Marriott is enforcing wall mounted toiletry dispensers in the showers of their managed North American properties. They’re not the only ones going in this direction, it’s cheaper and they get to pretend their motivation is the environment.
I have five concerns with wall mounted dispensers replacing individual bottles.
- Authenticity While some upscale hotels in China have been known to distribute counterfeit branded toiletries even in individual bottles to save money, it’s far more likely that you’re getting what’s on the bottle when it’s in the bottle versus just refilled into a branded package on the wall. You don’t know what you’re really getting when you don’t see the package.
- Security Previous hotel guests might find it funny to put something other than shampoo or bath gel in the bottles, or to mix them up. Last year someone replaced the soap in dispensers at the Detroit airport with bodily fluid and you don’t know who was staying in your room before you.
- Germs I just don’t believe that the dispensers themselves get thoroughly cleaned and sterilized between guests. Here’s a National Institutes of Health study on bacterial contamination of bulk-soap-refillable dispensers.
- Availability Housekeeping just doesn’t refill these, the way it’s obvious when a bottle has been opened or is missing.
- Experience. It’s not a premium experience. There’s no ‘take away’ to remember the stay.
Indeed I use shampoo and bath gel at home that I discovered at a hotel, I imagine many of you do too.
I stayed at the same Marriott Courtyard two weeks in a row last month and was assigned the same room both times. My bath gel was empty throughout my first stay, and it was still empty a week later. In fairness they say they’re moving to more transparent dispensers where it will be easier for housekeeping to see when top off is required, however I haven’t found that to actually work.
For the past few days I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Lake Washington in Renton outside of Seattle for the second time this year. It is a gorgeous hotel, on the water, and right next to the Boeing factory so many rooms have a view of planes waiting for their finishing touches.
This hotel has wall mounted toiletries too, C.O. Bigelow.
There are two things they’ve done that should in theory address my concerns.
- First a guest cannot simply pop the top and put something inside. They’re ‘locked into place’. But that means it’s more effort for housekeeping to refill the bottles.
- Second the very bottom of the bottles is transparent so housekeeping can see easily when it’s time for a top up. Note that it’s only the bottom of the bottles, so expect you may run low even if they’re taking their queue from this transparent window.
Unfortunately during my stay I checked in and the bath gel was empty. And it wasn’t refilled at all during my three night stay.
By the way I have long liked C.O. Bigelow, but I’m not inclined to have the same affinity for the stuff when it’s in a wall mounted dispenser. They’re also in American Airlines lavatories. Is it strange this makes me downgrade my estimation of C.O. Bigelow while upgrading my estimation of American’s (pre-Project Oasis) lavs?
Wall dispensers do not work. Stop the madness.
The Kimpton Everly Hotel in LA which charges $300+ for standard rooms have these soap wall dispensers in their rooms and suites!
Here is a photo from their Argyle Suite: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kalboz/39803034500/
I agree wall dispensers get 2,stays I one my first and my last
It’s disgusting. Someone with common sense should stop this trend.
Gary we I think will have to get use to this trend. I regularly stay at the Hyatt Lake Washington many months ago the GM wrote me asking my opinion of the soap dispensers. I have no real issue with them as long as there is security as you have pointed out.
Another alarming issue is the A Loft at SEATAC does not provide newspapers in the am. I asked the GM about this and she said that SPG under their brand does not require newspapers when I wrote SPG something. Yet another nickel and dime from operators.
Gary, you may use products at home that you found at a hotel but I have almost never found anything at a hotel that I consider decent. I find most products to be far too scented and rough on the skin and hair. I always take my own products with me when I travel. Yes, I know. TSA hassle with liquids but I usually check in a bag since I hate the scrum at the gate and often board last with no carry-on. Different strokes for different folks.
@Ghostrider
You don’t need a newspaper when you have a smart phone. What a trivial thing to complain about, especially from an Loft hotel, where it’s aimed at millennial’s & “minimalism”.
My latest snafu was a housekeeper had accidentally put shampoo in the conditioner. So two shampoos, no conditioner. When you discover the issue, you are at the end of the shower and it’s incredibly hard to get rectified.
