Are you a Hotel thief?

Stinicker · 04-08-2011 03:34PM #1

Following on from the Drink glasses thread, I ask the question; what have you stolen from a Hotel?

I myself am very fond of the free hotel biro and in my drawer here I have several biros "borrowed" from several hotels I have stayed in around the world. I also help myself to any nice toiletries that they give you and got some real nice shower gel miniatures from a 5 star hotel I stayed in last year.

Another brain wave I got when in Thailand this year was to simply replace the minibar consumables with stuff bought in the shop for a fraction of the cost.

mikemac · 04-08-2011 03:36PM

They want you to take the biros
You'll have it with you or around the office and it's advertising

Batteries from the remote control are fair game

Guill · 04-08-2011 03:38PM

Nope.

I'm an Argos thief, i steal as many pens as possible if i'm ever in there and try and beat it next time.

TheDriver · 04-08-2011 03:41PM

nowadays you see hotels offering you the opportunity to "purchase" any item you want in the room and for convenience, they will bill your card so all you have to do is take the item(s) of choice away!

FatherLen · 04-08-2011 03:41PM

the most i would ever take from a hotel is soap and maybe a towel.

ballsymchugh · 04-08-2011 03:41PM

Stinicker wrote: »

Another brain wave I got when in Thailand this year was to simply replace the minibar consumables with stuff bought in the shop for a fraction of the cost.

that fecker that invented predator boots also invented a system that detects what's taken out of the mini-fridges so it automatically goes on to your bill. would need to make sure it doesn't have one of those things!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Johnston

Einhard · 04-08-2011 03:42PM

Only in Monopoly

CardBordWindow · 04-08-2011 03:43PM

Those Giddeon bibles make for good firewood!

Just jokes.

si_guru · 04-08-2011 03:43PM

mikemac wrote: »

They want you to take the biros
You'll have it with you or around the office and it's advertising

Batteries from the remote control are fair game

In some Czech and Polish hotels you get the remote from reception with the room key - and they inspect for batteries when you check out!

Mint Sauce · 04-08-2011 03:43PM

Stinicker wrote: »

I also help myself to any nice toiletries that they give you and got some real nice shower gel miniatures from a 5 star hotel I stayed in last year.

Wouldn't call that steeling. Their not exactly going to leave a half used bar of soap or shower gel minature for the next client to use.

Kojak · 04-08-2011 03:43PM

The soap is there for you to take anyways.

Some lad I know will always seal the roll of toilet paper in his room when he is leaving the hotel. He says that he paid for it, so he is going to use it...

policarp · 04-08-2011 03:44PM

I take chambermaids from behind. . .

carefulnow100 · 04-08-2011 03:45PM

soaps and what not are fair game, there always taken.

Lightbulbs are my favourite thing to take.

kylith · 04-08-2011 03:46PM

ballsymchugh wrote: »

that fecker that invented predator boots also invented a system that detects what's taken out of the mini-fridges so it automatically goes on to your bill. would need to make sure it doesn't have one of those things!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Johnston

I've nearly fallen foul of that once or twice cos I always keep a bottle of water in the mini-fridge, so the door-opening-monitor showed that I'd taken stuff from the mini bar. I've always found that explaining about the water and inviting them to check the mini-bar stock sorts the problem. The sneaky Toblerone thief could probably do the same.

Stinicker · 04-08-2011 03:47PM

policarp wrote: »

I take chambermaids from behind. . .

Dominic?

Mashyling · 04-08-2011 03:49PM

The most Ive ever taken is the soaps and pens and note paper. But I was at a wedding on Friday last where the bride had a lovely hamper of perfumes, deodrants, soaps, hair clips, plasters and hair spray, flip flops and loads of lip glosses etc....during the speeches the maids raided it and stuffed their pockets. Lousy!!!:-(

aisog · 04-08-2011 03:50PM

Do the hotel not have your credit card details and your name etc? If you had taken something substantial-ie. a playstation not a pen can they not just put it on your bill or follow the missing item up?

brianwalshcork · 04-08-2011 03:51PM

hangballlouie wrote: »

About seven years ago I won a competition to London and was put up in a swanky 5 star hotel. When I was leaving I took two bottles of Moet and took the drawer out of the press under the television as it had a playstation 2 stuck in it. I just put in my suitcase and covered it with my clothes.

I still have the playstation, but the drawer is sadly no longer with us!

Bottles of Moet - good - a step above your average hotel thief

Drawer + Playstation - better... although you may be a thief rather than just a hotel thief.... it's fairly borderline.

brummytom · 04-08-2011 03:55PM

Guill wrote: »

Nope.

I'm an Argos thief, i steal as many pens as possible if i'm ever in there and try and beat it next time.

Me and my brother had a competition in IKEA once to steal as many little pencils as possible. I think I won, with around 70.

And yeah, hotel rooms are full of nick-able stuff.

godspal · 04-08-2011 03:58PM

I am addicted to sweets at hotels. Especially if they are at reception, first thing I do when I leave the hotel to look around whatever city I am staying in is take a handful of sweets.

As for the monitor in mini-bars, they are highly flawed. A friend and I were staying in Barcalona in the height of summer, we were on a shoe-string budget, and had been stocking up food from the supermarket in the fridges, we must have opened twenty-thirty times, and didn't get charged a penny.
They still seem to prefer to check them by hand every morning.

