Earlier this year, Disney Cruise Line fans were melting down at the replacement of travel-sized shampoo/conditioner bottles with wall-mounted bulk dispensers in the bathrooms. Now, Hyatt fans are doing the same. What’s the deal?
Green or Cost Cutting?
Hotels and cruise lines tout this change as good for the environment. And sure, it is good for the environment not to have thousands of small plastic bottles thrown away every year.
But let’s be real. Cost is definitely a factor. Just like cost is a factor in suggesting that guests skip housekeeping and re-use towels. Those things help the bottom line, and yet they are also better for the environment.
Why I’m Ok With Changes
I get that people like to collect these small bottles and take them home for future use. I’ve done it before, and it reminds me of my trips. Those bottles are my emergency stash for when I run out of shampoo in between shopping trips. But, they’re not necessary.
People say that these new dispensers are unsanitary, and they can be tampered with. I say that everything in the room can be unsanitary if the room isn’t cleaned. Is the cleaning staff going to clean everything in the room except the outsides of these dispensers? Couldn’t a nefarious evil-doer tamper with the individual-sized bottles as well?
If you really think the bulk bottles are disgusting, unsanitary or counterfeit, just bring your own supplies. Hit up the travel-size section in Wal-mart, buy an empty travel bottle and fill it with your favorite shampoo from home. Voila!
I try to do what I can to be environmentally friendly, but I’m far from perfect. Just the fact that I fly frequently and go on cruises is very much not environmentally friendly. But, I can do my part to help in other ways, like using bulk shampoo in hotels, recycling, using public transportation and walking instead of driving.
When I’m older, I picture having this conversation with my grandkids: “When I was your age, hotels used to give us teeny tiny bottles of shampoo that people liked to save and take home. We also used to throw our towels on the floor every day and get new ones.” Grandkids: “What??!?! Why?!?!”
Bigger Fish to Fry
I can’t get on board with complaining about the switch to bulk toiletries in hotels. I’d rather complain about bigger issues like hotels not making rooms available on points, hotels changing point value with no notice and annual point chart devaluations.
Readers, are these changes to bathroom toiletries a big deal for you?
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
If you are intent on raiding your hotel room for toiletries to bring home then it will now be easier to take home even more. Bring a big empty bottle and drain that shampoo container dry. Maybe hit up housekeeping about how the container is empty. Rinse and repeat. If they charge a resort fee you can just think of it as getting your moneys worth.
Seriously though pretty much agree this is about money with added bonus of reducing waste. Ill just make sure to bring my own. Sanitation will probably become an issue in some hotels. I remember someone poured beer in a ketchup bottle at a restaurant and i poured it on my fries. At least i hope it was beer…..
Giving these small bottles to the homeless is one of those feel good things that don’t stand up to scrutiny:
If you take the remainder of your OPENED shampoo home with you to donate, the shelter WILL NOT TAKE IT!
If you take that 2nd, UNOPENED, bottle home with you, then that’s just one more bottle that’s going to the landfill, and all you are doing is forcing the hotel to contribute to your feeling that you’re “helping”.
If you really want to help the homeless, contact your local shelter, ask them what they need, and buy a case of shampoo or toilet paper (or whatever they need). If you’ve got an afternoon, go in and volunteer some time. You’ll really feel great knowing that you’ve helped out way more than bringing home a few TSA/sized bottles!
Agreed. This is a silly issue. It’s also silly to say if something reduces costs and is good for the environment it shouldn’t be done. Isn’t that just better? It’s harder to get companies to do things that cost more. And all change is hard for companies. They don’t want to piss anyone off. But in the end we need fewer plastic containers floating around the earth. Let’s do that however we can.
I have a former coworker who works at the local women’s shelter. She always accepts these small toiletries, which makes collecting them more fun. That aside, I think that the caliber of hotel should factor in to the course of action. My wife and I just returned from the Hyatt Regency Bali, and even the toothbrushes there are made of biodegradable material. They do this while providing small sized toiletries, so they have the best of all worlds. Having locker room style toiletries there would be a definite step down. As to bring your own, that can be tough with carry on restrictions, and dead weight to schlep in both directions even in checked bags.
I agree with your thoughts, although donating mini toiletries to the homeless is (or maybe was) a real thing that also did good. As always, a question of benefit vs cost(s).
@Audrey Good point, I know quite a few who would donate them to homeless shelters.
I usually just bring my own shampoo and soap so hotel toiletries are almost never used during my stays. The shampoo usually leaves my hair matted and sticky while the separate conditioner overconditions, so I like to use my own 2in1.
There’s no problem bringing my big 30oz bottle long as that bag it’s in is checked.
@Jinxed_K Yeah, some of the hotel toiletries aren’t that great anyway.