Thousands of US Hotels to Dispose of Much-Appreciated Free Items Found in Your Room — You May Need to Start Packing More

NEW York divided opinions after announcing that some of visitors’ favorite items will no longer be offered in hotels.

The change, which aims to reduce waste, will come into force from the beginning of 2025.

Hotels with more than 50 rooms will no longer be able to provide small bottles of shampoo and lotions in New York starting January 1, 2025.

Smaller hotels will have to adopt the ban from January 1, 2026.

According to The New York TimesThe bill passed in 2019, but enforcement was delayed to give hotels time to use bottles under 12 ounces that they had already purchased.

Hotels that ignore the legislation will have 30 days to resolve the issue before facing a $250 fine.

The sum will increase to $500 for continually breaking the restriction.

Hilton is leading the way for change, having switched to large bottles in 2023.

Meanwhile, Marriott recently announced that it has also begun swapping out small hair products for “larger bottles with pump lids.”

“When fully implemented worldwide, Marriott International’s expanded toiletries program is expected to prevent approximately 500 million small bottles from going to landfills annually,” said a Marriott International spokesperson.

The state of Washington recently passed a bill revealing that it will also ban small personal care products starting January 1, 2027.

This comes after California banned small cosmetic bottles in its hotels.

However, not everyone is happy with the green shift in hotel stays.

Many people turned to X to complain about the regulation of the size of hygiene bottles.

“Another example of New York needlessly angering people for marginal environmental gains,” one person wrote.

“Travel toiletries were one of my favorite parts about going to hotels. What a shame,” said another.

“Boycott New York,” interrupted a third.

Other commenters argued in favor of the legislation and said hotel guests should have room in their suitcases to bring their own toiletries.

“As a frequent traveler, I like this… maybe I can put MY things on the counter without having useless items all over the place,” one person said.

“If you’ve ever had to use one of these shampoos… have you even lathered it up? I call them placebo products.”

“Thank God, what a waste of plastic,” agreed another.

“Bring your own soap and shampoo if you have any problems with that.”

“They will put dispensers in the bathrooms, like hotels are doing all over the world,” said a third.

“If guests don’t want to use the dispensers, they can purchase or bring their own.

“I kept all the soaps, etc. from my travels and donated them to a food pantry. It’s not a deep state conspiracy.”

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