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Remember the lady who stole the vase from that hotel and the story had that twist that no one every imaged would happen?

She’s not the only one

According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association, theft costs hotel brands approximately $1 million dollars every year. It’s gotten to the point where hotels sometimes use anti-theft devices such as this, to catch patrons who have stolen their items. One hotel even made past hotel room thefts the basis of a contest to win a week in their Presidential Suite!

In late 2019, Wellness Heaven, a Germany-based luxury and spa hotel guide, posted the results of a survey of what was most stolen from 4- and 5-star hotel rooms. The survey also included the differences between what people from different countries tended to steal from said rooms. We wrote a piece about it, that you can read here.

The study was interesting but since they asked hoteliers from around the world, it was, of course, very far-reaching. I wished there was a survey that was more focused on the U.S., to get a better idea of what we stole “from our own.”

And then there was one.

Passport-photo.online is a website and app that offers a service for people who need to get photos for their passports. Here’s how they describe themselves:

Passport-photo.online is a website and app that works like a passport photo booth in your pocket. The site provides the perfect solution when you decide: “I want to take passport photos near me”. It is a fully automatic passport photo maker – it allows you to quickly, simply and easily take pictures for any official document, such as an ID card photo, passport photo or visa photo (all biometric photos) without leaving home. On our website, in addition to a photo tool that helps you take professional passport photos, you will also find current requirements, guidelines, sizes and useful tips on how to easily take various document photos: e.g. how to save 10$ buying a Walgreens passport photo at Walgreens. There is also an app for making passport photo with iPhone.

Anyway, this was their methodology:

“We conducted an online survey of 1,051 US respondents via a bespoke online polling tool in January 2023.

The respondents were 74.4% male and 25.6% female. 8.7% of respondents were 25 or younger, 66.4% were aged 26–38, 21.8% were aged 39–54, and 3.2% were 55 or older.

This survey has a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 3%. Given the gender and age makeup of our sample size, the study’s findings are statistically significant for the population at large.

This study was created through multiple research steps, crowdsourcing, and surveying. Data scientists reviewed all survey participants’ responses for quality control. ​​The survey also had an attention-check question.”

Key Takeaways

• 87% of hotel guests who filled out the survey admitted to taking something from a hotel room at least once in their lifetime. And the older they were, the higher the chances they had stolen (read: 80% of 25-year-olds, and over 90% of people 55+ admitted to ever stealing something from a hotel. Whether that was because older people have probably stayed in more hotels in their lifetime, or did they have less morals/didn’t care? Probably the former, but who knows for sure?)
• Although older people said more often they had taken things from hotels, the chances of you being caught stealing appeared to decrease as you aged. 84% of those 25 or younger said they had been caught, but only 62% of those 55+ had.
• 89% of men vs 84% of women admitted to taking things from hotels.
• 26% of respondents admitted they took something every time they stayed in a hotel.
• People often justify taking things from hotels. The top 3 reasons? 30% said it’s OK because of the price they paid for staying there, 29% said it was because of sentimental reasons and another 29% said it was because the hotel can afford it.
• Of those who were caught, 20% faced no consequences, 25% had to pay a fine, 28% said they were prosecuted, 31% were blacklisted from the property and 35% of hotel properties charged for items that have been stolen.
• 32% of Americans think it’s OK to take bathroom accessories. 27% are fine with taking toiletries and 26% admit to taking mini-bar contents. (Note from Sharon: although bathroom accessories should be verboten, aren’t the toiletries there for us to take/use? And if you take something from the minibar, chances are excellent you’re going to be charged for those anyway…so are the latter two really “stealing?”)
• The top 3 items Americans steal from U.S. hotels are towels (35%), soap dishes (35%), and tissue boxes (34%).
• 84% of respondents said they regretted stealing from hotels.

The survey from 2019 and this one looked at different aspects of theft:

• The 2019 survey was conducted of hoteliers. The 2023 survey was of hotel patrons.
• Wellness Heaven’s survey focused on 4 and 5 star hotels; whereas Passport-photo.online’s didn’t specify or differentiate level(s) of hotels their respondents stayed at (which is a shame. I would be interesting to know if patrons of 2 star vs. 5 star hotels stole things more or less often).
• The 2019 survey took patrons and hotels from all around the world, whereas the 2023 survey focused on just American hotels and patrons.

And yet, the most stolen bathroom accessory on both surveys was…towels. Color me surprised, right?

Passport-photo.online went into more detail on their survey than what we listed here – you can see more of their findings on this page of their website.

Oh, and if you ever take something form a hotel by mistake? We’ve got you covered! 😉

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary