Hotels are killing one of travelers' favorite perks
- Hotels including Marriott, Holiday Inn, and Kimpton are killing the tiny shampoo and conditioner bottles they've long stocked in guest rooms.
- Hundreds of hotels are replacing the miniature toiletries with larger containers that are attached to the bathroom wall.
- Not everyone is pleased by the decision, with one business traveler telling The Wall Street Journal that the change is "incredibly cheap" on the part of the hotel industry.
Hotels are ditching one of the best perks of traveling: the tiny toiletries visitors receive for free.
Hundreds of hotels owned by the largest hospitality companies in the world are swapping mini shampoo and conditioner bottles for larger bottles attacked to the bathroom wall, The Wall Street Journal reports.
"Marriott is switching to larger bottles in wall-mounted racks in 450 hotels at five brands and plans to expand to 1,500 hotels in North America by January," The Journal's Scott McCartney writes. "InterContinental Hotels Group is rolling out wall-mounted bulk dispensers at four brands this year. IHG's upscale Kimpton brand already uses big bottles in showers."
There are environmental reasons to ditch the tiny bottles. And, hotels told McCartney that many families were looking for more toiletries in the room to allow everyone to properly wash their hair.
However, for others, the loss of tiny shampoos is the end of an era - and a hard loss.
Many people donate these miniature toiletries, while others save them for future travels. Critics told The Journal that the change will make the hotel experience less enjoyable.
"What's next, getting rid of the packs of coffee and making us scoop out of a can?" Dennis Lennox, who reportedly spends more than 200 nights a year in hotels on business travels, told The Journal. "I think it's cheap, incredibly cheap."
Executives said that costs weren't the primary motivator, despite what customers' perception might be. A Marriott executive said that the change is only going to save the chain $2,000 per hotel a year.