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Is there any halachic problem with taking home shampoo from a hotel? What if you had requested additional shampoo from room service? How does the halacha differ whether the hotel is owned by a yehudi or nochri?
It’s wrong, they give you shampoo for you to use at the hotel it is not a parting gift, neither are towels, robes, toilet paper or light fixtures.
It doesn’t. Stealing is stealing unless it’s one of those tiny bottles where the hotel expects every patron to walk out with them.
Stealing is assur from both. If one wants to be yashrahdik then one should ask,one has nothing to lose by asking.
I take the coffeemaker, too.
Absolutely forbidden unless the hotel is owned by Frei Zionists who have killed more Jews than any other enemy of the Jewish People to date.
I wouldn’t ask room service for additional shampoo (unless I ran out and needed more while at the hotel.) But I see no issue with, if you are at the hotel for a few days, packing away each days supply provided by the hotel even though they will be refilling the room with a new supply each day of your stay. (After all, you are paying for each day’s disposable amenities.)
(For the record my above statement was done in sarcasm after reading the many responses from members here who declare such things on different threads like http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/whats-the-argument-against-having-a-madina/page/4 )
I’m pretty sure they expect you to do so.
Goq said:
“It’s wrong, they give you shampoo for you to use at the hotel it is not a parting gift, neither are towels, robes, toilet paper or light fixtures. “
IMHO, the little shampoo bottles and bars of soap are garbage to the hotel once opened or even get wet (wrapper ruined). They are not going to give the next guest a used bottle of shampoo or used soap, or just if the wrapper looks messed up. IMHO, those things, once used, may be taken home. The same applies to other non-reusable items.
Everything else is completely off limits.
And if the patron didn’t use the tiny bottle of shampoo?
i sometimes steal the lightbilbs,too. actually, i in general take anything not bolted down.
even if it IS bolted down just bring drill
I imagine that the soaps and shampo and the other little bottles will be thrown out whether u use them or not.
They throw it out anyway.
The shampoo, not the light bulbs.
Writersoul, how do you know? It is absolutely prohibited to steal and it does not matter if the victim is a Jew or a Goy Choshen Mishpat 348:2 and 359:1). If they really would throw something away maybe it is considered hefker. Rav Belsky writes an e-column called “Honest”. I suggest referring specific questions to him or one’s LOR.
There was an article about this on Yahho once and they said that the Hotel expects you to take the small shampoos and the liek. They actually like that you do, since it has the name of teh hotel. It is cheap advertising for them.
Appears those small shampoos are made to use’m up, if u don’t it’s you’re profit..
they said that the Hotel expects you to take the small shampoos and the liek. They actually like that you do, since it has the name of teh hotel. It is cheap advertising for them.
Advertising to whom? The crowds of people who pass through your bathroom?
In any event, even if it is true, then there is nothing to lose by asking at the front desk.
The Wolf
Do any of you folks against taking the bit of shampoo steal the magnetic key card the hotel gave you (unless, of course, you first asked the front desk if you can keep it)?
I’m pretty sure they don’t reuse them once you leave – open or not -so it’s considered Hefker since it’s going into the trash.
Recently I was staying in a 5* Hotel.
I asked the room service attendant what they do with the soaps?
He answered, If they are unused we will leave them if they have been used will will throw them out.
I gather from that, if you use a little of the soup and/or shampoo you should be able to take the rest home and have no guilty feelings what-so-ever.
Taking Towels On The Other Hand Is Totally Wrong…
Do any of you folks against taking the bit of shampoo steal the magnetic key card the hotel gave you
When Eeees and I went to Niagara Falls, we gave in the keycards by the desk. They told us to keep them. They are now in the photo album we have of the trip.
The Wolf
These are just my opinions:
1.) The hotel provides soap and shampoo for its customers to use while they stay in the hotel. The cost to provide these amenities is NOT trivial.
2.) For sanitary reasons, once a bottle of soap or container of shampoo is opened, it cannot be reused and will be thrown out.
Therefore, one should only use the amount of shampoo and soap needed to shower. I think it is petty theft to hide or pack unused shampoo or soap each day (whether opened or not) so that the staff provides new bottles that they otherwise would not have provided. On the last day of the stay, however, any remaining unused shampoo or soap is ok to take, since it is effectively garbage to the hotel. If you are unsure about this, ask the front desk. I think the same principle applies for condiment packages in restaurants (e.g., ketchup packets). The condiments cost a lot of money, and are provided with the intention of use with the food you are buying right then from the restaurant – not to stock your kitchen.
As for the magnetic key cards, the hotel can reuse these and they should be returned unless you are told otherwise by the staff. I once accidentally took a magnetic key with me. I called the hotel from the road (wife was driving, don’t worry) to ask for their mailing address, and they said not to worry and to keep it.
Avram in MD…
Re the magnetic key cards…
I once read that you should NOT return the key cards because they are programmed when they give them to you, with NOT ONLY the data for the lock for your room, but also with PERSONAL information, like your credit card info (that you are using to pay for the room).
To Sam 2: When did a hotel sign or clerk ever tell you to walk out with the little bottles of shampoo?
FYI, if you have opened the bottle, used some of the shampoo in the hotel, and re-closed the partially empty bottle, the hotel will disgard it rather than leave it for its next guest. Stealing garbage is not stealing. You could look it up.
AinOhdMilvado,
I once read that you should NOT return the key cards because they are programmed when they give them to you, with NOT ONLY the data for the lock for your room, but also with PERSONAL information, like your credit card info (that you are using to pay for the room).
This, I believe, is an urban legend (Snopes labels the claim false). The hotel retains your personal information in their database, so it would be redundant to store it on the magnetic key card.
It’s beautiful that among Acheinu Bnei Yisroel this is a question. You will not find such a question as above on a Yahoo message board or general forum. If you tried posting this on a travel forum, you’d be laughed off to your face. By them, if you want it, you take it. M’fregt nisht kein kashas. Some of them, at most, might wonder if it’s okay to grab a handful to take home, off of the hotel maid’s cart. Many would have no compunctions even doing that.
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