# Is keeping a hotel 'souvenir' towel, robe or other OK? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 30, 2014, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948 "2014-11-30T12:38:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/21 "2014-11-30T17:42:30Z")
Unless the hotel specifically says yes, I think it’s theft. A robe or towel isn’t the same as a toothbrush or soap. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/22 "2014-11-30T18:03:56Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I used to take the little soaps/shampoos/lotions that were in the bathroom and going back a LONG way I used to take an ashtray if it was a nice hotel stay and I wanted a reminder. > > Now days I don’t travel much but I even when I did I would never take anything lie towels or a robe. > > The last hotel I stayed in had great robes and there was a little sign in the bathroom that said > “To our guests - we’ve gotten many compliments on our robes. Please feel free to take one with you and we will be happy to add the $65 cost to your bill.” I always take the soap, shampoo, etc. I have read that if you don’t, they have to throw them away. Some people have told me that this is not true if you leave them unopened, but I still do it anyway. Shelters and food pantries are VERY happy to get these. If they have granola bars, bottled water, etc. I take that too. And I’ve also seen “price lists” that a hotel can and will charge for theft or vandalism. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/23 "2014-11-30T18:08:09Z")
Theft, at least for things like towels. Soap/shampoo, that’s complimentary, I’m pretty sure. ---
**Author:** ![GythaOgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@GythaOgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GythaOgg)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/24 "2014-11-30T19:25:34Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > No, it’s not a common custom where I live. I’ve never done it over seas either. > > ETA: Actually, I take that back. This summer my husband and I went on a cruise for the first time for our 20th. The steward would make wash cloth animals to leave on the bed at night. The last night it was a penguin. It was a adorable. When we got home I went and took a shower. When I stepped back into our room the little penguin was perched on my pillow. > > My husband stole it. Probably shouldn’t have, but it was an absolutely sweet gesture. If it was a Disney cruise, it may have been meant for you to keep. Disney does this at the very least at their higher-end resort hotels - we specifically asked both a housekeeper and the front desk of the hotel if the towel animals were ours to take home. We were told they were - at no charge. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did this on their cruises, too. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/25 "2014-11-30T19:26:32Z")
> [@GythaOgg](#): > > If it was a Disney cruise, it may have been meant for you to keep. Disney does this at the very least at their higher-end resort hotels - we specifically asked both a housekeeper and the front desk of the hotel if the towel animals were ours to take home. We were told they were - at no charge. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did this on their cruises, too. It wasn’t Disney, but I’m going to pretend they all intend for us to keep them! ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/26 "2014-11-30T19:53:17Z")
In Japan it is widely accepted that it’s OK to take home the hand towel from Japanese style hotels. Only the cheap, thin kind used for washing yourself at the bath. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/27 "2014-11-30T20:37:15Z")
This thought just occurred to me - no matter how luxurious the hotel towels may be, they’re usually white. I definitely don’t want white towels for my bathroom, thanks. I like color!! But even if they were a gorgeous color that I loved, I couldn’t take one, tho I might ask who supplied the towels. And speaking of cruises, this past summer, I was on a cruise with my mother and they provided complimentary robes on request - for use on the cruise. They called them “One size fits all” - funny joke. Based on the people I saw aboard, fully half couldn’t have worn those robes, including me. They need to label the robes “One size fits all under 120#” if they’re being honest. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/28 "2014-11-30T20:54:09Z")
I have stayed in some very scary shit holes on up to some of the best hotels in the world and you don’t take the towels and robes. For fuck sake. Who doesn’t know this? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/29 "2014-11-30T21:38:57Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Not exactly legal but hotels turned a blind-eye to it, as I recall. Are you sure? I’ve heard that they expect some guests to swipe towels etc. in the same way that retailers anticipate a certain amount of shoplifting to dent their bottom line. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/30 "2014-11-30T21:45:36Z")
