Much-loved hotel freebie could soon be scrapped – with guests having to take their own instead
HOTELS could ban a popular free amenity with guests being potentially asked to bring their own.
Plastic straws and grocery bags were banned amid climate change fears and now environmental groups are urging the ban of single-use slippers.
Willy Legrand, a sustainable hospitality expert, told the New York Times: “Anything single-use is problematic.”
Despite the importance of keeping food waste, water usage and energy consumption under control, a lot of attention has now turned to single-use plastics, he claimed.
However, unlike plastic straws which were easily substituted for paper, changing single-use slippers will be more difficult.
Most luxury hotels and resorts provide guests with slippers with many happy to use the freebie after shelling out a lot of cash on their holiday.
Can we make this with something with a longer life cycle, and if not, do we really need it?
“As hotels started to cater to international guests, particularly those from Asia, the provision of slippers became a way to accommodate and respect these cultural norms,” sustainability expert Verde Nieto said.
Hotels saw their ratings increase because they started to provide slippers to their guests.
However, now that guests have come to expect this service, ditching it could upset them.
Chekitan S. Dev, a professor in the hospitality school at Cornell University, found only 27 per cent of travellers used bathrobes provided in the rooms after tracking 50 hotel amenities.
Hotels have begun phasing the single-use slippers from their amenities but some resorts are now struggling to find a suitable replacement.
Oliver Milne-Watson, the general manager of the Newman, admitted that hotels are constantly trying to find ways to make items last.
He said: “We’re asking, ‘Can we make this with something with a longer life cycle, and if not, do we need it?'”
It has been reported that travellers may need to bring their own slippers with them in the future, much like they would carry water bottles and grocery bags.
Nonetheless, single-use slippers have become as debated as food waste was a few years ago, according to LaGrand.
It comes after a hotel worker revealed the five things staff hate their guests doing.
And an estate agent has offered a glimpse inside the ‘most expensive hotel suite in the world’.