Hotels always supply soaps and shampoo in some shape or form. My favorite hotel shampoos and soaps are found in some upscale resorts, hotels, and inns.
The first time you enter a new hotel room, what do you do? Drop your suitcase (or tip the bellboy), bounce up and down on the bed to test it, and take a peek in the bathroom. Right? Me too. And let's admit it; one of the things we want to check out about the hotel bathroom is, what the toiletries are like. When the hotel shampoos and soaps are great, it's like an added hotel amenity.
My favorite hotel toiletries
Chain: My favorite upscale chain hotel, in terms of the supplied bathroom products, is The Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Why? Several Four Seasons hotels and resorts offer L'Occitane products in their bathrooms. Yay! When I see L'Occitane shampoos and soaps, I know that the Four Seasons in Chicago, Maui, Lanai and Palm Beach really know how to please their luxury travel guests. Now, not all Four Seasons supply L'Occitane bath products: In New York, the Four Seasons uses Neutrogena, a nice brand but no L'Occitane. The Four Season in Beverly Hills also, sadly, does not use lovely L'Occitane. There are so many Four Seasons throughout the world, and I've stayed at only a few. Rest assured, however, that L'Occitane in the bathroom goes a long way towards this guest's overall satisfaction!
Non-chain:The Simpson House Inn, in Santa Barbara California, is the only AAA 5-diamond bed and breakfast in North America. It's a wonderful B&B in a lush setting - it epitomizes luxury in a town that's already pretty fancy. And the Simpson House Inn has the toiletries to match. I was so happy when I inspected this B&B's bathroom - Kiehl's (rhymes with "squeals," and I did) shampoo, conditioner and soap! To improve matters even more, there are shampoo and liquid soap dispensers in the shower: Guests can use the generics, and pocket those wonderful travel-size Kiehl's bath products. I know I did.
My least favorite hotel toiletries
My all time least favorite hotel shampoos have to be at a couple of Ramadas I've stayed at over the years. One, the Ramada at the Bradley airport in Boston, uses Jhirmack, a brand I thought was pretty fancy... in high school. The other, in Connecticut, uses shampoo with the unmistakeable scent of Flex. Flex, with its artificial, strongly perfumed smell, is instantly recognizeable, and probably my least favorite shampoo. Staying at a Ramada? I'd like to recommend stopping at a L'Occitane or Kiehl's store on the way from the airport.
Copyright Jennifer Miner and Suite 101. All rights reserved.
The copyright of the article Hotel Shampoos and Soaps in Luxury Travel is owned by Jennifer W. Miner. Permission to republish Hotel Shampoos and Soaps in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
i admit that looking for the hotel schwag is the first thing I do. I coo
and awww over the cute toiletries, and judge the hotel by how fancy-scmancy
the goodies are. I like a real shampoo and a separate conditioner, plus a
hand lotion, and even those mini-mouthwashes best. I don't need the shower
cap or sewing kits so much.
it's weird that I like
this stuff so much, since I actually do travel with my own preferred items.
who doesn't?
I take them all home anyway.
Sep 22, 2006 9:11 PM
Jennifer W. Miner :
I know JUST what you mean! I really think of high-end hotel shampoos as an
added amenity - one tht usually ends up right in my suitcase. My guest
bathroom is fully stocked with a year's supply of mini-shampoo and
conditioner bottles. :) Jen
Sep 23, 2006 9:45 AM
Jill Florio :
Yes, i have a huge bin of these things too. I like to make up an amenities
kit for guests so they can have a "hotel feeling". but other than
that, i don't use them much. I think that's a nice touch though for
guests.
I did write about uses for hotel soaps a few
years back on Bella:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art14053.asp
the top part
of the article lists possible uses, and the bottom part is this hysterical
email forward about a traveler and too many soaps. It's really pretty cute.
don't spit out your coffee reading it. :)
Sep 23, 2006 1:31 PM
Jodi Gallegos :
I have terrible pack-rat tendencies. I pack up as many toiletries as I can
while I'm there. Now I have a cupboard overflowing with bottles and
potions. There comes a point when an intervention is in order
Sep 26, 2006 10:16 PM
Jennifer W. Miner :
I know what you mean, Jodi. I put my hotel shampoo stash in the guest
bedroom, like Isaid, but at this point we'd haveto have visitors every
weekend for, like, a year to go through all those little bottles of
"bloom" and Neutrogena hair care products. Rest assured, you are
not alone in your sickness! Jen
Sep 27, 2006 7:44 PM
Kelby Carr :
I have an actual ILLNESS about this. I am a little freakish about stashing
hotel toiletries, especially when they're good. I really like it when they
have something a little unique or unusual. A hotel in Barcelona had just a
ton of kooky, upscale stuff, and I snatched it all up.
Sep 28, 2006 10:53 AM
Jill Florio :
maybe we should found an addiction group for this. I have so many hotel
freebies that I should just stick them in a box and sell em on ebay. I will
never have enough guests to actually use them. It IS an illness.
For example. In the Orlando Portofino bay hotel, the lobby restroom had
some lovely Thyme Hand Lotion bottle in one ounce sizes. A huge basket for
the taking. Very posh. Michelle and I went in there about five times and
snatched up a handful on each trip. I do use these, though. I have one in
my purse, so does that count as being a useful part of my stash???
Sep 30, 2006 7:37 AM
Jennifer W. Miner :
Ooh, that Orlando Portofina Bay hotel sounds like it's right up my alley!
:) And Kelby, well, maybe it's not a sickness, but more of a cultural
phenomena. I mean, look at all of us finding happiness in the little hotel
soaps! There's got to be some good in that. Jen
Jul 30, 2007 10:08 AM
Douglas Anweiler :
I always enjoy the L'OCCITANE products when I stay at the Four Seasons. On
the small luxury side, historic DesBarres Manor Inn
http://www.desbarresmanor.com on the coast of Nova Scotia uses
Caswell-Massey "Gifts of the Sea" bath products. Caswell-Massey
is America's Oldest Chemists and Perfumers, established in 1752, and seems
an appropriate fit for a manor home built in 1837 by the sea. Doug
Sep 19, 2006
