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With another major hotel chain installing toiletry dispensers in showers (and ditching the cute bottles we love), here’s an alternative to consider.
Bring your own refillable, leakproof, silicone travel bottles. And yes, it a relatively environmentally friendly practice.
IHG is joining Marriott in the bulk toiletry crusade. (In California, though, hotels may not have a choice.)
I visited a couple of Marriotts where refillable dispensers were installed. During both stays, one bottle was empty.
There are other concerns, though. As VFTW’s Gary Leff pointed out, these dispensers are germ magnets that can be tampered with.
I began traveling with my own toiletries several years ago. One hotel’s soap caused my fair and sensitive skin to break out. That inspired me to bring my own shampoo, soap, lotion, and other toiletries with me.
I soon tired of buying travel size bottles and using only a portion of their contents. Then I discovered refillable, leakproof, silicone travel bottles.
I immediately bought some and haven’t looked back since. And now with more hotels moving toward bulk toiletries, I’m even happier with my decision. (Personally, I’m a fan of Mylivell’s set.)
They’re great for shampoo, body wash, conditioner, lotion, sunscreen (we’re huge Hawaiian Tropic fans!), aftershave, etc.
If you like to save money on *ahem* beverages, they also nicely hold several ounces of your favorite libation. I’ve heard.
Rotatable, pre-printed labels remind you of what you put in each bottle. You can also manually write whatever you want in the blank spaces provided.
We generally buy large, economy-sized toiletries for our house and use those to top off our travel toiletries before trips.
I keep the bottles in my Tozy “TSA Approved” clear bag for toiletries. It has a great zipper, so there’s no worry about a flimsy plastic bag tearing or popping open. All due respect, I’m guessing — and could be wrong — the TSA didn’t actually approve these bags. But they are TSA compliant.
The only place I’ve ever encountered flak is in London — where security is fierce about using plastic baggies.
These have worked great for me and I think you’ll like them, too!
—Chris
Shop for reusable, silicone, travel tubes now on Amazon!
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I guess I must be doing something wrong as I’ve bought several different types of these on Amazon, and each time developed a mess during my travels. Perhaps they’ve changed since I bought the last set two years ago…
@Gina: The first set I bought a few years ago recently (after dozens of trips) started to wear out a bit. But I’m very happy with the Mylivell’s.
@Gina You are not alone. Due to cabin pressure differences, I have not found any of those containers that are truly and completely leak-proof – sometimes the lid just snap open a little due to pressure change, just enough for things to leak.
I have come up with a trick that hasn’t fail me. After you close the lid, put a little piece of scotch tape cover the lid seam. Just that bit of tape can prevent the lid from pop open in your luggage.
@Will: Interesting. I’ve never had a problem but may start using that hack just in case.
It’s not the empty bottle I’m worried about: it’s the full ones.
Also, get your choice of ‘leakproof’ resealable bottles and use them, but then put the whole thing into another good-quality ziplock (or two). The extra ones sometimes come in handy.
I always use Muji ones
They are great and also come in many shapes and sizes 🙂
Hotels need to be punished for these stupid switches, next time bring several empty bottles and pump them full of the hotel soap. If everyone does this they will probably switch back. Housekeeping already has a hard time keeping the room clean and they take away the last sure way to clean.
If you want to do this on the cheap, my local dollar store has 3 cheap plastic ones for $1. At that price they only need to last one trip.