Why Hotels Don’t Give You Toothpaste

The last hotel I stayed in was a Hilton for a friend’s wedding, and the complimentary toiletries in the bathroom included some really nice miniature bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hand soap, and lotion. But no toothpaste.

Slate investigated why hotels don’t provide miniature tubes of complimentary toothpaste for guests. Executives at some of the largest hotel chains said they don’t provide toothpaste because their extensive consumer research show that guests don’t really want toothpaste. I’m sure the research conducted is indeed extensive! But if they had asked me, I would have told them that I would totally like a little complimentary tube of toothpaste. Their research must show something different in Asia because toothpaste comes standard in hotel rooms there. My favorite theory about why hotels don’t provide toothpaste, though, is the “vat theory”:

…the existence of a giant vat — or several giant vats, really — located in the basement of each hotel. These are filled with shampoo, conditioner, and other cosmetic fluids. When the staff needs more toiletries, they tap their kegs to refill the bottles. So why is there no toothpaste in hotel rooms? Because you can’t refill a collapsible tube.

I mean, this makes a lot of sense, right? I can totally imagine a giant vat of L’Occitane shampoo somewhere in the basement where they have little elves refill bottles to stock in your hotel room.

Photo: Daniel Morrison

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