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Friday, 30 September 2005, 23:05 GMT 00:05 UK

Hotel guests clean up on shampoo

John Cleese in the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers Britons take home 430,000 gallons (1.95m litres) of shampoo from hotels every year, a survey has found.

Small bottles of shampoo were the items most likely to be "stolen" by guests - around 70% of people questioned by hotels.com admitted they removed them.

Other products frequently taken included shower gel, sewing kits, bathrobes and "Do not disturb" signs.

Only 19% of guests felt guilty about taking the items as most people felt they had already paid for them.

The amount of shampoo taken by guests would fill more than 14,000 bathtubs.

But Martin Couchman, of the British Hospitality Association, said it was "a fine moral judgement" to decide whether taking a part-used bottle of shampoo was theft.

"There's a difference between taking a bottle of shampoo and a bathrobe"
Martin Couchman, of the British Hospitality Association

As a result, hotels often expected guests to remove shampoo or soap and would replace a sewing kit if it had been used and left behind.

Although some hotels have put shampoo dispensers in rooms, this was mainly because of environmental concerns rather than any desire to save money, he said.

But he added: "There's a difference between taking a bottle of shampoo and a bathrobe.

"Many hotels ask guests not to take the robes, but say they are happy to sell them one if they wish."

Mr Couchman also warned that, with guests frequently providing credit card details before staying at a hotel, managers could easily bill them later for expensive items which had been taken without permission.



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