Is it acceptable for guests to take hotel towels?

Hotel towels. Picture: Freepik

Hotel towels. Picture: Freepik

Published May 25, 2023

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A TikTok user reported that her friend took things a little too far.

Tiktoker Téja Renée snitched on her friend, saying that taking home freebies, such as the slippers and those mini shampoo and conditioners was fine but stealing towels was theft.

Sister girl disagreed. She saw nothing wrong with taking a towel from her hotel room, along with the other things. The issue stirred a debate on the social media platform.

“I was talking to my friend about when you go to a hotel, I always take slippers and then they said they take the slippers, the shower gels and the towels.

“I was like, ‘no, if you take the towels that’s theft, you’re actually stealing, you can’t take towels,” the TikTok user said.

@tejarenee I need your opinions on this !! #hotels #hoteltowels #debate #theft #stealing #storytime #tejarenee #relatable ♬ Holiday - Rema

“They asked why it was different to take the slippers than it is to take the towels. I’m saying that taking slippers is different to taking towels. Taking the little things from the shower is different to taking the towels.”’

Most people agreed with Téja that taking towels was stealing.

One said: ‘’It may be a Spain thing but I haven’t seen hotels with slippers but agree that I would take the slippers and not the towel.“’

Another wrote: ‘’agreed. I wouldnt expect the slippers to… (be) reused but the towels are.“

While many saw a problem with it, there were others who thought otherwise: “I keep thinking, it’s rank re-wearing slippers so take them.. but then I keep thinking about reusing towels,” wrote one thief.

Another commented: “I have a towel from most destinations I've been to - it's not theft, it's souvenirs,”

The bottom line is that most hotels identify the missing items and will then reach out to the guest who stayed in the room. They may do this in person, via phone, or through email to inform the guest about the situation and inquire about the missing items.

But of course, people can lie. I imagine it going something like this: ‘’That bland and tasteless towel? No thank you, I’ve got my own towels at home, Ma’am.’’

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