Save a Robe

More often than not when I stay at high-end hotels, there’s a nice, fluffy bathrobe hanging either in the bathroom or the closet for my use while I’m there.

The thing is, I never use the robes. In fact, I never even try them on, because I don’t particularly enjoy being warm and snuggly after a shower. I’d rather just jump into bed and turn on the TV or something.

I’d always assumed that the robe would be left there for the next guest; it never entered my mind that the hotel would wash it whether I used it or not. But now that I think of it, that makes good sense and demonstrates good policy to prevent the spread of germs.

The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas is doing something about it. On the bathroom vanity was this card:

Basically, it says that by washing suite bathrobes whether they’re used or not consumes 6 million gallons of water, 87,000 therms of gas (1 therm equals 100,000 BTUs), 288,000 kilowatts of electricity, and 1,300 gallons of chemicals annually. That’s a lot of energy and resources.

So they’ve removed the bathrobes. However, anyone who wants to use one can just call down and they’ll send one up “promptly.”

I like that policy. Someone at The Venetian is thinking responsibly.