Tag Archives for bulk toiletries.
A reader spotted the Hyatt Place Phoenix Mesa rolling out housekeeping carts stocked with bulk toiletries poured into plastic condiment bottles — with a toilet brush sitting right next to the clean towels. It’s the latest in a string of Hyatts where the branding on the bottles doesn’t match what’s supposed to be used
A reader who stayed at a Hyatt property reports finding DRIFT bulk soap on housekeeping carts while the bottles mounted in their guest room displayed Jonathan Adler branding. The hotel advertises Jonathan Adler as its standard amenity, raising questions about whether the in-room bottles are being refilled with a different product.
Another hotel property has been caught refilling shampoo and bath gel dispensers in the shower from ketchup-style bulk containers that lack any branding at all.
A guest at Marriott’s Courtyard Battle Creek in Michigan discovered a lewd drawing on the wall-mounted toiletries that was presumably left by a previous guest.
Housekeeping either doesn’t clean and refill the bottles, or saw it and didn’t care enough to change them out when turning the room. Since the guest reports that showing a photo to the front desk elicited a shrug, either option seems equally likely.
Anyone could have put something in those bottles that shouldn’t have been there. Housekeeping clearly didn’t clean them, either.
And what in the world are they thinking using Marriott’s own 39 Degrees North branded shampoo and conditioner at a Westin?
Many hotel chains have moved from single use plastic toiletries to bulk wall-mounted toiletries. They say it’s for the environment, but it isn’t. If they just cared about reducing plastic, they’d move to single use biodegradable packaging. Instead these refillable bottles are cheaper.
There are (3) basic problems with this for the guest.
Hotels are getting rid of single use plastics, by offering bulk wall-mounted toiletries. And this is all about the environment, not cost savings. So why do they still have plastic water bottles and plastic-wrapped plastic cups? Oh, wait…
Wall mounted bottles don’t get properly cleaned or refilled, and they’re a prime target for tampering by a practical joker or someone with more sinister motives.
A perfect example was a recent reader stay at the Westin Detroit Metro Airport.
We aren’t re-using grocery bags right now, or dishware on airplanes – everything is moving towards single use because we’re in the midst of a global pandemic. Hotels need to recognize that and take it seriously and end this ill-fated experiment with getting guests to re-use each others’ shampoo.
I’m not suggesting environmental considerations aren’t meaningful – they just point towards single use biodegradable packaging, which have been in some hotels for years, not communal use.
The Sheraton Taipei is offering a coupon worth about $3.28 at CVS in exchange for your returning unused single use personal amenities. They pitch this as a green initiative much like declining housekeeping for points.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
