The Magic Drawer Of Cleansing
That’s right, I said it. Steal the soap. And the shampoo too. Personally, I usually draw the line at the little mending kits, though. I have enough of those for now.
Ok, maybe it’s not stealing. They’ve got their name all over it so they must want you to remove it from the hotel and advertise elsewhere, like your bathroom. And the security line at the airport. But maybe it is stealing if you never had intent to use the stuff while on the premises and purposely hid the unused soap so they’d replenish it the next day and you would have two!! I know you’ve done it. Some of you even snatch extra from the housekeeping cart in the hall when they’re not looking. Criminals, all of you.
I come from a long line of hotel personal cleansing product hoarders. Hmmm. Not really hoarding because they always get used. My Dad traveled a lot for his job as I was growing up and the bottom drawer in the main bathroom was always full of little bottles and paper wrapped soap. I swear I learned how to spell Red Lion and Marriott before other words just from playing in that drawer.
The gene has been passed on. And just today I realized the real benefit in bringing those half used bottles home; it extends your vacation. That’s right. That little bottle holds a genie that just today transported me back to Dreams Tulum in Mexico, the sight of my last trip with my daughter. It was the smells.
Using the soap and shampoo in Mexico for a week blended the view of the Caribbean together with the warm breezes and calm waves at night into perfect sensory storage. One whiff of the shampoo this morning in the shower and I was back in that spacious bathroom, getting ready for another adventure on the beach, in the jungle, in a cave, atop ancient ruins. When the shower was over I stepped back into my Washington home with a smile on my face.
I’ll be stealing more shampoo next week in Hawaii. Just warning my hotel hosts to stock up, I want to bring back another genie in a bottle.
Note: Dreams Tulum hosted me for a press trip to the Riviera Maya. And I stole their soap. This makes me a special kind of evil. Just before we left, my daughter asked if she could take the mending kit. It was her first hotel mending kit. With a tear in my eye, I told her, “Don’t forget the shower cap, too.”
When hotels leave chocolates on the pillows, THAT’S where I go a little crazy. Oh, and fresh baked cookies. When that trend started, I know not – but I LOVE IT.
I pilage my hotel rooms. I especially love the little baskets full of tea and coffee! I’ve never heard of this fresh baked cookie trend though! I’m jealous
I have that same response to the scent of shampoos and soaps pilfered from hotel rooms. It just transports me back to that vacation. Love it!
This is the funniest thing I’ve read all day, Peter! And yes, I have lifted more than my share of mini shampoo bottles myself…Someday, I’ll show you a photo of my Secret Bathroom Cabinet of Shame.
Guilty as charged, your honour (though I haven’t stooped to hiding the shampoo to get another one).
Does anyone really think this is stealing? It’s there for you to use and they can’t reuse it for the next guest. It’s not like taking the towels or dressing gowns, which really is stealing but apparently some people do.