5 ms·

A thousand times amen to this. At home I share a tube of toothpaste with my wife: if we go on holiday together, we bring the tube with us. If I'm travelling s

A thousand times amen to this. At home I share a tube of toothpaste with my wife: if we go on holiday together, we bring the tube with us. If I'm travelling solo, for business or whatever, then the home toothpaste stays at home, so I need to remember to buy a new tube to take with me. It's the only thing I need to expressly purchase other than the hotel room booking. This can't be that unusual a scenario... can it?

caseymarquis 10y ago
Nope. Same deal. I'd probably pay about $5 more a night in exchange for toothpaste being provided. I'll be on the hunt for Hyatt now that I know it's standard there.
- bostonpete 10y ago
  You'd pay $5 more a night to avoid having to buy an extra tube of toothpaste at the store every once in a while? Sometimes, I feel like I'm so cavalier about spending money that my depression-era grandparents must be rolling in their graves, but then when I see comments like this, it makes me feel much more frugal. ;-)
  - icantdrive55 10y ago
    I'm from the same era, and as I've gotten older I'm much more frugal. My decised father was psychotically frugal. I'm different than my father, but we definetly don't give hard earned money away. Now easily made money I usually spend freely. Tooth paste--prescription grade, and use pea size amount. (Not out of cheapness--just don't want to give a dentist any money. ) Hair cutting--Flobee. Car breaks down--pull out the tools. Plumbing problems--one day at a garage sale I bought a 4' monkey wrench. I've actually used it. Emotional upset--drink. Need new clothes--pull out sewing machine, and custom fit cheap clothes. Eat out--specifical occasions. Buy Men's hair color to hide getting older in this ageist society--walk right over to women hair color and buy brown 51 for $2.99. The only item I splurge on is a certain glycerine soap. (I have thought about making my own, and might if I can obtain Neutrigenia's propriatiry formula?) And I would never tell a date/most people any of this. When socializing, I'm a phoney spendthrift, and when it came to my pets money was never an option. I would pay anything to make them healthy/happy. Years later I was talking to a vet I befriended, and he said they have a office subscript for guy's like me--it's WPA. (Will pay anything). I remember being bothered, but their health was my priority, even when I was broke. They all passed, but I have no guilt over their care.
- ghaff 10y ago
  I travel over 100 nights a year. So go to the drug store and buy a few travel toothpaste tubes for ~$1 each and stick one in with your travel toiletries when you travel?
- nemo44x 10y ago
  If you're staying at a large brand (Marriott, Starwood,etc) just ask the front desk for toothpaste. They will give you a few single use packets for free. I get 2 or 3 uses from each packet.
- tuna-piano 10y ago
  I'm not sure this Hyatt thing is true? I recently stayed at a Hyatt and didn't see toothpaste in the room. Maybe their spokesman misinterpreted for "standard in room" and "available upon request"
  - Manozco 10y ago
    I also stayed in a Hyatt in Vancouver recently and no toothpaste. The "issue" was that I was flying with only carry on luggage, so no toothpaste possible in the cabin and I had to to grocery shopping for a tube of toothpaste for one night in Vancouver...
    - ghaff 10y ago
      >so no toothpaste possible in the cabin Sure it is. Buy a travel/trial size tube. I do it dozens of times a year.
    - Scoundreller 10y ago
      <100mL tubes aren't hard to find at all... Even as a non-travel size.
achow 10y ago
For years I had wondered about this toothpaste conundrum; as the author points out it is in fact one of the important toiletry component if not the most important (for me personally actually it is). I made up a theory that it has to be sourcing problem. Toothpaste is one thing that you don’t hear small supplier making on their own - I get to hear all the time about handcrafted artisan soaps, conditioner, shampoos etc. but not toothpaste. So for hotel industry it is very easy to source small supplies of toiletries other than toothpaste. And on the other hand name brand toothpaste manufacturer would not be interested in setting up manufacturing lines for small toothpaste tubes (the fact it is a tube, which essentially needs a pumping machine to fill it up supports this line of thinking) for a niche segment where volumes would be minuscule as compared to their traditional channels.
- wodenokoto 10y ago
  But they have already set up manufacturing for such tubes for Hotels in Europe and Asia, so it should only make sense that they would want to sell more of these. Emirates also supplies a toothbrush and toothpaste on long flights in a nice little toilet bag, even for economy passengers. These things are everywhere, except apparently American Hotels.
  - achow 10y ago
    I suspect these 'mini sizing' consumer goods trend is reserved for Asia and I guess now Europe. In USA the marketing strategies of these companies does not include 'Sachet marketing' or mini sizing. And of course importing these small size containers for a niche market in USA would not make sense at all. [Edit] This blog writes about how the new trend in Europe is 'Right sizing' of packaging. Smaller is Better as Global Packaging Growth is Shaped by Variation in Pack Sizes. http://blog.euromonitor.com/2016/06/smaller-is-better-as-global-packaging-growth-is-shaped-by-variation-in-pack-sizes.html http://blog.euromonitor.com/2016/06/smaller-is-better-as-glo...
    - mef 10y ago
      You can buy mini travel-size toothpaste in just about any chain drugstore in the US
nommm-nommm 10y ago
If you travel more than once a year just keep a zip lock bag ready with a toothbrush and toothpaste and floss. That way there is no thinking, just grab the bag and you're good. I get samples from my dentist which I put in there so I never run out of anything and I keep it in a bathroom drawer. It's incredibly helpful.
mercer 10y ago
Yup, same here (without the wife). I always make sure to have both a normal and travel sized tube of my preferred toothpaste. OTOH I don't really care about soap or shampoo.
mattnewport 10y ago
As mentioned in the article, most hotels will send up a free tube of toothpaste if you phone reception and request one. The same is true for a number of other 'essentials' you may forget that aren't provided by default such as shaving kits and sometimes even phone chargers.
morgante 10y ago
> If I'm travelling solo, for business or whatever, then the home toothpaste stays at home, so I need to remember to buy a new tube to take with me. Keep in mind that you always have the option of getting them to send up toothpaste. That's what I always do. I definitely can't be bothered to pack toothpaste and have yet to encounter a hotel where they didn't have some available. At the end of the day, I think that's the strongest reason it's not in rooms: anyone who actually wants it can simply call.
- Doctor_Fegg 10y ago
  Yeah, kind of. I'd agree except that it's not "always". The last time I tried it was in a London hotel where they didn't have any at the desk. Given that it was 1am and I'd just had an Unbranded Fried Chicken as the one meal still available at that time of night, I was a bit gutted...

