Hoteliers Know That When It Comes to Toiletries, Little Things Mean a Lot

Shampoo, bath gel, laundry detergent, a sewing kit, toothbrush and toothpaste, shower cap and comb, cloth slippers and shoe wipes--these are some of the things I found when I checked into a room in China several years ago. They were probably worth no more than $5 in total, and I didn’t particularly need all of them, but they seemed a treasure to me because they were free.

The little amenities offered at hotels appeal to guests of both sexes, but they appear to touch an especially tender spot in women.

“The first thing I do when I get into a hotel room is head to the bathroom to see what’s there,” says Annette Zientek, president of ChristineColumbus.com, an online travel gear catalog for women.

Zientek collects free toiletries from renowned hotels around the world, like Mena House near the Great Pyramid in Egypt, as souvenirs. Others take them home to stock their guest bathrooms.

Is this stealing? Not according to Frank Bowling, vice president and general manager of the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles. There, complimentary amenities include a bath-size bar of swan-shaped soap, plus 3-ounce bottles of Bulgari Green Tea shampoo/conditioner, lotion and bath gel. They’re all figured into the price of the room, from $375 to $485 for a double, according to Bowling. “I expect people to take these things. When I travel, I do it myself,” he says.

Rob Brost, Zientek’s husband and business partner, also expects freebies, particularly when he’s paying hundreds of dollars a night for a room. “It’s like gambling in Las Vegas,” he says. “You may lose a lot of money, but you feel fine because you get free drinks.”

Many veteran world travelers have become selective about the hotel amenities they take because much of what’s offered is the toiletry equivalent of cheap wine. To get the really good stuff, you have to stay in pricey places like Casa del Mar and Shutters on the Beach. The free amenities at these two sister hotels in Santa Monica (doubles $330 to $575) are whimsical: at Shutters, a paperback copy of Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea,” a rubber whale toy for the tub and toiletries made by Forest Essentials on the Channel Islands. These include two big bars of triple-milled soap, and 3-ounce bottles each of body lotion, shampoo and conditioner. At Casa del Mar, the toiletries are made by the same company but are called Island Essentials. A little white stuffed teddy bear is placed on your pillow at turndown.

Freebies at the cliff-top Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur (doubles $365 to $645) begin with toiletries--handmade English lavender soap, bath salts and 3-ounce bottles of private-label aloe vera body lotion and sea kelp shampoo and conditioner. Sun block and poison oak cleanser are provided. Also free: the contents of the mini-bar.

An extra bag might be advisable for all the little extras at the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, Maui (doubles $295 to $425), and Amankila resort in Bali (doubles $605 to $815), where guests can take home Indonesian toiletries, slippers, a beach bag and sarong. The Ritz-Carlton freebies include a purple orchid lei; a toothbrush and toothpaste; 1.8-ounce bottles of Ritz-Carlton brand shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and moisturizer; packets of Woolite; and slippers.

At the quiet but hip Mercer hotel (doubles $375 to $500) in the SoHo neighborhood of New York, you get a clear plastic jar containing cotton balls and swabs, mints, an emery board and condoms, along with lotion, conditioner and shampoo--the last three in big 4-ounce bottles and from Face Stockholm.

The Hotel Hassler Villa Medici, atop the Spanish Steps in Rome (doubles $343 to $556), provides a fairly usual array of free amenities, like house-brand toiletries and slippers. But the intimate, family-run hotel keeps tabs on what returning guests have requested in the past--for instance, nail polish in a particular color--and makes sure it’s waiting when they arrive.

Two notable women hoteliers have created their own lines of toiletries for their hotels. Caroline Rose Hunt, honorary chairwoman of the elite Rosewood group, which includes the elegant Lanesborough in London (doubles $207 to $268), offers a line called Lady Primrose. It is provided at the Lanesborough in reproduction antique bottles (so you can’t take them home, though you can have the creamy, honey-scented soap and the velvet potpourri shoe forms placed in guests’ footwear by the maids).

Grace Leo-Andrieu, who owns the Montalembert in Paris (doubles $257 to $343), explained a practical reason for giving guests little vials of aromatherapy oils instead of chocolates at turndown. “It’s the wrong moment for chocolate,” she says. “You’ve already brushed your teeth.”

Amankila, Manggis, Bali; telephone 011-62-361-771-267, fax 011-62-361-771-266, Internet https://www.amanresorts.com.

Casa del Mar, 1910 Ocean Way, Santa Monica; tel. (310) 581-5533, (800) 898-6999, fax (310) 581-5503, Internet https://www.hotelcasadelmar.com.

Hotel Hassler Villa Medici, 6 Piazza Trinita dei Monti, Rome; tel. 011-39-06-69-93-40, fax 011-39-06-67-89-991, Internet https://www.hotelhasslerroma.com.

Hotel Montalembert, 3 Rue de Montalembert, Paris; tel. 011-33-1-45-49-68-68, fax 011-33-1-45-49-69-49, Internet https://www.montalembert.com.

Post Ranch Inn, Highway 1, Big Sur; tel. (800) 527-2200, fax (831) 667-2512, Internet https://www.postranchinn.com.

Ritz-Carlton, 1 Ritz-Carlton Drive, Kapalua, Maui; tel. (800) 262-8440 or (808) 669-6200, fax (808) 669-2028, Internet https://www.ritzcarlton.com.

Shutters on the Beach, 1 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica; tel. (800) 334-9000, fax (310) 458-4589, Internet https://www.shuttersonthebeach.com.

The Lanesborough, Hyde Park Corner, London; tel. 011-44-20-7259-5599, fax 011-44-20-7259-5606, Internet https://www.lanesborough.co.uk.