Why Hotels Should Ditch Tiny Shampoo Bottles

An odd collection of hotel freebies

Like many people, I have a tendency to take the small bottles of shampoo and conditioner home with me every time I stay at a hotel. I travel a lot during the fall, so my bathroom closet typically fills up with the tiny, one-ounce bottles. 

I'm not entirely sure why I do it, but I find a certain amount of solace knowing that it is a rather common practice among travelers. 

And you never know when you'll need a tiny vial of mouthwash, right?
I was staying at the Queen & Crescent in New Orleans last week when I noticed something different in the hotel's newly renovated bathroom. (In fact, the entire hotel was overhauled last month.)

The hotel management had replaced the usually array of mini-bottles with three nine-ounce containers, equipped with a pump dispenser and firmly attached to a wall in the shower stall. That's going to be hard to pilfer, I thought at first. Then, after thinking about it, I realized the cleverness behind the concept.

Think about it from a cost perspective. Retailers sell one-once bottles of shampoo and conditioner for roughly 24 cents to 53 cents a piece, though I'm sure big hotels can get a lower rate for buying in bulk. The average hotel stay is 2.2 days, from what I can tell. 

With those numbers, a 200-room hotel could spend anywhere from $24,000 to $53,000 a year if they offer three one-ounce samples per room. And that estimate doesn't even include mouthwash, bar soap, shower caps and other amenities you often find in hotel rooms.

Hoteliers have choices to make. A 2002 article in Forbes estimated that free toiletries could add up to $50 to the cost of a room. Given the supply of hotels, and increasing frugality among travelers, this seems like a huge cost to just bake into the price. 

So a number of hotels, including the Queen & Crescent, are opting to cut overhead by switching to more bulk products. At least that makes sense from a financial perspective.

How am I going to take these home...

Queen & Crescent sees other benefits from making the switch, says Bruce Westerlin, the hotel's general manager. (Yes, I did call the GM to discuss the decision to replace tiny bottles with bulk dispensers.)

"It really wasn't a cost issue," Westerlin says. "The cost is better, but not by that much."

Westerlin says the hotel wanted to be more eco-friendly while helping visitors avoid embarrassing situations where they might need shampoo after hopping into the shower. 

The general manager declined to discuss dollars and cents, but he noted that the Queen & Crescent is buying Gilchrist & Soames products in one-gallon jugs to periodically refill the dispensers.

The dispensers, meanwhile, are sold by a firm called Aquamenities in Lafayette, Calif. I reached out to the company for a price estimate, but for now am relying on a number from another website that shows that each dispenser sells for $114. That would require an upfront investment of $23,000 for a 200-room hotel, though there is a good chance a large hotel could negotiate a bulk order discount.

"A lot of boutiques are going toward" the dispensers, Westerlin says. "Everyone is also going toward showers rather than baths. This was something we wanted to do ... and we think they're neat."

You always have to consider the potential downside of making changes. I was talking to a consultant recently about this, who astutely pointed out the potential loss of off-site branding. He noted that many bottles include the hotel's name, which can jog your memory weeks (or even months) after a stay. And it could also push someone to buying a particular type of shampoo at some point in the future.

So what am I going to do with all these bottles? I know, I should hand them out as Halloween treats this year. Then again, I will need to keep some on hand to help clean up after an assured egging!