HotelChatter

A few general observations: It's amazing how many browbeaten hotel-staying men there are out there. One soap-and-shampoo collector was forced to throw out several years' worth of hotel cleansing paraphernalia after his wife found them (what, was he hiding them?) because, as he explained, she didn't considered herself a penny pincher.

Another poor soul said he would never return from a business trip without the stuff, or else. Even the fellow who started the thread, jpgreen1024, who hasn't purchased a bar of soap in six years, added, "My wife makes fun of me over this."

More than anything, we were impressed by the number of posters who donate their hotel soap and shampoo and other booty to good causes: homeless shelters, food banks, women's shelters, the local children's hospital, Hurricane Katrina evacuation centers. One postress, Flyerwife, donated 3 Rubbermaid tubs of soap/shampoo/conditioner/lotions to the rescue workers at Ground Zero.

This amenity largesse could well be an unheralded aspect of responsible travel.

Before you start feeling guilty for any shortcomings in this regard, we perked up at each and every rave, for possible future personal use as well as charitable considerations.

To wit, when Pickle stays at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, he brings home Mrs. Pickles Hermès Eau d'Orange. Pickles' other picks: Molton Brown's Ultra Pure Milk and the lemongrass soap Lather. It's not from his post where he gets these two, but another poster points out that the Peninsula stocks Molton Brown.

Climbermom goes for ANYTHING Bulgari. (Her caps, not ours.) Slickalick loved the La Source Crabtree & Evelyn amenities at the Hilton Metropole in London. Emma66 writes, "The Roger Smith in NYC on Lexington and 47th has the most amazing facial bars." Another poster collected L'Occitane Verbena products, until there was some sort of shortage. Fortunately, it was temporary.

For what it's worth, this hotel maven's favorite hotel products of the moment are from The Phoenician Centre for Well-Being, with all their grapefruit and eucalyptus zestiness.

[Photo: Dcortesi]

Related Stories:
· Do you take home hotel soap? [FlyerTalk]