I know I am not alone.
I have “collected” a wide array of shampoos, miniature soaps, lotions, tiny sewing kits and even disposable shower caps from hotel rooms during my travels. Occasionally I’ve returned with a few sheets of stationery and a pen or two.
I mistakenly believed they were included in the price I paid for a room, especially when the housekeeping staff provided a fresh supply each day.
These have become my souvenirs, and I provide them to house guests.
However, a recent article in The Globe and Mail has opened my eyes to how this could spiral out of control.
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According to the story, thefts cost hotels in the United States about $100 million each year.
The shocking part was the stuff stolen from hotels around North America: towels, ashtrays, bathrobes, pillows, bedspreads, TVs, phones, wall hangings, pictures, silverware, silver trays, tea pots, lamps, a ficus tree, a recliner and a door.
An 18th-century $75,000 (US) tapestry was taken. And yes, in case you are wondering, someone has even stolen a sink.
In the case of one picture, “they took the picture down, removed the print and replaced it with a picture they cut out of a magazine,” a Vancouver hotel manager told the paper.
What do people leave behind? The usual. Clothes, shoes, underwear, cell phones and toiletries, but also sex toys, dentures, “iguanas, bags of marijuana … empty vials of Viagra … a wedding gown … weapons … and human eyes in New York.”
The same Vancouver hotel has also found crutches and a wheelchair left behind in a room.
Said the manager: “Now you’ve got to wonder about that. People arrive lame and apparently leave cured.”
