On stealing hotel toiletries

Most people consider hotel toiletries fair game. Photo / Thinkstock

Winston Aldworth ponders the moral boundaries when it comes to stealing the toiletries from your hotel room.

We're a light-fingered mob.

In a self-selecting survey released by Hotels.com, 68 per cent of Kiwis admitted to pinching non-complimentary amenities from their room, with slippers being the most popular item.

I don't flog the slippers, but I figure all those toiletries are mine.

Checking out the little bottles of perfumed soapy stuff is one of the first things I'll do when I get into a new hotel room.

And popping any unused bottles into my suitcase at the end of my stay is pretty much the last thing I do before I walk out of the room.

The soaps and shampoos all get used at home - the hand creams and moisturisers less so.

I figure the whole accommodation macro-economy is pretty much built around the assumption that I'm going to be taking those soaps.

If it's consumable, it's mine. I've never gone far enough to grab the complimentary green teabags, but I'd consider them fair game.

Here's the grey area: If you tuck the toiletries away each day, the maid will top up your supply. Moral dilemma: How much tucking away is taking the piss?

But slippers and dressing gowns? Those things are almost chattels. If you can afford a hotel room you can afford not to steal a pair of slippers, people!

(Incidentally, if anyone needs a 50ml plastic container of moisturiser, just give me a holler.)