Photo: In-room amenities at the newly opened Amoy Hotel in Singapore; Superadrianme.com
Hotel stays can be comforting when you enjoy the amenities provided by the hotel. These amenities can range from aromatic toiletries of brands that you fancy to the soft and large bath towels and bath robes, soft pillows to a good cup of tea or coffee provided in the room. But for many of us, it’s impossible to truly enjoy a travel experience unless there’s something to take home with us. What can you take? We clear the air:
You can buy some of these things, ya know
Many of the hotels under big brand names offer the option of purchasing choice items. Grand Hyatt Singapore has a Hyatt Has It – Private Delivery Service that offers access to a range of electronics to beauty essentials for its room guests to have, borrow or buy. A programme spearheaded by the Hyatt headquarters in Chicago, this service offers the convenience should guests forget to bring any essential items. To make it more transparent, a card with a list of items that the guest can request are placed in every room.
Grand Hyatt Singapore lets guests use or keep items such as baby shampoo, bath soap, coffee condiment kit, fabric detergent, deodorant, dental kit, hair spray and brush, lotions and soaps, mouth wash, razor, sanitary products, sewing kits, shaving cream, shower gel, slippers, tea and vanity kit, but puts other items such as coffee cups, humidifier, foam pillow, free weight set, hair dryer, curling iron, computer or phone chargers, tea kettle, yoga mat, robe, shoe horn and steam iron on its ‘To Borrow or Buy’ list.
The Westin lets you bring home a Heavenly Bed of your own, but just not the one you are sleeping on in the hotel room. Westin-hotelsathome.com is an online store that offers a selection of items in the heavenly experience, bed, bath, spa, gifts and design category.
A queen mattress from the Westin Heavenly Beds is available online at US$1,125 but during sale season such as now, it can be purchased at US$843.75 excluding shipping. Pillows, linens, down blankets as well as roll-away beds are also available for purchase online.
The White Tea Aloe Travel Set that comes with the mini versions of The Westin’s White Tea Bath shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion and bar soap retails at US$14.95. This exact set is what’s provided in the guest rooms. Full size bottles are also available from the site.
The things people take — we really don’t get some of these
In a recent survey, TripAdvisor revealed that two-thirds of travellers take items home from hotel rooms. Toiletries are the most popular item that go missing. But some guests go overboard and take home towels and light bulbs. Sometimes even the clothes hangers go missing and batteries get removed from TV remote controls.
You can trust us on this
We checked with some of the hotels here in Singapore, but unfortunately, they didn’t want to go on the record about what is acceptable to take home other than the toilet perishables and stuff you pay for. Our take — and if you’ve been reading us you know we travel a lot — is it’s acceptable to take back a reasonable quantity of hotel toiletries, disposable slippers or the tea and coffee since they have been provided and would not be recycled after you have used them. Taking back the toiletries sometimes help you get a second opinion back home about the fragrance as well as more about them before purchasing them on your own. Disposible slippers come in handy when flying long distance. The thick fluffy ones keep the feet warm when flying. But, please do not take back back the towels, bathrobes, bedsheets, clothes hangers or furniture.
Story: Adrian Eugene Seet via Superadrianme.com
