Complimentary hotel toiletries... love them or hate them?

When I was teaching and on IT development courses, I used to stay in a hotel, which was part of the conference centre. The toiletries were all Molton Brown. Even the public loos smelled gorgeous. Everything was in dispensers which were fixed to the wall.

I used to have a friend that would not only take the toiletries but unused teabags, biscuits and anything else complimentary.

Portmeirion Hotel always has complimentary toiletries by L'Occitane in each bathroom and that's always a treat and very welcome. Why would I take my own!

Rarely stay in hotels but if I do, I save the free products and give them to an a&e nurse friend who takes them to work. Very useful for patients who have to spend a couple of nights in hospital and have no toiletries with them. I also save the ones provided on ferries which I rarely use as showering on a short journey is not necessary.

I hardly ever use them unless they are Molton Brown or something similar...dont want to risk a skin break out.

When I was with my X he travelled a lot for his work and I quite often went with him, business class on planes and nice hotels. I always kept the little sponge bag freebies we got on the planes and the hotel toiletries. I knew someone who volunteered at a homeless shelter, they were delighted with the things I had collected.

I really like them especially if really good quality ones are provided, got some Miller Harris products in a Fairmont hotel in Canada and have also have had White Company stuff several times. I do take them with us, I believe that's expected, unless stated otherwise one hotel left large Molton Brown refillables which they asked to be left fair enough when they are standard size, it was nice to have the use of them whilst staying there. I have a bowl of unused ones in a spare bathroom for the use of anyone who stays with us. I've also found them useful for taking along for after swim/gym and showers too before the lockdown.

I often take away the shower gel, most of the hotels we have stayed in provide Molton Brown or equally acceptable products.
When the rooms are cleaned the products are binned and fresh placed in the bathroom.

I use them to wash out socks/ smalls etc, there is usually a small clothes rack on the balcony and they will dry overnight.
I hate coming home with a case full of dirty smelly clothes.

I do wonder how many people use them.

A relative of dh has a massive place in France that was formerly run as an upmarket B&B. The vendors left what remained of their supplies of mini toiletries, plus all the towelling bathrobes etc.

10 years on, and after masses of guests, we have still always found these little bottles - the originals - in the bathrooms.
Except for maybe the hand soap, I always use my own.

I use the freebies and containers for my trips to the gym. Saves lugging larger bottles around. I just top them up at home. Also so useful for travel when taking only hand luggage.
But I only take the really nice ones.

When I was working a colleague use to collect these to make up small hygiene packs for an overseas charity for women working in manual jobs.

I love them! Most of them are in recyclable bottles anyway. I would not be happy with glass bottles as it is so eas to drop them with wet hands and then there would be splinters of glass all over the place.

Love them! They are great as well for self catering holidays. Small tablets of soap just last the week. Encourages GCs to wash their hands with Granny's 'baby''soap.

The Hotel where my daughter got married it was Molton Brown as well, I enjoyed them. Got Molton Brown in another Hotel, might have been in LA or Florida.
I find any handy for travelling as well.

Love them when they are good quality. I bring them home and then when I use them up the fragrances remind me of lovely holidays. We often travel between hotels on holiday so it is easier than carrying big bottles around. My favourites have been L'Occitane, Clarins and Molten Brown. I ask for Molten Brown every birthday and Christmas now!!

Maggiemaybe, you can Google
"How Hilton soaps get recycled". It seems such a good idea.

I like them but agree with the OP comment about landfill. I usually bring the freebies home to use when visiting family (when we can) for 1-2 nights, saves taking a huge washbag.

They came in very useful recently when a call went out for toiletries for people who'd been taken into hospital without a 'hospital bag' and, of course, were unable to have any visitors who could take them in.

Many people here contributed and some sent in dozens of those small hotel toiletries.
I'd used my Molton Brown and L'Occitane ones.
The Scottish Fine Soaps ones are nice, too.

I must admit to worrying about the plastics involved.

Like the generous Temple Spa products supplied on Neilson holidays which are a treat.

Also value re-using a lot of the freebie bottles to refill and reuse, for overnighting at Gatwick or as little sunscreen bottles to top up when out walking.

I love them and always bring home to use for other overnight stays

We stayed in the oldest inn in Wales before lockdown in early December and they provided Temple Spa shower gel, soap, shampoo, conditioner and hand cream.

I’ve been really impressed with them all and have used them intermittently since coming home - I don’t use the same products week in, week out as I like a change!

I always collect them up then donate them to our local charity supporting the homeless and low/no income families. They're a waste really and I'd like to see them stopped.

One of my favourite hotels has Aqua Di Parma.. Lovely stuff!

I use the bars of soap as fresheners in the drawers or grate them up to protect my bulbs. The Disney ones I kept for the grandchildren and made them up into little stocking fillers at Christmas. At the beginning of the pandemic, they hand creams and similar were collected for the caseworkers whose hand were getting very sore from the antibacterial gel. More recently, a lot of hotels have stopped leaving these and rather more sadly, the biscuits they used to leave for having with your coffee. Spoil sports!

I have had Molton Brown, Jo Malone, Elemis, Clarins and The White Company toiletries which I keep for weekend breaks, friends who stay over and so on.
The best ones I ever had were from a very grand hotel in Tunis which had their own signature orange blossom products made from their orange trees in the grounds. They smelled divine.
I also donate surplus ones to a friend who collects them for the homeless.