Let's Be Honest: Hotel Room Freebies..

Now, lets be honest. When you stay at a hotel, do you take home all the free coffee 3-in-1's, tea, sugar, and toiletries? What about the drinking glasses ans towels?

The first thing that my mum would do when she goes into a hotel room is collect all the hotel complimentary thingys. She would even have 2 small plastic bags handy; one for the 3-in-1's and the other for the toiletries. I kid you not. Whenever she does that me and my elder sister would be like, "Oh God, mum's 'harvesting' again". Mum would always say,"What? It's not like I'm stealing or anything. It's free anyway and I want to get my money's worth".

As you guys know, I've had the opportunity to stay at the Imperial International Hotel recently. I notice that while I do not 'harvest' the freebies like my dear old mum does, I do have the tendency to try them out at least once. It's not bad though and I'm not OCD about it.

For example, I wouldn't make 3-in-1 Nescafe even though I'm not a coffee person just for the sake of getting my money's worth. Since I prefer tea I would make tea at least once in the room just so I feel like I'm actually a resident in the room. Sounds weird? Or does it sounds familiar?

I also know that some people who don't normally have nimble fingers would suddenly seem to magically  acquire them when they are staying in a hotel. These people don't just take the freebies, they take things that they are not supposed to either, such as drinking glasses, ash trays, etc.

My elder sister who used to work at a 5 star resort here in Tuaran once told me a horror story where this one local family were not able to check out because the Housekeeping staff  discovered that the pillows, sheets and towels were missing from the room.

When the Duty Manager (blushing furiously and delicately) told the family that he is unable to allow them to check out because they, ah, 'unwittingly' took a few items with them and do they want to purchase the items since they liked it so much?

Upon hearing that they opened their luggage, extracted the items and returned them. Just like that. No shame, no stuttering explanations, no blushing, no high-pitched nervous laughter. Cool as ice they were. In, fact, the DM blushed enough for all of them combined. Hm, me thinks that family are no virgins to pillow and towel harvesting.

Anyway, what do YOU usually do with the hotel's complimentary items when you're staying in one? Do you harvest it for another day? Do you finish everything within your stay? Do you try everything at least once? Or do you leave them untouched?

Very Important Note:
If you're the farmer type (harvesting = farmer, get it?) and you're travelling overseas, do NOT harvest until you have looked for a note in the room that says the items are complimentary or otherwise. It will save you a lot of awkwardness and embarrassment later, believe me. Most hotels overseas are not as generous as the ones in Malaysia so the toiletries are not complimentary. Neither are the laundry bags. Or the face towels. Or the ash trays. You get my drift.