Confessions | Lifestyle | Personal Stories | Article

I Like Taking Free Hotel Amenities And Giving Them As Gifts To Friends And Family

by The Simple Sum | 1 Jul 2024

This may be an Asian thing, or maybe it’s me. Raise your hand if you took hotel amenities more than you needed when travelling or a staycation to bring home to use. 

Why not? Since you already paid for the hotel right? I usually take shower caps, razors, toothbrushes, hotel slippers and soap and shampoo. There’s also the free hotel tea and coffee bags.  

Anything that requires me to pay for I will not take. Over the years since I became a working adult I had the ability to travel more. This allowed me to build my own stash of free hotel amenities. 

Most of the time I will collect hotel slippers for my mom to wear at home. It is nice to bring home something from the hotel to create a more luxe experience at home. 

I recently went to Japan and the toilet amenities were so adorable I requested more sets with the intention of passing them to my friends. I think my friends wouldn’t know the difference anyway. 

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But I think sometimes it is embarrassing if your partner or the person you are travelling with is not the same type. There was once I had collected a small bag of free hotel amenities and as I checked out the porter wanted to help me with my bag. 

I self-consciously declined the offer.  

I know that it is okay to bring home some complimentary amenities but I know that if you are seen to be taking too much, it can be quite embarrassing.  

I am also starting to realise that I hardly use the amenities once I bring them home – because I have my own soap and shampoo and sometimes they are too cute to be opened. 

I have decided to stop hoarding as many of these items in future and to only take a few for keepsakes. 

This article is part of TSS Confessions, a weekly column where we delve into personal finance topics that are unscripted and genuine real accounts from people. 

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