Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Travel&Dining > TravelBuzz
Reload this Page >

"Stealing" plush hotel bathrobes

"Stealing" plush hotel bathrobes

Old May 10, 2005, 3:10 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: AMS (SEA, JNB)
Programs: Mucci Reperateur des Coeurs Brises
Posts: 4,107
"Stealing" plush hotel bathrobes

Just returned from two nights in Brussels (after some days in Lyon and before heading to Africa) where I stayed (or rather crashed) with my father at the Hotel Amigo. I am not much of a bathrobe person, but the ones they had at this hotel were quite divine and ever so decadent.

So I decided to steal/take/borrow one but my father would here nothing of it. He (the company) would be charged, and that looks bad, although he is master and commander of his organisation's budget anyway. And what is a little extra charge in an otherwise ridiculously expensive hotel stay anyway? After a long debate (I argued that my parents have a whole closet of hotel bathrobes), the bathrobe remained in the former prison turned hotel and now I am without a nice bathrobe.

Question is... do hotels really charge for stolen/borrowed/taken bathrobes? I have a small collection of towels from various hotels around the world, for which I was never charged.

Has anyone else stolen/borrowed/taken bathrobes from hotels, and were you charged?

What else have you stolen/borrowed/taken from hotels? (besides toilettries) I did take the guide to all the LHW hotels from the Amigo.

Last edited by SchmeckFlyer; May 10, 2005 at 3:15 pm
SchmeckFlyer is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 3:40 pm
  #2  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Over the Bay Bridge, CA
Programs: Jumbo mas
Posts: 38,504
I have been charged for a bathrobe I never took The dispute was "resolved" in the hotel's favor without even contacting me. The "resolution" was eventually reversed. A lot of headache for something I didn't even see or use, let alone take.
Eastbay1K is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 3:51 pm
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: STL
Programs: WN or DL; Hyatt or Wyndham
Posts: 1,073
Bathrobes are definitely off limits. You might as well take the clock radio, the TV, or the mattress.

In a few of the "nicer" hotels I've stayed at in the U.S. that provide nice plush bathrobes, there is a note saying that if you wished to purchase the bathrobe, you could do so at $ x.
Delta Hog is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 3:55 pm
  #4  
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Out and About
Posts: 1,078
I think you just opened a can of worms.

While I have stayed at some fabulous places it was never a mental option to take a robe. I guess, if it does not seem as though they intend for you to take an item, then you should not take it. That is where subjectivity come into play.

I have seen this discussion get aggressive previously. There is a reasonable argument to say that you are a common thief. Others will say, that it is deminimus.

Personally, I believe that a robe rises above deminimus.
CountinPlaces is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 4:10 pm
  #5  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: May 2000
Location: أمريكا
Posts: 26,738
To me, taking a robe from a hotel room without paying for it is the same as taking it from a store without paying for it.

If you're comfortable with shoplifting, then I guess go ahead?
Doppy is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 4:16 pm
  #6  
jfe
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: El Paso, TX, USA
Programs: Kicked out of all of them
Posts: 32,554
Never, but I do own this robe and is fantastic

http://www.hammacher.com/publish/74035.asp

They are pricey items
jfe is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 4:24 pm
  #7  
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: London, U.K.
Programs: bmi British Midland International Diamond Club
Posts: 3,370
Originally Posted by SchmeckFlyer

Question is... do hotels really charge for stolen/borrowed/taken bathrobes? I have a small collection of towels from various hotels around the world, for which I was never charged.
Hotels are clever. They expect guests to steal from them and to replace what is stolen they add a mark up in the room rates just to cover these expenses. Typically about 10% of the room rate but probably much more in higher end properties. I read an interesting article in an Australian newspaper last year and you wouldn't believe some of the items people steal. Things that routinely disappear from hotels include ornate lamps, luxury linen, silverware and crockery. Even expensive rugs. Someone even managed to steal a grandfather clock, though how they managed that is beyond me.
Strawb is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 4:31 pm
  #8  
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Somewhere between DEN & ...
Programs: UA Global Services; UA/1K (since 1991); Marriott Platinum; Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 174
'Has anyone else stolen/borrowed/taken bathrobes from hotels, and were you charged?

