# Why do hotels put chocolates on your pillow? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324 "2016-03-17T21:06:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/21 "2016-03-18T07:10:19Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I like chocolate. > > I hate murdered flowers. Why? What did those flowers ever do to you? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/22 "2016-03-18T07:14:28Z")
That’s my question, what did the poor flowers do to deserve being murdered? Speaking of “don’t hate me 'cos I’m pretty”… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/23 "2016-03-18T07:55:22Z")
I’ve seen other things besides chocolate left on hotel pillows in luxury hotels - a clever piece of origami or a little doll - stuff like that. Cookies are another fairly common variation. It’s a nice little pampering touch. Fruit in the room is common in Asia (perhaps elsewhere as well - I wouldn’t know) but while that can be very nice I hate it when they include guava, which to me has a very strong odor a lot like feline urine. Before I got used to the fact that SE Asian hotels often include guava in their fruit plate, I would enter a room and exclaim “OH GAWD A CAT PISSED IN HERE.” Now I just go looking for the guava so I can get rid of it. ---
**Author:** ![TheSundial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@TheSundial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSundial)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/24 "2016-03-18T10:13:37Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I’m waiting with bated breath - what do you think it is for? “I’m waiting with bated breath.” That’s exactly what the Naga Sirens say in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. I wonder it that was a reference or just a coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/25 "2016-03-18T10:20:55Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > That’s my question, what did the poor flowers do to deserve being murdered? Speaking of “don’t hate me 'cos I’m pretty”… :smack: I just wonder if you should be hating the flowers or the act of giving flowers :). ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/26 "2016-03-18T10:21:57Z")
> [@TheSundial](#): > > “I’m waiting with bated breath.” > > That’s exactly what the Naga Sirens say in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. > > I wonder it that was a reference or just a coincidence. Possibly a standard English phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/27 "2016-03-18T10:50:58Z")
I’m also pretty sure the nagas say ‘baited’, what with the whole fish thing, and Warcraft’s penchant for puns. ---
**Author:** ![core](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@core](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/core)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/28 "2016-03-18T11:21:26Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I’m waiting with bated breath - what do you think it is for? Some things are best left as an exercise for the reader. But for ummm… afterwards. Possibly to avoid having guests spit a mouthful of water at the bathroom mirror. Although I suspect that only happens when cameras are rolling. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/29 "2016-03-18T11:32:58Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > [Cool History Facts: Why Hotels Put a Chocolate On Your Pillow](http://www.bathroomreader.com/2014/12/cool-history-facts-hotels-put-chocolate-pillow/) - (Uncle John is a regular SD reader himself!) > [@](#): > > Every room gets a chocolate on the pillow, particularly the 18th floor’s “Cary Grant Suite.” Every room… but this one in particular? Huh? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/30 "2016-03-18T11:35:35Z")
> [@core](#): > > Some things are best left as an exercise for the reader. But for ummm… afterwards. Possibly to avoid having guests spit a mouthful of water at the bathroom mirror. Although I suspect that only happens when cameras are rolling. No, that’s not what the chocolate is for. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/31 "2016-03-18T12:02:39Z")
Around here (Switzerland), a “Bettmümpfeli” is a little treat kids get just before they have to brush their teeth and go to bed, probably as a kind of bedtime ritual to make bedtime something they look forwards to rather than something to put up a fight about. I have always seen the chocolate on hotel pillows as a “Bettmümpfeli”. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/32 "2016-03-18T12:54:43Z")
I remember it as Betthuepferl" in Swabia. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/33 "2016-03-18T15:00:12Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Possibly a standard English phrase. Yes. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2016, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/34 "2016-03-18T20:00:12Z")
> [@core](#): > > I enjoyed Cecil’s column on bibles in hotel rooms, but I have not heard an explanation for the chocolates. When did this get started, and why? It seems like a strange practice to me. If they want guests to have some chocolates, why not leave them on the table where they won’t accidentally get slept on or worse. > > And why do you need to eat chocolate in the bed, anyway? Is it for what I think it is? Since no one has answered this - and since I don’t particularly believe the Cary Grant story - here is a stab. The chocolate is left just after the bed has been turned down for night time. The pillow is guaranteed to be clear. The guest might have stuff in just about any other place in the room except the pillow, so if a small chocolate is left on the desk it might get lost. And I can’t imagine someone not seeing it. I bring mine home to my wife. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/35 "2016-03-18T20:04:13Z")
One possible answer not mentioned yet: perhaps the chocolate on the pillow is the hotel’s way of wishing you “sweet” dreams. ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/36 "2016-03-18T20:39:16Z")
The chocolate square is always of the type that melts easily. Get the hint…no…ok i will explain. Some guests prefer to use melted chocolate as an aid in oral sex. This is the hotels way of helping you along. I thought this was common knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/37 "2016-03-18T22:19:51Z")
Wow, that’s not the kind of hotel where I’ve seen the chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![core](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@core](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/core)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/38 "2016-03-18T22:42:59Z")
Nansbread, if you need an “aid” for that I think you might be doing it wrong? ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2016, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/39 "2016-03-19T05:25:22Z")
Where are all you people finding this chocolate? I regularly go to a Best Western/Red Lion kinda place a couple of times a year, and have never seen them. So is it a luxury hotel/regional/traditional kind of thing? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2016, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324/40 "2016-03-19T05:58:01Z")
Must admit the hotels I currently frequent don’t do it (Holiday Inn, Mantra, Oaks), but I have seen it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hotels-put-chocolates-on-your-pillow/749324.md?page=3)