At lower end properties I am fine with them and actually like them. Especially for 100+ night travelers – the environmental impact is big and I carry a lot of guilt. I sometimes travel with my own bottles from Mujiwhich are great for after shave, face soap, body wash etc.
The Muji tubes are awesome – highly recommend:
http://www.muji.us/store/pe-tube-30g.html
Is there a “greener” solution besides all the small disposable containers?
Folks you should be worried about bed germs instead. I don’t want to be in any bed that has had bodily fluids on it. You can’t wash a mattress.
If the soap is locked in place that all that is needed. It is soap. It kills germs.
I would use that said soap and wash the phone receiver, buttons on alarm clock and TV remote. Those are the items that never get maintained.
I wrote to Marriott and told them of my opposition.
I have also decided not to stay at any Marriotts unless absolutely necessary. I fear that this won’t be enough.
Write to Marriott. Write in different ways, email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
I also don’t understand what the fuzz is all about. I always carry my less than 100ml bottle of shampoo and facial soap.
And how about pretty much all the airport lounges offering these kind of toiletries? I have just left the Star Alliance shower at LAX and it was not a very good set up like these C.O. Bigelow that AA have at the Flagship / Admirals Club out there.
I think the only place I have seen soap and shampoo is in the Latam lounge at GRU.
I was staying at the Hyatt Regency Lake Washington two weeks ago and the soap was empty on my second night and never refilled. I even placed the steel container for the cotton balls over the soap dispenser handle to alert housekeeping. The maid didn’t get the clue. These soap dispensers are worthless.
I’m torn on this one. I love walking away with high-end toiletries (some of which I’ve since purchased). I also agree with your hygienic points above.
That said, as a species, we use FAR, far, far too much PLASTIC. It is undeniably in our oceans at alarming rates, and it’s polluting the very places we all strive to visit using points and miles. (*cough* Bali plastic *cough*)
We all should strive to use less plastic, especially the single use kind. This is is low hanging fruit (that also happens to save money). FWIW, I find the individual bars of soap incredibly wasteful.
If hotels can do it in a way that the Hyatt Seattle did, I’m good with it. If they do it like the Element NYC that I just stayed at, where I didn’t know which dispenser had body wash or shampoo (no labels), then I’ll take a hard pass.
Meh I haven’t heard of anyone getting killed by this… I’d rather they cut down the waste.
One could make the same claim about facial tissue dispensers. Having a guest put something dangerous in a shower dispenser seems far fetched. Hotels obviously know who stays in each room. Also, nothing prevents hotels from refilling partially used bottles. And a prior guest could put a harmful substance in a bottle that appears unopened to staff and the next guest. The world will survive the introduction of wall mounted dispensers for shower amenities.
I agree. This is nickel and diming madness. Marriott has even said that a typical 150 room hotel will save all of $1000/yr going with these dispensers. Are they really worried about the $1000 in savings if I take my $5000+/yr. annual spend (at this one particular Marriott) business to Hilton?
If enough people request “sealed toiletries” to be brought up to the room at these hotels, the extra cost to them will ensure that the sealed toiletries are back.
And couldn’t agree more. These are positively disgusting.
I’m torn on this issue. But I can say the word is cue, not queue!
The easy solution, of course, is to bring your own travel-sized shampoo and conditioner. And nearly every hotel still provides a bar of soap.
You’ve officially run out of things to write about
1. Most “green” certifications reward this over single use throways. Just like the dumb “green” notes in hotels about saving shamu by not giving you new towels this is all operational savings under the guise of “green”
2. Germs aren’t worse. Hotels are about as disgusting as you can get, perhaps second to commercial airlines. Adding a sterile item to a dirty room accomplishes nothing. Thankfully, the human body seems to be amazing at defending against threats.
3. We’re all sheep. Until we vote with our wallets this will only get worse. This is where things like AirBNB’s disruption of hotels is the best shot of convincing hotels that going to the basic economy model of airlines is a bad idea.
I like the dispensers. I am not in a shower while the little bar of soap I was supposed to use *once* is still wrapped up on the counter. I like the abundance of shampoo when I want it and I feel good that whatever I didn’t use is not wasted.
Meh, don’t care. Bring my own stuff anyways.