What else have you stolen/borrowed/taken from hotels?

Are you kidding? Were you planning at some time to "return" your "borrowed" robe? Clearly your father has some standards that are sorely lacking today.
DC-COFlyer is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 4:36 pm
  #9  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: AMS (SEA, JNB)
Programs: Mucci Reperateur des Coeurs Brises
Posts: 4,107
Originally Posted by Doppy
To me, taking a robe from a hotel room without paying for it is the same as taking it from a store without paying for it.

If you're comfortable with shoplifting, then I guess go ahead?
That is mildly insulting... but I will not take offence because I know I am not a shoplifter. I only asked because I assumed (wrongly I now know) that bathrobes were part of the list of items hotels regularly expect to lose to guests, such as towels, toilettries, magazines and such. Guess I should go buy myself a robe if I really want one...
SchmeckFlyer is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 4:43 pm
  #10  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: May 2000
Location: أمريكا
Posts: 26,738
Originally Posted by SchmeckFlyer
That is mildly insulting... but I will not take offence because I know I am not a shoplifter. I only asked because I assumed (wrongly I now know) that bathrobes were part of the list of items hotels regularly expect to lose to guests, such as towels, toilettries, magazines and such. Guess I should go buy myself a robe if I really want one...
Not trying to insult.

Stores "expect" to lose merchandise due to shoplifting as well, but I don't think that that makes it more legitimate to take merchandise from them.
Doppy is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 4:43 pm
  #11  
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: District of Columbia, Maryland- AA 2M Life Platinum, UA 1K, TK Gold, BA Silver, IC RA, Fairmont/Marriott Platinum, SPG/Hilton/Omni Gold, Wynn/Makers Mark Ambassador, Hertz Presidents Circle, Avis Chairmans, National Executive
Posts: 1,578
Originally Posted by CountinPlaces
Personally, I believe that a robe rises above deminimus.
Did you mean de minimis? Yes, it is lacking significance but here is my point of view- why buy a used bathrobe or have one charged to your room? Go downstairs and buy a new one from the spa. It will come up as a spa charge or look like a hotel restaurant bill. Not only would this be legal, but you would also get more points.
idealflyer is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 4:48 pm
  #12  
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: The Puget Sound, WA
Posts: 2,232
Originally Posted by UK flyer
They expect guests to steal from them and to replace what is stolen they add a mark up in the room rates just to cover these expenses.
I dont think that hotels expect the guests to steal from them, but Im sure they are very aware that there are a certain percentage of people that have no scruples that dont think twice about stealing.

The price of everything you buy is slightly inflated to cover the shoplifting/stealing that goes on. So I guess everyone gets to pay for those stolen robes.
IK in Seattle is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 5:10 pm
  #13  
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: SFO
Programs: Delta Diamond, Some other impressive stuff
Posts: 450
Many hotels now just list robes and other like items with the mini bar menu. That way you didn't steal it, you simply forgot to fill out the mini bar menu when you departed.

How could one think that a $100 item (or more) was "included in the rate"??
frequentfoulup is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 5:41 pm
  #14  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: RDU
Programs: Marriott PLT, Starwood, American Gold, Delta
Posts: 447
It would never enter my mind to take anything from a hotel...well, OK, I take the soap.
wintersummer is offline  
Old May 10, 2005, 5:52 pm
  #15  
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: DL PM/MM, Hilton Silver, SPG+, Hertz PC
Posts: 7,898
Isn't charging $5 for a minibar item worth 50c a form of theft ?
What about when I replace the above item with an identical one bought at Walgreens instead ?
The crime is in the eye of the beholder.
thesaints is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.