How much can you snaffle from your hotel room?

Luxury hotels offer a panoply of temptations. 

There's that nice bar of soap, the good smelling shampoo and body lotion, the super comfy slippers. 

You might fancy a sachet of tea for your next camping trip, or perhaps a hot chocolate powder.

But what are you entitled to liberate from your hotel room, and what must stay where it belongs?

Earlier this week I overnighted at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne and the hotel conveniently provided a list of what it gifts to you, what you can borrow from reception and what you must pay extra for. 

Remember they have all your credit card details so if you've taken a liking to a bedside lamp and half inch it then you will pay in the long run. 

Obviously, the rules vary from hotel chain to hotel chain, but I think the Hyatt list serves as a good guideline to what the big hotels see as "promotional material" and what they do not. 

Under its "To Keep" list the Hyatt includes the likes of bath soap, shampoo and conditioner, body lotion, slippers, toothbrush and the various sewing and nail kits found in most hotel bathrooms. So help yourself to anything you do not use. 

Likewise a coffee sachet or teabag will do no harm, particularly if you have not used any of them during your stay.

Under "To Borrow" the Hyatt lists loan items like phone chargers, yoga mats, cufflinks, even an office chair or a spinning bike. Which is most helpful should you need them.  

But you'll ned to buy most other items if you forget them, or want to take them home, including toiletries, nail clippers, Panadol or sunscreen lotion. 

And you are not encouraged to take items ranging from pens, minor transgression, to TVs, which could end in a likely arrest. 

I like to take any basic toiletries I have not used, things like vanity kits, shampoos etc and donate them to local charities. The recipients of even a small gift might find them a treat. 

Feel free to join me. Just leave the bedside radio/alarm alone. 

        

Hotel is not as grand as you would expect

Five-star accommodation is not what it was. Neither is the Hyatt hotel brand.

My thought processes when Hyatt is mentioned go to luxury properties with grand atriums, often with external elevators.

Not so Melbourne's Grand Hyatt, where I stayed this week with high expectations. My verdict: there are a lot of better places to stay in Melbourne, particularly is you are paying $318 night or more.

I struggle to see what is "luxury five-star accommodation" about this property.

It is a perfectly fine base for a night or two - and has a seriously good location - but whoever is in charge of service has dropped the ball.

There is, for instance, no one to help you with your luggage at either the main entrance or side entrance, and no one to help older folk with the difficult swinging doors on the Collins Street side.

When I checked in, the desk person was training someone else. Which delayed matters somewhat. No apology. Just suck it up. And no offer to help with baggage to the room,

The room I stayed in was small and beige, with no outstanding features. Bland, in fact. Not really five-star.

The mini toiletries were at half mast (someone had clearly used them and they had not been replaced) while when I pulled out a tissue the box was empty. Check people. Check.

Throw in slow lifts and no 24-hour room service (not needed but surely essential at a 550-room city centre hotel) and I was grumpy after a buffet breakfast where my used cereal plate sat in front of me for the whole of my meal despite the restaurant being a quarter full.

Check-out saw a queue (only two desk people on duty) - and the invoice I was promised would be emailed to me still has not arrived 24 hours later. Disappointing.

Hyatt should do better - and you can certainly do better.