Is it OK to steal hotel amenities?

cnn ^ | June 5, 2009 | Lynn Yaeger

[JoeProBono]

I stole a laundry bag from the Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires. It was made of thick ivory linen, embroidered with the words "dry cleaning" in cerulean blue, and looked like something that I could have found at an antique textiles show. But that wasn't the case. I'm usually pretty scrupulous about purloined souvenirs. Of course, I help myself to soap and shampoo, sewing kits, even those black sponges meant to spruce up your shoes -- oh, and ballpoint pens and darling little notepads. But the laundry bag was my first sojourn into the land of, what shall we call it ... outright theft?

[JoeProBono]

[nickcarraway]

CNN- quality news

[Brad's Gramma]

Take the mattress too....dare you....

[Jeff Head]

Here, let me shorten the title just a bit and maybe it will help answer the question.

Is it OK to steal?

[Tublecane]

It is theft, yes. Even though they probably expect you to take it. If it’s not yours and its not shampoo or soap, it’s stealing.

[Jolla]

No problem at all, mind if I spend the night at your place?

[SkyDancer]

I visited Hiroshima in last year of high school. You couldn’t fine a t-shirt in any store there about Hiroshima. The hotel I stayed at had three-quarter sized comfort robes with the hotel name and “Hiroshima” printed on it. I went to the reception desk and asked to buy it. They didn’t know what to do. Finally they checked on what they paid for it and charged me that. Are we talking about that sort of thing or the shampoo/conditioner/lotion stuff they lay out?

[TurtleUp]

Literary trivia quiz:

1. Based on the best selling book of all time, complete this relevant quote: "Thou shalt not _____."

[Hint - consider from Exodus 20:15]

What was your question?

[Paved Paradise]

Did you ever see that piece on Dateline where they went into the hotels/motels and sprayed the Luminol (which detects blood splatter)on the mattresses and comforters. So gross. You don’t want to know.

[MamaDearest]

No, theft is theft. In Obama's Muslim sharia law world, you'd lose your hands for that.

One of the attorneys I worked with in Denver stole a wine glass from every elegant restaurant at which he dined. He bragged about it and I (and my co-workers) always thought of him as a thief thereafter. You really knew the answer to this one before you asked the question.

[KarlInOhio]

I was on a tour of CNN headquarters and while wandering through an unused studio I found a really cool video camera, a couple teleprompters and a big screen monitor. Was it OK to take them? Normally I just wander off with a few pens and notepads, maybe a case of copy paper or an occasional laser printer, but this was the first time I took anything that might be considered stealing.

[LiberConservative]

Oh ... good ... grief. I always knew CNN were a bunch of liars. Now I see they’re a bunch of thieves, too.

[Jeff Head]

Of course the guy knows...he admist as much himself, that he has taken to "theft".

He wants society...or as many of the people in society as he can...to rationalize it for him by saying it is ok. Well, it is not ok and the guy is nothing more than a petty criminal.

[Mr. Lucky]

That’s good.

[libh8er]

Is it OK to steal

Only if you are the govt.

[martin_fierro]

GUILTY.

GUILTY.

G U I L T Y!

[Jeff Head]

...if he keeps at it, maybe he can get a law degree, work for ACORN, then learn to speak real well into a teleprompter and step up to the really big league in thievery...like Obama.

THE AUDACITY OF TRUTH ABOUT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA IN HIS OWN WORDS

NOW WE KNOW WHAT A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER DOES

OBAMA, THE STOCK MARKET, AND ENERGY

THE AUDACITY OF TRUTH ABOUT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA'S UPBRINGING

IT'S TIME FOR A RETURN TO THE OLD SCHOOL

[Cincinna]

Only CNN would dare to suggest that stealing from a Hotel is OK.

It is a dirty Capitalist business for profit, right? Return the “spoils to their rightful ownder.

Many clients staying a deluxe hotels have been shocked and embarassed to find the cost of stolen bathrobes, towels, bathmats, etc, added to their final bill before checkout.

[Jeff Head]

See my post 17.

They may do it at will...but it is not ok, and one day, there will be a reckoning and an accounting, either on this earth or before a heavenly tribunal.

[callisto]

cnn.com
updated 9:53 a.m. EDT, Fri June 5, 2009

LOL. Fox & Friends twittered this question at 6am this morning.

CNN is getting lamer.

[Ramius]

Good heavens. What in the world is that?

[edcoil]

Dear God, what is it?

[Barnacle]

Shorten the title.. “Is it OK to steal?”

[dfwgator]

Dear God, what is it?

