The Rise of Hotel Luxury Beauty Products

Now that it’s officially Summer, time for some traveling! For those of you who are seasoned travelers, we know that you’re just like us when it comes to raiding the hotel beauty products in the bathroom. You’re not the only one paying attention – hotels are starting to sit up and take notice!

According to a recent NYT article, more and more hotels (boutique and hotel chains alike) are beginning to upgrade their beauty products. It’s no longer a time of generic, in-house hotel beauty products with their hotel logo slapped on the packaging.

Here’s a list of hotels and the beauty brands you can expect to find in their bathrooms:

• W Hotels: Bliss
• Thompson Hotels: Kiehls
• Morgans hotel: Malin + Goetz
• Beverly Hills Hotel, Mandarin Oriental: Asprey of London
• Loews Hotel, Canyon Ranch Hotels & Spa, Andaz West Hollywood Hotel: LATHER
• Ritz Carlton: Bulgari
• Dream Hotel, NYC: Etro
• Waldorf Astoria: Ferragamo
• Jane, Bowery, Maritime Hotels in NYC: C.O. Bigelow
• Algonquin, NYC: L’Occitane
• The Breakers, FL: Tammy Fender
• Hilton Hotels: Peter Thomas Roth

“Hotel amenities can be a powerful marketing tool“, says Amy Nelson-Bennett, CEO of Molton Brown, the UK-based cosmetics company owned by Japan’s KAO Corp. Molton Brown began offering its products in boutique hotels in 1985. Its hotel program now accounts for 25% of its overall sales, though profit margins are narrower than in other segments.

Lori MacGregor, Marketing & Public Relations Director of LATHER, adds that  “Since 2001, we’ve been providing amenities to hotels, spas, and resorts nationwide. Drawing on natural ingredients, gentle formulations, and fresh scents, each of our unique hotel collections have been designed to offer specific benefits that treat both body and mind.”

A recent Travelocity survey found 86 percent of hotel guests admitted to taking toiletries, like oatmeal soap and lavender body gel. And a whopping 74.6%  said that they bring home the hotel soap, shampoo, and lotion, according to an MSNBC survey.

Don’t be embarrassed in pocketing these beauty goodies. HOTELS WANT YOU TO. It’s free advertising for them in hopes that you’ll remember your stay the next time you use their beauty products. François Delahaye, general manager of Paris’s Hôtel Plaza Athénée, confirms that the shampoo, shower gel, slippers, of course, and even ashtrays (remember those?) are good to go. Delahaye says anything with the hotel’s moniker is extra-desirable.”If you want it stolen, put your logo on it,” he adds.

The #1 city in the U.S with the most hotel amenities “shopping”? MIAMI. In a LivingSocial survey conducted in March, 52% of Miamians admit to having sticking fingers when staying in a hotel aboard compared with 39% of Americans overall.

Here’s to happy “hotel shopping” the next time you’re traveling!