From slippers to robes, there are many items that hotel guests end up taking home, and not all of them are small objects. Although more valuable objects, such as televisions or even a copy of the Bible, are rarer to be “misappropriated”, thefts of smaller items are quite frequent. This trend was revealed in a survey by travel website Sunshine.com, which asked more than 2,600 people if they had ever stolen anything from their hotel rooms while traveling internationally.
The survey results showed that 56% of respondents admitted to having already taken something that did not belong to them from a hotel outside their country of origin. The survey also revealed that 14% of participants were caught red-handed, that is, they were caught while removing items from the hotel. Based on the responses, it was possible to create a list of the 10 most frequently stolen items from hotel rooms.
According to , among the most stolen items, pool towels (31%) and bedroom towels (27%) stand out, followed by textiles such as cushions, curtains and rugs, which represent 22% of cases. Other items such as batteries and pieces of cutlery or crockery are also common targets, with 20% and 18% of responses, respectively. Smaller items, like slippers (12%) and robes (9%), are also popular with guests.
The rarest items to be stolen include electrical devices, such as watches, radios or television controls, with only 1% of participants admitting to having taken these objects. Thefts of larger objects are significantly less frequent, with smaller items, such as towels and slippers, being the most attractive to offenders.
When asked about the reasons that led them to keep the items, 47% of respondents claimed that the fact that hotels could replace stolen objects was a factor that encouraged them. Furthermore, 28% considered that stealing objects was a way of “returning” the amount they paid for the stay, justifying the thefts as a type of compensation for the expense.
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