I dislike the little ones so much plastic for two table spoons of product.. Any unused left in these bottles I pack in my suitcase to reuse at next hotel to minimize waste. Yes i am sure you are right this like other “green” trends are just a way of saving money and environmental benefits are bonus, but given the total disregard for our planet by most people occupying it, I’ll take the incidental green benefits of these actions at the risk that perhaps someone has accidentally filled my conditioner container with shampoo, or somehow the germs on the soap dispenser located inside a showe are worse than all the germs that surround me in the hotel room., on the plane in the lounge, or in the cab.
I believe in science. Although the link Gary cites is only one paper, it shows that for unsealed soap containers there is are 26 times more gram negative bacteria on the hands of students and teachers after washing. And in general, if the soap container is a sealed non refillable one, the amount of germs on the hands is significantly reduced. More studies are needed, but from my point of view, refillable contained should be outlawed — or are we going to wait for one terrible incident that hospitalizes hundreds and kills a few hotel guests that is traced back to a contaminated refillable soap dispenser. It can’t cost more than a dollar or two to do the right thing here. Do the right thing.
I think it’s great. No one needs those little plastic bottles. I like them. I enjoy having a sample size from every hotel. But they are just creating more waste. The thing about change and sacrifice is that they aren’t fun. But we can’t just keep dumping things at this rate. If you want to enjoy going to places that aren’t clogged with plastic waste you have to accept some change. This one is pretty minimal.
Another thing to consider. Many travelers I know take home the left over stuff to donate to homeless shelters. Not anymore.
Many hotels work with charities to donate partially used items as well.
ben senise:
Um, I think the different strokes from different folks is exactly what Gary’s worried about.
@Gary: during your stay did you contact either housekeeping or the front desk to get the shower gel refilled, or did you just take a “wait and see” attitude?
Also, to be honest, I don’t care what toiletries are in the hotel. I don’t use anything other than the bar of soap, and even that comes with me to re-use until it’s gone. They could put “premium” shampoo and shower gel in tiny crystal decanters, but that’s not going to make my stay any better or worse.
Slow wifi? That’s going to make me upset. Wall mounted dispensers? Meh.
Listen up, folks. When you are in a public restroom do you press the soap dispenser button when washing your hands? I’ll bet you do. (I hope you do.) Well there are about ten thousand times the number of people touching that as there are touching the soap dispenser in your hotel shower.
Jeesh, and I thought I was a germophobe!
I’ve complained and I get the ‘environmental BS from the hotel…
The only way I know to break them of this nasty policy is to empty the dispensers….takes a little time, (and a bunch of pumps) but if enough of us do it, it will cost them more and maybe they will come to their senses.
be sure to complain on the surveys you get after your stay….Those seem to get attention.
I usually take my own and just take those to donate to homeless shelter. I just stayed stay a Four Points who had the wall dispenser and smelled too masculine good for a man but not a female.
When I was in grade school the bad kids would pee in the soap dispensers as a practical joke. I hope no bad kids stay at Marriott.
I just checked into the Brice in Savannah and they have large free standing containers that anyone can take down off the shelf and whatever they want. Its cheap, unsanitary, and totally disrespectful of the guest. Going to CVS and buy my own…shame on the Brce and Inassume all Kimtons
I hate the big common dispensers for all the reasons above. I love the idea of emptying them. Also of calling down to ask for the little individual ones. I do carry my own, but also donate the little ones to the shelters at home. And I do buy brands I find that I like. I’ve been using a shampoo from a hotel for several years now, and would like to buy a lotion I found but it’s being sold for $1 a small bottle (!). It’s that good and that popular, from a Marriott. I sure hope they don’t give up on it!
Frankly, with everything that is going on in the world, most of these comments make me ill. What the hell is that matter with you people. Bring your own toiletries with you. I spent some money and bought the silicone travel sizes. I fill them up before I leave. Have you all had your heads in the sand? Have you seen the problems with plastic on this planet? I forgot, this is the ME generation, and as long is people don’t suffer any discomfort, like not having enough f’ing conditioner in the brand that they like, then all is good in the world. There is something wrong with this world, and I can tell by reading this thread that we are in BIG trouble.
