Jan 14: Room Amenities – more than just soap…

What passed for in-room amenities in the old days was getting a scratchy towel in the bathroom and a very small paper-wrapped bar of generic soap.

Now we have name brands competing for shelf space. Some special scents (see the previous blog post on “vacation scentsations”) and lots of other things including lint removers, shoe cleaner mitts, q-tips and cotton balls, eye makeup remover packets, skin moisturizers, shoehorns, and sewing kits. In some of the international hotels you might even see some regional or “native” items featuring a locally produced product, spices, little gifts, or a small food item. Instead of being just plopped wherever, these amenities are artfully arranged in wicker baskets or on specially constructed plastic holders. Sometime the towels have been amusingly arranged into various animal shapes and are on the bathroom counter or on one’s bed.

And then you have those hotels who offer anything you might have forgotten if only you contact the front desk – from combs to razors. Occasionally, there are so many items on the sink counter you have no room to add your toothbrush and cosmetics to the shelves. And you have to remove the extra water glasses, soap dishes, trays, and platforms just to have space for your own things.

So what’s your favorite amenity to receive in your hotel room? What do you never use? What would you like to see in every hotel room? And what, if you’re an hotelier, do you provide for your guests?