From [here](http://news.travel.aol.com/2010/03/18/steal-these-items-from-your-hotel/) - I googled _hotels charging for missing towels_ and came up with quite a few interesting hits. > [@](#): > > Holiday Inn alone estimated that they lost 560,000 towels in one year – and that’s just one chain. Duvets, pillows, sheets, and pillowcases also disappear at an alarming rate. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/31 "2014-11-30T22:21:13Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I have stayed in some very scary shit holes on up to some of the best hotels in the world and you don’t take the towels and robes. For fuck sake. Who doesn’t know this? I have a friend whose mother steals everything not nailed down. This includes in restaurants, where she takes condiment dispensers, salt/pepper shakers, silverware, napkins, and once tried to take a tablecloth, telling her family members to hold on to their plates and glasses so she could slide it out from underneath. They refused. As Mr. Mojo Workin’ once sang: People are strange. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/32 "2014-11-30T22:33:41Z")
Are these the same hotels that leave a bottle of water in your room with a little note that it costs $4? The hotels that charge $11.95 for a bagel and coffee from room service? Why would anyone think they want you to take home their towels? ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/33 "2014-11-30T23:01:26Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > The hotels that charge $11.95 for a bagel and coffee from room service? Room service is ridiculous. I stayed at a hotel in Boston one weekend, and when I looked at the menu I saw they charged $7.00 for a single can of Pepsi. You could have gone to the 24-hour supermarket (A full supermarket too, not just a convenience store) across the street and bought a whole case of them for less than that. ---
**Author:** ![TheTerribleTako](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@TheTerribleTako](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTerribleTako)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/34 "2014-12-01T00:38:28Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Same as I wouldn’t lift the towels when I stay with my inlaws… Funny story - my mom once called me up, absolutely furious, because my uncle and aunt, who had been staying with them for the week, had left with a new, fluffy towel that she had just bought two weeks earlier. Guess what my uncle does for a living? That right, he’s a hotel manager. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/35 "2014-12-01T02:27:54Z")
> [@GythaOgg](#): > > If it was a Disney cruise, it may have been meant for you to keep. Disney does this at the very least at their higher-end resort hotels - we specifically asked both a housekeeper and the front desk of the hotel if the towel animals were ours to take home. We were told they were - at no charge. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did this on their cruises, too. On our last cruise, NCL, there were towel animals every night, usually made of the towels. So I never thought about taking them. Plus, they used the room cabin towels, so if you stuffed them away you’d have nothing to dry yourself with. They had a towel folding demo - quite clever. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/36 "2014-12-01T02:30:46Z")
It’s very sad that my parents instilled a sense of integrity in me, as they also gave me a name (before I got married) that began with S, meaning that I could have scored such a great monogrammed set from Sheratons. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/37 "2014-12-01T02:32:44Z")
It’s not stealing, they charge your credit card if you take them so it’s more like buying. Why you’d want a used robe or towel you’ll be overcharged for is beyond me, though. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/38 "2014-12-01T02:57:21Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > No, of course you can. It’s just like if the chambermaid takes a piece of jewelry out of your luggage as a keepsake to remind her of those nice people in room 818. If you don’t mind the one you shouldn’t mind the other. Sarcasm? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/39 "2014-12-01T02:58:50Z")
I took home some chicken, corn, and pie from a hotel. I called and offered to give it back. But they’d have to wait a few hours. They were still in my colon. Not my fault their restaurant had such delicious food. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948/40 "2014-12-01T03:53:01Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > In Japan it is widely accepted that it’s OK to take home the hand towel from Japanese style hotels. Only the cheap, thin kind used for washing yourself at the bath. This still depends on the hotel/bathhouse. At some you buy the towel as part of entry (or for an additional fee), but at others they specifically ask for it back. But yeah, if it’s the really thin, cheap hand towel that doesn’t look like it will last more than a handful of uses, it’s a good bet that you’re allowed to take that home with you. I’ve forgotten my towel enough times now to have a rather large assortment of onsen-branded hand towels. With regard to the OP, I would never take something from a hotel unless I was specifically told I could. It’s becoming more common among larger hotel chains here to see the “Towels/pillows/robes/etc. are available for purchase from the Front Desk (you filthy $&#@ing thief!)”-style notices. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-keeping-a-hotel-souvenir-towel-robe-or-other-ok/705948.md?page=3)