HOTEL managers have revealed a stupid mistake guests make that will cost them £120.
Some guests like to take something extra as a souvenir from their stay, but not everything is up for grabs and it can come back to bite you.
While some items can be taken, such as toiletries and slippers, many of the items are not meant to be removed from the rooms – such as bathrobes, pillows and blankets.
It might be hard not to accidentally slip plush, cosy hotel bathrobes in your luggage, but it will not go unnoticed.
Since luxury hotels get out of their way to source the finest robes, it makes sense that visitors are frequently enticed to keep them as mementos.
On top of that, hotel merchandise has evolved into a sort of status symbol, proving that you have visited the Chateau Marmonts of the globe.
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Azadeh Hawkins, creative director at Montage International, told Thrillist: ” We went through a very detailed process of sampling, reviewing many options of brands, and focusing on quality and fit to ensure we picked the perfect bathrobes to match the Pendry Hotels & Resorts experience.”
In the past, guests were quite open about their pilfering of bathrobes from hotels.
But in recent years, most properties have made it quite clear that a missing robe will be added to the cost of the room – the warning usually comes on the clothes hanger.
Kasey Pinedo, director of rooms at VEA Newport Beach A Marriott Resort & Spa, said: “Typically in a luxury hotel like VEA, our guests know that a robe can be purchased… We will gladly sell a brand new one to you for $150.
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“If you do steal the robe from our luxury resort, we will also gladly charge you $150.”
Not all hotels would treat robe stealing as a theft, but they would charge you for it nevertheless.
Schuyler Clark, general manager of the Craddock Terry Hotel in Lynchburg, VA, said: “I can’t say it is stealing, more so that there is such a connection to the comfort that they accidentally find their way into their luggage.
“It just slips the mind to mention it upon departure, and we have a process in place to monitor.”
If you still want to have a keepsake from your travels, you can do it without resorting to theft.
Most hotels sell their branded bathrobes at the front desk or in souvenir shops anyway.
The Lodge at Bodega Bay in California sells about 20 robes a month – with one or two each week charged on bill after guests’ stealing.
Most hotel managers view robe theft as a compliment that the guests hold the establishment in such high regard, they want to have a piece of it to boast their stay.
The robe replacements are also accounted for when planning the operating supplies costs.
According to one member of the hospitality industry, most hotels now factor in a degree of thievery into their annual budget.
Even if you do get caught out and charged for something you’ve stolen, you can probably weasel your way out of it anyway, like account manager Gaby Martino who was billed for a bathrobe she stole.
She said: “I stay at the Ritz Carlton every June with my family and a couple of years ago I decided to ‘borrow’ one, despite the sign hanging on the robe that clearly said ‘If you would like to purchase one, let concierge know.’
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“I got a call from my dad about a week later to say that they had charged him $150, so of course I protested my innocence.
“My dad called the hotel and they apologised profusely for the ‘accident’ and took it off the bill.”
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Aiya Zhussupova
