Leading hotel group reveals the most common and unusual hotel items pinched and invites past offenders to come clean for charity
The UK’s leading independent hotel management company, RBH, is giving past guests the chance to come clean and return items they’ve ‘borrowed’ from hotel rooms over the years.
The ‘souvenir amnesty’ will take place throughout the summer, with light fingered patrons being encouraged to hand in their ill-gotten gains – guilt-free and consequence-free – all for the benefit of Make-A-Wish UK and NSPCC.
For every ‘souvenir’ returned to participating hotels, RBH, which manages over 70 branded and private label hotels across the UK, will donate £1 to the worthwhile cause.
To launch Souvenir Amnesty, the hotel group has released details of the top items that regularly go missing from its hotels, and the more exotic souvenirs that guests have ‘accidently’ taken home with them.
Unsurprisingly, the top five most commonly pinched items are towels, pens, mugs, teaspoons and remote controls.
However, some missing items have left staff scratching their heads, with light bulbs, beer taps, DJ lighting, potted plants, a bejeweled Christmas Reindeer statue and a life-sized display mannequin having all gone missing from properties.
The hotel group estimates that thousands of towels along with tens of thousands of teaspoons and pens are taken each year.
Mary Curtin, Group Accommodation Services Manager at RBH, said, “Guests occasionally do like to help themselves when they are staying in our hotels, with towels and mugs the real favourites for ‘borrowing’. Every now and again though we do get a surprise, when some of the larger or quirkier fixtures and fittings are carried out from under our noses.
“Souvenir Amnesty is our way of not only letting past guests make amends for their guilty secret by returning what they have ‘borrowed’, but in doing so they will help us raise money for our nominated charities, the Make-A-Wish® UK and NSPCC.
“It will be interesting to see what is returned over the coming months. We do notice a lot of the items taken, especially if it’s a life sized mannequin or bejeweled reindeer, however I’m sure the amnesty will throw up a few more surprises for the hotel teams.”
Guests who have items to return can drop them off at reception during July and August at the following QHotels: Forest Pines Hotel & Golf Resort, Ashford International Hotel, The Queens Hotel, Tankersley Manner, Chesford Grange, and a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, Edinburgh City Centre.
