Hotel out of Shampoo

This was a new one to me, and I swear I am not making this up. I don't have as many stays as many on this forum, but I've certainly stayed in my share of hotels from Budget Inns to the Ritz, and I have never experienced this situation. I finally got to the Springhill Suites in Shreveport, Louisiana last night around 11, and got checked in. I go to my room, seems nice enough, but there's no shampoo. Conditioner yes, shampoo no. Whatever, I figure, I'm sure housekeeping just forgot to put one in. Off I go to the front desk, where the nice fellow behind the counter explains that the hotel is out of shampoo. I was speechless for a few seconds while processing this information. I said pardon? He replied that he was very sorry, but he wouldn't be able to get me shampoo until housekeeping arrived in the morning. When I asked what time that would be, he said around 7 or 8 AM. I explained that since I had an 8 AM meeting, that wasn't going to work for me. I then asked if perhaps there was shampoo in a room that wasn't currently occupied. He said he had thought of that, but there wasn't any shampoo in those rooms either. At this point, with no possible resolution (I had been driving for 7.5 hours and I certainly wasn't going to go try to find a drug store that was open), I went back to my room. This morning I had the pleasure of washing my hair with bar soap.

How in the world could this possibly happen? The desk agent's response suggested to me that there was shampoo in the building, he just couldn't access it. Am I wrong to be a bit miffed by this? I had a pretty important meeting, and wanted to look my best. Washing my hair with bar soap did not fit into my plans. What does this say about how the hotel feels about its guests? If they were really, really out of shampoo, why not send somebody to Walgreens to buy up a bunch of travel sizes? Or alternately, call the Holiday Inn Express, which was directly across the street, and buy some shampoo off of them. At least then we'd have something. Perhaps I need to carry a hotel-sized bottle of shampoo with me, but honestly, never in my wildest dreams did I think this would occur. Shampoo is a pretty basic hotel accommodation.

I have gold status with Marriott, and I certainly will email them about this situation, but I'm unsure a) how upset to be about this and b) what I should say in the email. Was I annoyed, sure, but it's not like the room was a mess, or they lost my reservation, or there was construction going on all night; I haven't lost perspective. That being said, as a business traveler, I'm not in Shreveport for vacation, and I want to not worry about my ability to wash my hair in what is supposed to be a upper-middle (to me at least) tier hotel. It strikes me that this is rather disrespectful towards your guests.

Is this issue worthy of compensation? If so, what the heck do I ask for?

Thanks for any input.

use conditioner ... not that big of a deal. It is strange, I agree and yes, Marriott should try and address this. Compensation? Really?

Seriously? Use conditioner????? gross!!!!!

Aaaaaaand I'm quickly reminded why I stopped coming here. I don't know, that's why I asked. If it's not, then fine. Just say that, don't make me look like I'm a jerk for asking the hive mind that is flyertalk.

I would agree that no compensation is called for (but of course should be graciously accepted if offered). We've all washed our hair with bar soap at least a few times in our lives, and yes, this has happened to me at hotels before. I took it in stride, made do, and moved on.

Flyertalk is far from being a hive mind, since every thread has some bickering. However, asking for compensation at a Springhill because they're out of shampoo is a bit nitpicky. They already have free breakfast, that which it is. I guess they could comp you a bag of chips or something. In the end, they don't have any shampoo, so your best bet is go buy some if you want to wash your hair in the morning.

It is weird, especially since the guy said he had to wait for housekeeping. If housekeeping had shampoo, they would have put it out. If shampoo was delivered after housekeeping left, then the front desk could crack open a box and hand them out. What it sounds like is, they're out of shampoo, and they won't have any until some is delivered.

When a hotel runs out of basic supplies like this, I always wonder whether it's poor management or more specifically that they're on the verge of bankruptcy and can't afford to buy the item/can't get credit to purchase the item.

Thanks y'all. I had never stayed at a Springhill before, and like I said, I had never been in that position before. I figured somebody around here had though, so at least I was right on that count. I honestly didn't know if this was worth making a stink about with Marriott rewards, which is why I came here first. Like I said above, I wasn't sure how upset to be in the first place. If it doesn't rise to the occasion, I'll not ask. NBD.

Making a stink about: No. Letting Marriott know about: Definite yes.

I feel your pain, having once been on a Korean Air flight where they ran out of rice. Korean Air. No rice. And I was eating bibimbap. For the record, I barely got an apology until I asked to speak to the purser. The purser apologized by pointing out that KE had recently hired this new flight crew, they were from (specific country) and that's why they were so awful. Running out of rice was not something worth raising a fuss over, but making a blanket statement about a certain nationality was.

Having similar situation now, staying at a FS Marriott (5* hotel so it claim). Arrived at room yesterday to find no slippers and robes in room, requested via mobile app function and chat and ignored for hours. Sorted when visited front desk in person hours later. Late last night found out there was no toothbrush in room, learning from afternoon's experience called At Your Service, positive response saying it's on its way. Nearly an hour later still nothing, called again and was told the hotel was "completely out of toothbrush tonight", need to wait til next morning. I replied with getting housekeeping to deliver after 930 given how late it was already, and I wanted to sleep in. So was left unable to brush my teeth and wait late into the night. This morning I was waken up early in the morning by door knocks early in the morning, completely ruined my sleep. No apology whatsoever. I mean it's a bloody 5* FS Marriott, they can't even get something as basic as toothbrush or slippers right? Due to check out tomorrow, can I possibly expect anything?

Unacceptable you pay for this , if i was in this situation i well call the manager or marriott rewards 10,000 to 15000 points in this case must added to your account

The hotel should've offered to give you a bottle of shampoo that was likely in their little shop for sale. They normally have small/medium size toiletries in there to sell.

The gift shop should also have toothbrush and toothpaste, but I suspect that the shop was closed unless it's one of those open pantry thingies beside the front desk.

However, for the toothbrush, IMO it depends where the hotel was located. They're standard in some places such as Asia but not in the USA. Shampoo, however, is basic and I would expect it in just about any hotel room, even Motel 6 type properties. It's not a luxury item at all. [This isn't meant to be a comment on the relative importance of the items, just their traditional frequency of being supplied in hotel rooms.]

Agree.

FWIW it happened in a FS Marriott in Asia Pacific. What I find most disturbing is how the hotel handled the situation. They couldn't have cared less about the guest's experience. I felt like I had to beg for everything and the only time I've heard a "sorry" was when I was told they're out of toothbrush tonight, not to mention an apology. Growing up in Asia Pacific, my perception of anything more than a mid-tier hotel would be toothbrush coming as a standard. Perhaps my perception was wrong in this case.