Rebelyell

A couple of years ago I was planning a cheapo trip to Europe and knew I would be staying in some places that might not offer soap and/or shampoo, so I bought some hotel soap and shampoo off of Amazon. In addition, we rent out our house two or three times a year on Airbnb, and I figured it would be nice to offer hotel amenities. Both the soap and shampoo came in handy, and it was convenient not to have to keep up with used soap.

I just got back from another trip, and this time I found that many pretty decent hotels now offer lousy soap and shampoo. Even some of the better hotels are switching to "body wash" dispensers in the shower. I really hate body was because of the gloppy way it goes on and because it seems very weak to me and doesn't remove all the oil from my skin. So it was lucky that I had taken along a lot of my own soap and shampoo.

It's possible to transport used soap, but it is a messy proposition. As for the shampoo, I suppose I could pack one or two slightly larger bottles and use them for an entire trip, but a handful of 1 oz. bottles are nice to have. I leave behind the partially used soap but take leftover shampoo with me.

Now that Marriott is going to get rid of soap and shampoo (except for dispensers) I expect that I will just carry my own for most trips and use it as needed. Does anyone else buy or plan to buy mini-soaps and shampoos for travel? Will Marriott's decision to get rid of soap and shampoo make you more or less likely to stay there? Just curious? Also, FWIW, the brand I bought was Bergman Kelly. The shampoo has a light scent and the soap reminds me a bit of Ivory, which is a good thing. I'd love to buy some of those nice bars of soap that Hilton uses, but my guess is that they would cost a lot more.

yyznomad

Your post prompted me to search the Marriott forum and I found this thread:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...hotels-10.html

AFAICT, it's for the lower rung brands of Marriott... like Fairfield and Courtyard... are you saying this is for all Marriott properties?
Four Points by Sheraton and Aloft (not sure which others in Starwood) also do dispensers, so this seems to be in line with that.

As for bringing my own - I do bring my own, but they are hotel ones I take with me, and I do so for "just in case" purposes, not necessarily for use at a property that has dispensers.

Rebelyell

I had read it was to be for all Marriott properties, but maybe full Marriotts and above might still keep the individual soap and shampoo. Gotta say though that most of my stays are at "lower rung" properties, which often aren't so lower rung when it comes to price.

obscure2k

Please continue to follow this thread in the Travel Products Forum
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

haa

I prefer my own shampoo, also having slightly oily skin, so can not trust any hotel to have good shampoo for me. For the last 10+ years I have had 3 old small hotel soap/shampoo/conditioner bottles washed out and refilled with my own preferred shampoo in my freedom bag (carryon only travel whenever possible). 3 small bottles are enough for me up to a 10 day trip. Refilling at home from the big shampoo before a trip takes just a minute. I also tried "travel bottles" from a shop but prefer the smaller hotel bottles.

These days many hotels have bottles with caps that don't close securely, but often enough I can find new good ones if need to replace, they last pretty long, couple of years easily — and I always remember those good-shampoo-bottle hotels fondly when using the old bottles with the hotel name on — maybe a missed marketing opportunity, "travel well with X hotel, please reuse me".

This seems to be a trend: You can travel better by being more self-reliant, be it shampoo or in-flight entertainment using your own iPad/movies/podcasts.

TheMadBrewer

I use GoToob containers for things like shampoo and toothpaste when traveling (being also carry on only most trips). Just fill them up from larger bottles before each trip.

DragonSoul

Need to avoid certain ingredients in shampoo, shower gel, so I use Muji reuseable bottles (sells different sizes, take extra filled bottles for longer trips) and fill those with my own products at home. Have never bothered to use the hotel products so it seems strange to me that people rely on them when travelling.

Caveat: Okay I do use the hotel-provided shower caps.

yyznomad

@TheMadBrewer those GoToob products seem pretty good. Might try them out in the near future.

In general, I do just fine with hotel products, so taking the half-used bottles with me suffices. Of course, this doesn't work at hotels with dispensers, but I guess nothing stops one from filling a GoToob up with some of the product.

freecia

Muji sells a travel soap container that has a large cell sponge inside to prevent it from getting too slimy PP Soap Dish with Lid L L size. I've also seen a smaller one in some of the stores.

I've traveled with my own toiletries for quite some time. Some are decanted into hotel mini-bottles and honestly, I haven't come across much hotel product in the last few years which I've wanted to take home. A good bottle is more likely to appeal. I look for a flip top, stands on cap (gravity feed), and thin/flat so it doesn't take up much space in 3-1-1 shape.

Most of the hotel products use licensed brands and are distributed by the same suppliers https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/24908454-post9.html I'm one of the weird people who reads ingredient labels and I doubt that the hotel versions use the same formulations as the retail versions. They have a variety of water conditions to deal with, wider variety of hair & skin to satisfy, cost significantly less than the brand's retail product, and most of the good "expensive stuff" have equally long ingredient lists which don't fit on the small bottles in 1 sq inch. That's fine if you like a product for the scent or branding but not that useful if you want a specific retail formulation or to avoid some common low-cost ingredients due to sensitivity.

Low Roller

I always travel with my own products because I'm prone to having skin outbreaks if I rely on random products found in hotels. I have a couple of 100ml bottles that I refill for each trip.

txflyer77

I have a 100ml nalgene bottle that I fill with face wash and a waterproof soap container that I use to transport a bar of Dr. Bronner's soap. Like others, I sometimes have skin problems using whatever random crap is stocked by the hotel.

envgeo

Nalgene bottles - cheap, reusable and comes in a multitude of sizes and openings

dulciusexasperis

My wife has preferred bath products she uses, both just from preference and also from having had skin reactions to some different products. She uses Molton Brown's travel kit and refills them from 'full size' bottles she uses at home.
https://www.moltonbrown.com/store/ba.../catUSBTravel/

I'm sure other brands have similar travel kits available that can be refilled. That seems to me to be the logical answer to the question. Some little bottles you can refill at home.

Eltham

dulciusexasperis

Eltham, is that the best you can do at an attempt to connect one thread to another in a way you perceive as being insulting? How pathetic.

Why don't you try confining your responses to the OP's question and stop trying to punch above your weight class.