After living in India for two years, we learned to ask.. Is this a real problem or a mere inconvenience? The sad part is that a great many Americans believe an inconvenience is a true problem. Dispensers might be an inconvenience, but they are certainly not a problem worth worrying and grumbling about. We were recently in a Marriott Courtyard and experienced using the dispensers. Easy. When one was empty we called the desk and they immediately rectified the issue. How easy is that! Bring your own dispensers or use the wall dispensers. It’s easier than worrying about the little bottles that are difficult to squeeze sometimes for those of us with arthritis. Stop complaining and enjoy the adventure!
While you have brought up some issues with wall dispensing, they are genuinely miniscule in comparison to the amount of plastic waste created every day by hotels. The tiny little bottles that are used once and then throwll, where they slowly degrade and leach chemicals into the earth, rivers and eventually oceans.
So yeah, maybe you don’t have a cute little keep sake to take home from a hotel, but these hotels are being environmentally responsible to our already struggling earth under our plastic problem.
The fact that someone would take the time to empty these bottles just disgusts me! I think they should find something else to complain about! The waste is ridiculous from the small bottles and I think locking dispensers are morally the “right” thing hotels should be doing……
This is nothing more than the hotels trying to squeeze a few extra bucks out of all of us….The get to put up awards in their lobby saying they are green…and they believe we wont notice the crap they will buy in bulk hoping in time tat we will start traveling with our own shampoos again and making them even more money…can you say ‘resort fee’ that includes everything I get for free as a top Stayer and yet I have to pay the fee…this is more greed by these hotels
So good to see that most people in the comments above take the broader view.
Plastic waste is such a huge issue that the complaints of a few that they cannot cope with getting their shampoo or soap in a dispenser is a sad indictment of the closed world many live in and the fact that their head is buried in the sand. It is not about hotels saving money…it is about that fact that in that in the U.S alone “We’re Now At A Million Plastic Bottles Per Minute – 91% Of Which Are Not Recycled” (Forbes magazine, July 26, 2017.)
So Gary – looks like you will just have to learn to cope with your terrible first world problem.
Straws, baby shampoo bottles, and things that make our lives easier and in may cases more enjoyable, where are tree huggers on plastic water bottles when one can easily go into WalMart, Target or bed bath and Beyond and buy one or several waters bottles that get washed and not disposed.
Now there is no question that they are convenient but all of you who think that straws and baby shampoo bottles will solve the problem, no offense, but you are not really looking at the problem.
John: You’re probably right in that we all want our lives to be easier, simpler. And you’re probably right that we’re all a bit hypocritical when we shout pro-environmental things and then we go and buy our bottled water.
But here’s the thing: Our planet is so totally effed that it’s very likely past the point of no return. And so maybe you’re right again that the little plastic bottles of shampoo don’t make a darn bit of difference. But on the other hand we have to at least TRY. If you have children or grandchildren or nieces or nephews, I’m sure you want them to have a chance at a better world? It has to start somewhere so let it start with us. Because doing nothing and and scoffing at those trying to do something is certainly not the answer.
I’m no “tree-hugger.” But on the other hand I don’t believe in being wasteful just because it’s easier. We have to think of those who will come after us, and not just of ourselves.
And then there are good folks like yourself who are much more pragmatic than I
have a great weekend!
John
Dylan, if we are past the point of no return as is frequently claimed, then what is the point of trying?
Not everything needs to be driven by extreme environmentalism. That’s why we don’t do crazy things like buddy up rooms with strangers even though that would reduce our carbon footprint. At some point we have to enjoy life and stop worrying about everything.
I stayed in Sin City – and no one tampered with the hotel amenities. Seriously? One could tamper with the small bottles just as easily. I am in favor of dispensers. Hotel shampoos are fine for short stays. Buy the expensive ones for home use or pack yours with you.
This is absurd. The environmental impact of individual bottles is too large for me to ignore it. I know we want to see brands and luxury, however even in my modest 11 bedrooms property we get through over 13,000 individual plastics bottles per year. Which most I imagine end up in land fill. The major brands will be force by ever increasing tighter policies and laws relating to carbon footprints and environmental sustainability. Thus we are changing to wall mounted pumps, and in 10 years single use items in plastic will be a thing of the past.
