and thank you for reading my blog. I have updated it from Japan, but sometimes it is very difficult to update. Need some time... :)

Well, I think, after reading the other thread, that it is very difficult to DISCUSS what's the best are. Some would say the most expensive and some would say the most natural etc.. etc... :) I think the best is to just share where you get what and then people at least can know what to expect! :)

xxx

Kimpton properties stock Aveda products. I like most of them, notably the soap and the lotion, but the Rosemary-mint shampoo and conditioner smell a bit medicinal for my taste.

Hotel Victory in Stockholm has Molton Brown. Lovely!

I like L'Occitane, Bulgari bath products.

The House Hotel in Galway, Ireland turned me on to the L'Occitane products. I couldn't get enough of the Lavendar Verbena soap, mmmmmm. Fortunately their products are widely available, so I came home and requested a bunch for Christmas that year. In answer to the OP, "obsessed" is probably too strong a word to describe me, but my husband would probably characterize me as a sucker for "over-priced smelly stuff," because traveling has been a great opportunity for trying lots of different types of products. I am much more discriminating these days about which hotel toiletries I will use/take home (vs. earlier days when the entire contents of the bathroom counter might come home in my toiletry bag.)

Hotel Lutetia in Paris had Annick Goutal Eau D'Hadrien toiletries and a special with nearby store to purchase

still think of that stay when I use this

Mandarin Oriental in Tokyo had Aromatherapy Associates ~ the body lotion was heavenly and I ended up with 4 very decent sized tubes by the end of my stay, a tiny bit goes a long way.

Crowne Plaza in London had Molton Brown - I love Gingerlily(?) shower gel!

My bathroom at home is a jumble of amenities ~ I don't have a regular sized bottle of shampoo, conditioner or bath & shower gel :p

Haha, it's good to hear that I am not the only one who takes the toiletries home. I returned from Japan two days ago and our suitcases were a little bit overweighted. My husband tried to argue about the toiletries, he said we do have soaps at home and that the first to go, if we had to pay for overweight, would be the toiletries. We didn't have to pay! However once, I had to ditch a full bag of Molton Brown (carefully collected each morning end evening) because of overweight. I was nearly crying... :-D

xxx

I used to take all and sundry from the toiletry supply too ;) But I've matured in my ways (allegedly) and now just take what I'll use. I don't need any more mini sewing kits!!

My favourite stuff so far was from Q1 on the Gold Coast - don't know what brand, but it was the best smelling passionfruit stuff! Fabulous!! And double bonus - I wasn't allergic to it! (normally I can't use most soap, shampoo or conditioner - moisturiser is fine though :confused: ).

tfar, I see you pop up in women travelers almost as often as in other parts of the forum :D

I too love Molton when I get it.

Loved Japan higher end hotels--I still have plastic hairbrushes from a trip three years ago, that I still use :)

I take the toiletries, even if I won't use them. I keep them in a bag at home and then donate to the local homeless shelters...they are always looking for soap and shampoo and such!

Years ago I used to take everything from the bathroom, but not anymore. Now I only take what I like, unless I have an empty suitcase. My son is at an underwater-rugby team, so he usually likes to have those small shampoos and soaps in his bag.

And yes, I LOVE that the Japanese are so obsessed with hygiene! :) I also still have some of the hairbrushes, combs and toothbrushes I got 3 years ago. This time I didn't have space for anything else than the good stuff. :)

BUT giving what I don't want to the homeless was an excellent idea! I might do that next time. My problem is that I usually don't have enough space/weight and paying overweight for free toiletries... not free anymore... :)

xxx.h

I usually only take the body lotion and then only if I like it. (About 100 years ago the Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa, then in its pre-Fairmont days, had absolutely divine apricot-scented toiletries, and I swiped all of those, but that was an exception.) I'm enamored of the Blaise Mautin scent at the PH Vendome and Moscow (but NOT his DC one), Penhaligon's Quercus (both the Bentley and the MO in London used to offer this, but I no longer stay at either so I can't say whether they still do), and Bulgari's The Vert. I hate the smell of Molton Brown (which, by the way, is also used on the RC floor at the Churchill in London) and of Elemis (which, IIRC, is used at the IC in London), but the single scent I most hate is that ginger one the U.S. Hyatts use in the winter--indeed, I bring my own soap when I'm going to stay in one because I can't even unwrap theirs without getting nauseous. (The fact that the products themselves are not very good anyway doesn't exactly help, either.)
I usually take the airlines' F&J amenity kits. I donated 4 or 5 shopping bags of them to Katrina victims back when. I plan on dropping off the current collection at a homeless shelter when I get a chance.