Westin Phasing Out Shampoo Bottles?

I think we have hit on what is really going on. Aloft's must be doing so well that Starwood is looking at slowly converting Westins in Alofts.

Remember, you heard it here on FT first.

A few years ago I stayed at a non-Starwood hotel that had bulk dispensers in the shower. Housekeeping had mistakenly loaded body moisturizer into the hair conditioner dispenser. All of us had the worst hair mess imaginable until we figured out what the problem was. Ever since then, I have an extreme distaste for bulk dispensers!

+1

We had this at the places where we stayed in Canada. Individual recycle bins in the closet of the hotel rooms.

I can't think of an upscale spa or gym that I've been to that doesn't employ this system. (With the number of guests using a shower per day it obviously would be difficult on housekeeping and wasteful to have individual toiletries.) The Westin products are no great shakes, sharing a dispenser has proven hygenic at spas and gyms. I find this a good idea and am surprised that more places don't do it. If I had to chose something to cut, this would be up at the top of the list over things like eliminating turndown and swapping pencils for pens and so on.

My guess is at least 95%. (I suppose people with allergies would tend to carry their own.)

How could even 100% of FT possibly be considered "most people"? FT is not even big enough to constitute a microcosm - we're more of a nanocosm.

I've been to several hotels recently with recycle bins. It's good to see (assuming they don't just combine them all in the trash once they get outside your room).

Exactly!

The Spa at the Parker Palm Springs has Molton Brown pumps and it just works. ACE hotels use Rudy's Barbarshop products in pumps ("use as much as you want, but if you take it you buy it") and it seems to work well for them.

I really do not like the idea. My wife and I stayed at our usual Paris hotel last week for three nights and noted that they had gone back to individual bottles because people did not like the wall-mounted dispensers. These might be OK for Motel 6, but not for Westin.

I pack my own bar soap, but take the mini shampoo bottles with me.

I feel your pain! One time I was was taking a shower during a power outage so I was using my Mini Maglite as a candle in my room. I grabbed the lotion instead of the shampoo went I went to shower.

I actually have no real issue with this as I always think all the bottles are such a waste, especially if you think how many get used worldwide.

I think ones that are fixed and cant just be opened easily by anyone would safe guard some of peoples worries. Also if you take that line of thought well a couple of sheets on a bed actually protects you from very little in real terms or are the actual pillows changed when you get a room or just the cases? The point being there are all ways to look at what is sanitary and what is not, but done right dispensers actually can be very handy to use if mounted in the correct place as it saves hunting round for the bottle etc!

When you wash your hands at a lounge in an airport do you use soap and if so most of those are dispensers. I guess the difference is it may say Molton Brown on the bottle or similar. I have stayed in quite a few luxury properties, Banyan Tree spring to mind who have this type of system and have had for years.

I'd prefer that Westin offer customers a choice by retaining the individual shampoo bottles and (if they indeed want to "go green") adding the dispensers. That would be a win-win.

Still, there's no way to avoid the impression that wall-mounted soap dispensers are anything but cheap and tacky. I'd at least like the option to not have to use them.

I'm very surprised that the Westin brand would consider this change. I can almost see it for aLoft or even Element, but not Westin. While I applaud the efforts toward being more green with far less waste, I'm not convinced that this change is going to please the majority of guests.

I don't think we're at the place where this can be seen as anything but a cost-saving move and that comes across as CHEAP to most folks. I'm quite surprised that the brand management folks over at Westin see this change as being in line with their brand's essence.

Time will tell ......

A minuscule quantity in comparison with plastic water bottles, soda/juice containers, plastic bags and similar mass market items.

I may somewhat accept the idea if even with installed dispensers they continue to offer normal bottled stuff "on request".

Not really that small of a quantity when you consider the number of single night stays people have around the world and after that any bottles that have been used or bars of soap opened are then thown away.

I am not particularly into the "green" movement, I drive a car that does well under 20mpg, fly first and business class etc etc, but I equally can see if you equate any action any one person takes or one chain of hotels takes against that of everything else in the world it will be a minuscule amount.

However for ease of figures Starwood rather than Westin has 292,000 rooms worldwide and if you work on 80% occupancy and average stays of 3 days say using 2 bottles of shampoo and body wash and a further 2 hadwash per stay, so 6 bottles in total that equates to 169,593,600 bottles a year, not may I point out counting conditioner! Doesnt seem that minusclue to me!

Would you stay at the SLS Beverly Hills?



I just thought. There is a luxury property that uses large bottle dispensers (although not wall mounted) that has received good FT reviews.




Would this prevent any of you from staying at the SLS. Are the dispensers a deal breaker???