Be our guest
Global survey "checks out" hotels
Stealing beauty
Some guests arrive at a hotel, dump their bags and make a beeline for the bathroom
to check out the nature and breadth of the toiletry samples. (No, not me. Honest.)
And it turns out that this is not so unusual - half of all American hotel guests are
taking toiletries, no questions asked.
When asked to explain their feelings about toiletry samples, an overall 26% of survey
respondents said "They are yours; they are part of the experience". This was led by the
US (49%), Japan (43%) and France (41%), in each case with more women than men agreeing.
Sheri Lambert says the supply of toiletries has evolved from no-name items to a
not-to-be-missed branding opportunity for both the hotel and the beauty product
brand, often linking into spa products.
"Most high-end hotels should - and do - make the absolute most of people's propensity to enjoy ample samples.
Linking the hotel brand to a luxury beauty brand helps create a certain lavish image in a
guest's mind - and it works for both brands. Everyone wins; the hotel, the beauty brand and the happy guest."
Fujiki explains the Japanese perspective: "Japanese hotel guests do not necessarily take
these samples for economical reasons. Japan has a sort of 'miniature' culture.
In general, we like things made smaller than normal size. It's kawaii (cute). These products
are cherished and seen as a way to make the home bathroom also look kawaii."
Despite the growing acceptance of toiletry-ownership, the overall most popular approach
remains to simply use what you need during the stay and leave the rest. Half of all
respondents do this, led by Indonesians (65%), Malaysians (58%) and Hong Kongers (54%).
With the taking of toiletries now a guilt-free pursuit for many, there remain a few people
out there who feel like maybe they are stealing, but maybe not... The survey also found
that 9% of respondents agreed with "You love taking them with you but always feel a shade guilty".
French women most-often selected this, with 21% feeling slight remorse about pilfering products.
(And, for the record, this is my choice too.)
About the Survey
Numbers of people surveyed
BR
1000
 |
CA
1000
 |
FR
600
 |
HK
500
 |
ID
600
|
JP
1000
|
MY
600
|
NL
900
|
UAE
600
|
US
800
 |
This In:fact survey on hotels was conducted online, via telephone and face-to-face in January 2009
across ten markets – Brazil (BR), Canada (CA), France (FR), Hong Kong (HK), Indonesia(ID),
Japan (JP), Malaysia (MY) , the Netherlands (NL), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States
of America (US). It covered over 7,600 respondents, 6,350 of whom stay in hotels.
Most questions were addressed to those who stay in hotels only. We believe in our subscribers'
privacy rights. The data you provide us will not be shared with third parties.
Martin Dishman
Managing Director of The One Hotel Group
Siem Reap, Cambodia