This thread had me so fired up, I cannot believe the ignorance expressed here…..As one who has been in charge of administering such a program, those of you saying that “it only costs a dollar or two” or complaining about the “environmental BS” from the hotel DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!
The difference in cost for the hotel is TREMENDOUS. I did a study for a year and a half on the savings we saw in our various environmentally sensitive programs. Those single use bottles were one of the biggest money leakers…
And to those of you who could care less about the environment, wake up…. you’re part of the problem! It is people like you who are wreaking havoc on this planet with no regard for what you are doing…. if everyone is willing to take baby steps, we might actually solve our climate crisis for our kids. I am shocked that there are still so many people who are selfishly unwilling to evolve in this day and age…..and saddened that most of you on this thread are on the wrong side of this issue, including the author.
As part of my study, I can report that the impact on our environment was considerable with the relatively small changes we made. Some were bigger changes for US, but we are thinking about the PLANET.
Many of you are thinking of this with a perspective that shows you can’t think beyond your own actions. Washing one load of your towels is not the issue, it is the multiplied effect across the board. So yes, hanging your towel and reusing it again makes a huge difference… again, we need everyone taking small baby steps.
And as an aside- obviously we will wash the towels as much as a guest wants, and in my penthouse we provide a miniumum of 8 towels in our smallest bathroom. But how many of you wash your towels at home every single day? You don’t ever wash and reuse them? Same with sheets- we launder on request and a minimum of every 3 days, and of course we wash EVERYTHING between stays, including every single duvet cover…. which are washed and pressed….. and we use mattress protectors, thick mattress pads, and pillow protectors under our pillow cases. Do all of you do this, and wash your sheets every three days?
So, from the perspective of one who runs a tight ship (I would invite the “blacklight test” ANY day in our accommodations….)
I willl also say I agree with some of the points raised above, but not your priorities or your conclusions:
I also love the little amenities bottles, too! I always collect them when I do stay where they are provided, and I reuse some for travel, and some for guests in my own home. But, I love our planet more, and in addition, have proven the cost effectiveness of these changes myself, firsthand. I first did this in a. private property with over 300 rooms. I can only imagine the savings for a chain with the global reach of a Marriott or Hilton. I am stunned at those of you asserting that the cost difference is negligible…. it defies common sense. To the person who thinks your $5000K spend a year should make up for a hotel wide change: I guarantee the hotel is not trying to make LESS money, and they have examined the financial benefit. More importantly, the point IS for the environment, bottom line.
People also need to start understanding that although some environmentally friendly changes may indeed be more costly in the short term on paper, it is the long term benefit, both financially and immeasurably for the health of our planet, that is the BOTTOM LINE.
I am also a total germaphobe! So I agree with using refillables in the cleanest way possible…. but, to worry about the germs on the refillables does not really make sense when there are WAY bigger germ issues in hotel rooms. In the luxury penthouse I help rent, I have two cleaning crews I use exclusively because they are thorough and actually clean everything. I supervise them myself. I walk through and check everything for every guest. But when I go to any chain hotel, I go in with my eyes open. I remove the bedspread, and wipe down surfaces- especially phones and remotes. (I make my own environmentally friendly disinfectant wipes and take them with me.)
Some of these surfaces are WAY more contaminated than a soap dispenser. If you are freaking out about a refillable dispenser, I suggest you not ever again touch a TV remote.
You cannot expect everywhere you go to be clean and disinfected- you are going to encounter a variety of different standards everywhere you go. Not everyone cleans the way me and my team do- in fact, I don’t know anyone who does…. that is why I have the team that I do, and spend the time on it that I do.
Last, even if you use the little single use bottles, you do realize someone touched them to put them in there, right? And with varying standards in hotels, you can’t even always know if they are sealed. Sometimes they LOOK full but actually have been opened. Anyway, the argument that single use is cleaner is not that strong an argumemt.
Tamper free bottles are not a bad idea. If you are worried about how many people use them, then you should probably never eat in a restaurant again, in case you have to use the bathroom and wash your hands! I have also run restaurants in my hospitality career, and can tell you that the soap dispensers there are likely barely ever cleaned, as compared to a hotel room….
Anyway, the bottom line is that while all the points have some validity, the most important thing at this point needs to be our environment. Shame on all of you arguing otherwise…..