It is the Supreme Being, but that's not important right now.

[Billthedrill]

I wuz gonna bring the TV back, honest. Your Honor.

[smokingfrog]

If it's not bolted down, they expect you to steal it.
Trust me on this one.

/sarc

[9YearLurker]

Who is this brazen criminal writing this piece—and why has CNN posted it?

[ViLaLuz]

I would have just asked, or offered to buy it.

[tired1]

That’s why I carry wrenches. I can’t stand AC and the windows are bolted shut in many places.

[Does so]

When checking "replies" I was surprised to see that you had none!

Let me congratulate you on a super post!

[smokingfrog]

LOL!

[pnut22]

As an in-store loss prevention associate, I had to know what is legally “stealing”. From eating a grape to pocketing perfume samplers and the little freebies companies would sometimes offer. You see it all. A memorable incident was an employee who was consistently helping himself to the need one/take one pennies. Had he used them to pay for a purchase, that was fine. As soon as he put them in his pocket it was theft.

[JimSEA]

The moral question is easy, don't steal!! On the practical side, We always stay at The Swiss Lodge in Bangkok (yes, Thailand) and I would be really ashamed to show up having stolen from them. They are very nice people who remember us. As it is, we get really nice reductions on room rates not to mention all the help you can imagine on such things as expedited laundry, flexible check in - out times and other little things.

[Morgana]

Some of that you have paid for....the soap, shampoo, ect....maybe even the pen and paper, sewing kits, shoe shing kits. Stuff like that they maybe even want you to take because it has their name on it...good advertising. Some stuff is iffy, like the laundry bag, if it is plastic, that is okay but if is not...I would wonder. The towels, sheets pillows...NO that is stealing.

[OB1kNOb]

[mickey finn]

Guilty, yes. But if she promised to put the laundry bag over her head and wear it like a makeshift burka, I would let her take it.

[Constitution Day]

Dear Lord. Kill it with fire!

[nuconvert]

Is it ok if I steal your purse?

[Brad's Gramma]

Ewwwwwww

[Ronin]

If you have to ask if stealing is wrong, you are definitely on the wrong website.

[fr_freak]

Dear Lord. Kill it with fire!

She does look like a witch. Burn her!

[Caramelgal]

Some of that you have paid for....the soap, shampoo, ect....maybe even the pen and paper, sewing kits, shoe shing kits. Stuff like that they maybe even want you to take because it has their name on it...good advertising. Some stuff is iffy, like the laundry bag, if it is plastic, that is okay but if is not...I would wonder. The towels, sheets pillows...NO that is stealing.

I believe that, at least in good hotels items like the soaps, shampoo and conditioner bottles, lotions, tissues, etc., are replaced between guests whether they appear to have been used or not. So if I’ve used any portion and I’m so inclined, I’ll take them with me. Those little shampoo and conditioner bottles come in handy to pack in my gym bag.

IMO, the pens and stationary are usually pretty crappy whether or not the hotel expects you to take them.

But I agree; towels, sheets, pillows, blankets, etc., that’s theft!

[ExGeeEye]

[Chode]

if you have to ask... no.

[Political Junkie Too]

1. Based on the best selling book of all time, complete this relevant quote: "Thou shalt not _____."

Steal This Book?

Oh, wait... Abbie Hoffman wasn't a best selling author?

-PJ

[fanfan]

Is it OK to steal hotel amenities?

No.

[Political Junkie Too]

It was made of thick ivory linen, embroidered with the words "dry cleaning" in cerulean blue...

I admit to taking the plastic bag with the words "dry cleaning" on it to use for my dirty laundry, but it's only because its a plastic bag, not an embroidered linen antique-looking bag.

If I use the plastic laundry bag that's on the hanger in the closet, but leave the laundry order form behind, is that stealing?

-PJ

[boatbums]

My Mom managed a beautiful hotel in New Orleans. She thought it would be a nice luxury if they put special upscale towels in the VIP suite. This suite even had a sauna bath! The towels weren’t out 2 or 3 DAYS before they were stolen. Now they just put out the same linens as all the other rooms have.

You know what is stealing and what is “compliments of the house”.

It goes to show YOU CAN’T BUY CLASS!

[annieokie]

Are they the newest “Project Runway” contestants?

[Excellence]

My grandmother, mother, and I stayed at a hotel in Solvang. My grandmother wanted to buy one of their ashtrays and sent me to the office to ask if she could buy one. The lady behind the counter took an ashtray and wrapped it up for my grandmother. Sometimes honesty has its rewards.