Oh I also have a bunch of bathroom robes and towels from hotels.

x_Ellie_x · 04-08-2011 04:05PM

Yeah, most of the usual stuff like pens, toiletries, towels when I'm on holiday to wrap around the cheap drink I brought so it doesn't rattle around in my luggage. The most unusual thing I stole was one of those plug things that let you put multiple plugs in one socket (I don't know what they're called) from a hotel in Waterford. I'd been meaning to buy one of those for ages but I kept forgetting about it everytime I was up in Power City so when I saw one there in the hotel room I just helped myself to it.

seamus · 04-08-2011 04:12PM

Just the consumables - soap, etc - anything that they wouldn't have reused anyway.

Most hotels will now charge for towels and bathrobes taken from the room.

Stinicker wrote: »

Another brain wave I got when in Thailand this year was to simply replace the minibar consumables with stuff bought in the shop for a fraction of the cost.

If you're going to the shop anyway, why are you eating/drinking the stuff in the minibar?

Or do you mean replacing them before you check out?

Most places do a manual check on a daily basis (i.e. the maids check the minibar when they come in) these days.

godspal wrote: »

As for the monitor in mini-bars, they are highly flawed. A friend and I were staying in Barcalona in the height of summer, we were on a shoe-string budget, and had been stocking up food from the supermarket in the fridges, we must have opened twenty-thirty times, and didn't get charged a penny.

The monitor doesn't check when the door is opened, it has sensors which know when something's been removed from one of the slots. You can open and close the door to your hearts content.

orchidsrpretty · 04-08-2011 04:13PM

Any hotel that I have stayed in that has those moniter things, have a pressure thing on the items in the fridge, so when you pick an item up it registers on the computer. The first time I saw them we were taking everything out and then realised we were being charged for it:eek:

F.U.B.A.R · 04-08-2011 04:27PM

I done that when I was a kid Ide sit infront of the minifridge stairing at all the fizz and sweats I couldnt have/afford but I still picked up the items to trry and figure why they were so much more expencive all in all it was £250 (I was at lego land) of research

:pac:

04-08-2011 04:29PM

No, I am not a thief. The number of AH thieves...!

orchidsrpretty wrote: »

Any hotel that I have stayed in that has those moniter things, have a pressure thing on the items in the fridge, so when you pick an item up it registers on the computer. The first time I saw them we were taking everything out and then realised we were being charged for it:eek:

Did you have to pay the charges anyway?

Stinicker · 04-08-2011 04:34PM

seamus wrote: »

Just the consumables - soap, etc - anything that they wouldn't have reused anyway.

Most hotels will now charge for towels and bathrobes taken from the room.

If you're going to the shop anyway, why are you eating/drinking the stuff in the minibar?
Or do you mean replacing them before you check out?

Most places do a manual check on a daily basis (i.e. the maids check the minibar when they come in) these days.

The monitor doesn't check when the door is opened, it has sensors which know when something's been removed from one of the slots. You can open and close the door to your hearts content.

Yeah I just replaced them before I checked out as it was in the hotel for one night, the minibar was just a small fridge but I have seen those automated Minibars in Germany too, so stupid as I'd normally chuck out anything I didn't like from the minibar and use the small space to store my water or whatever and then put things back the way they were before leaving the room.

This really depends on the room and how long you're staying in the Hotel, longest I ever spent in a hotel was 10 days in Las Vegas and I have yet to find a mini-bar in a standard vegas hotel room.

Abi · 04-08-2011 04:36PM

Why do people steal the shower gels and soaps etc.? They're made to look 'fancy' but its cheap shite inside them.

.

F.U.B.A.R · 04-08-2011 04:41PM

bluewolf wrote: »

No, I am not a thief. The number of AH thieves...!

Did you have to pay the charges anyway?

we didnt but maybe that was because I was a kid and after looking at the mades reports seeing no one had refilled it they figured nothing was actually consumed I have a buddy who used to roam the halways realy yearly in the morning and look for rooms being serviced and poped in ninja style and sneak what ever he could out of the minibars

after a 3 day holiday in dublin he c
http://m.boards.ie/

orchidsrpretty · 04-08-2011 04:50PM

bluewolf wrote: »

No, I am not a thief. The number of AH thieves...!

Did you have to pay the charges anyway?

No rang the reception in a panic and they came up and checked all was in order.

kylith · 04-08-2011 05:05PM

F.U.B.A.R wrote: »

I have a buddy who used to roam the halways realy yearly in the morning and look for rooms being serviced and poped in ninja style and sneak what ever he could out of the minibars after a 3 day holiday in dublin he c
http://m.boards.ie/

What did he do? WHAT DID HE DO?!?!?!?!

phill106 · 04-08-2011 05:21PM

Having worked in hotels for years, you are not stealing the pens, they are free. As are the toiletries like shampoo/soap etc. If you like, you can even ring reception for a shaving kit or dental kit. Bonus points if your a bald man that walks down to reception asking for a shower cap!
The minibars in most modern hotels are tied into a computer system which links into the main hotel computer system.
Door openings are not logged, but items being moved from their slot in the tray would be colour coded, green if untouched, yellow if taken out and put back in with red for the item being gone. Yellows and reds would be billed to your room, but if challenged at reception, most people would say "oh, we moved that".
What happens next depends on the hotel. If your credit card details are on file, they will let you off, the bar will be checked by person refilling minibars during the day, and if items are missing, you will get charged onto your credit card.
If no credit card on file, or dutymanager/receptionist feeling in a bad mood they will quickly check the room before allowing you to settle the bill.

Are you a Hotel thief?

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