In this article we are going to explore the different attitudes between Chinese people and foreigners, when it comes to taking toiletries and other things from hotel rooms.

I came home one day to find a toilet roll and a box of tissues on the coffee table. Nothing strange about tissues, but I couldn't see why the toilet roll needed to be there. My ever so polite Japanese roommate, Mrs. F. came out of her room and started hopping around. As she had just been by treated by a Chinese friend to a night at a very nice hotel, her manner was strange. I asked her "Why is there a toilet roll on the table?" That was it, she wailed "Susan took it from the hotel and put it in my bag". I was incensed. I demanded "Do your friends think we are so poor that you are stealing from hotel rooms now? Do they think we can't afford to buy our own toilet rolls?" She continued to wail "I didn't want to take it but Susan said she had paid for the room so those things were also included in the price and anyway they can't leave half used toilet rolls for the next guest so they will just throw them away". She was wringing her hands but I still wanted to punish her for her wicked deed so I asked her a killer question, "Is this what Japanese people do when they stay in hotels? I don't know anyone that would stoop so low as to take a toilet roll". She wailed even louder as she told me she felt ashamed, Japanese people are good at feeling ashamed.

Isn't it a waste for the disposable items to be thrown away when it is still usable.

Actually this started off an interesting debate. What actually are we allowed to take from hotel rooms? What do you take, if anything? My view is that the toiletries are there for our use, within reason. For instance if I stay in a twin room by myself there are enough toiletries for two people, but I only take one set. As this really is a grey area I asked some of our lovely local hotels managers for their views. My questions were: - What are guests actually permitted to take from hotel rooms? How about if they don't intend to use the item there and then, like the sewing kit, what is your view if they take it? Is a single person occupying a double room entitled to take all the little bits and pieces left for two people, i.e. two toothbrushes etc.? When I stayed at a hotel in Shenzhen they had a price list that included the TV remote control, obviously people are removing them. Do you get cases where people take things like this?

Clive Murray, the General Manager of the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel kindly answered our questions. "Guests are entitled to take the consumable or disposable items. Whilst many guests do take the toiletries such as soap, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, toothbrushes etc., there are some guests that take the paper items like toilet paper and tissues, though this is far less frequent than toiletries.

If they wish to take a sewing kit or similar item for later use, they are welcome to do so and even if there is only one guest in a room and they wish to take all the toiletries, they are also welcome to do that. There are times when guests take remote controls, towels, clocks etc. that are not for sale, nor free. We don't put a price list on these items but there are times when guests have requested the price for the item as they like it so much that they would like to buy it".

The Holiday Inn Aqua City told us "Guests are welcome to take the toiletries and toothbrushes and the disposable slippers, as well as the publicity brochures for the hotel. The room price already includes this kind of thing and if guests want to take the sewing kit, even if they will not use it at once, of course we will not oppose this. Obviously things like remote controls are not to be taken away, but sometimes guests do take things that they shouldn't, however this is only a small minority of people. Single Guests are welcome to take all the toiletries in a double occupancy room because they have already paid for the room, regardless of how many people occupy it".

Will you take away any of the toiletries.

So there you have it folks, straight from the horses' mouths, you may enjoy your toiletries guilt free. Actually since I started to write this article my attitude has changed. I thought it was despicable to take toilet rolls from hotels, but think about it. Actually my friends are right, the hotels cannot leave half used toilet rolls for the next guests to use, this would be terribly unhygienic. Would you be happy to share toilet rolls with previous guests? This puts a different light on the whole aspect and throwing half used rolls away is definitely a waste, hence I now understand Susan's attitude. She is helping the environment by not creating waste. Also the hotel managers have confirmed that the toiletries and other things are part of the room price so not taking them would be a shame. Now I know this I will get rid of some of my guilt and enjoy what the hotels provide, although I still have no plans to take the toilet rolls in the future, so maybe it is me that is creating waste. Once again I have learned that things are not so black and white here and that maybe it is actually Chinese people that are right. Will you take half used toilet rolls in future? If you do nobody will condemn you, although I suspect most of you will not. I think this thinking is a fundamental difference between us and Chinese people. Why don't I take half used toilet rolls? Because it just seems petty to me. It smacks of being unable to buy basic things for myself. However Chinese guests of course can well afford to buy toilet rolls, but they have no qualms about taking them - their attitude of one of practicality, that is all. If it is going to be thrown away, why not take it?

Chinese people in some ways are a lot more practical than we are and emotion does not come into it that is why other Chinese people are able to agree that there is nothing wrong with taking certain items. I asked other Chinese friends about this, they all think it is me that has the problem, they say "You think too much". Yes I do, but even though I agree that sometimes they are right, I will still not change my habits. Also if I ask them what they think, if someone took a remote control from a hotel, they just say "It hasn't got anything to do with me, it doesn't affect me so I don't need to think about that". Sometimes their logic has me stumped. I just wish they had the same attitude towards food, because the amount of food that is wasted here is shocking.