"Stealing" plush hotel bathrobes
#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.
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
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Over the Bay Bridge, CA
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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.
#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.
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.
#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.
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.
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Location: El Paso, TX, USA
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Never, but I do own this robe and is fantastic
http://www.hammacher.com/publish/74035.asp
They are pricey items
http://www.hammacher.com/publish/74035.asp
They are pricey items
#7
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: London, U.K.
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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.
#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.
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.
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2004
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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?
If you're comfortable with shoplifting, then I guess go ahead?
#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...
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.
#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.
#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.
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.
#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"??
How could one think that a $100 item (or more) was "included in the rate"??
#15
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: San Francisco, CA
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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.
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.