caseymarquis 10y ago

Nope. Same deal. I'd probably pay about $5 more a night in exchange for toothpaste being provided. I'll be on the hunt for Hyatt now that I know it's standard there.

bostonpete 10y ago
You'd pay $5 more a night to avoid having to buy an extra tube of toothpaste at the store every once in a while? Sometimes, I feel like I'm so cavalier about spending money that my depression-era grandparents must be rolling in their graves, but then when I see comments like this, it makes me feel much more frugal. ;-)
- icantdrive55 10y ago
  I'm from the same era, and as I've gotten older I'm much more frugal. My decised father was psychotically frugal. I'm different than my father, but we definetly don't give hard earned money away. Now easily made money I usually spend freely. Tooth paste--prescription grade, and use pea size amount. (Not out of cheapness--just don't want to give a dentist any money. ) Hair cutting--Flobee. Car breaks down--pull out the tools. Plumbing problems--one day at a garage sale I bought a 4' monkey wrench. I've actually used it. Emotional upset--drink. Need new clothes--pull out sewing machine, and custom fit cheap clothes. Eat out--specifical occasions. Buy Men's hair color to hide getting older in this ageist society--walk right over to women hair color and buy brown 51 for $2.99. The only item I splurge on is a certain glycerine soap. (I have thought about making my own, and might if I can obtain Neutrigenia's propriatiry formula?) And I would never tell a date/most people any of this. When socializing, I'm a phoney spendthrift, and when it came to my pets money was never an option. I would pay anything to make them healthy/happy. Years later I was talking to a vet I befriended, and he said they have a office subscript for guy's like me--it's WPA. (Will pay anything). I remember being bothered, but their health was my priority, even when I was broke. They all passed, but I have no guilt over their care.
ghaff 10y ago
I travel over 100 nights a year. So go to the drug store and buy a few travel toothpaste tubes for ~$1 each and stick one in with your travel toiletries when you travel?
nemo44x 10y ago
If you're staying at a large brand (Marriott, Starwood,etc) just ask the front desk for toothpaste. They will give you a few single use packets for free. I get 2 or 3 uses from each packet.
tuna-piano 10y ago
I'm not sure this Hyatt thing is true? I recently stayed at a Hyatt and didn't see toothpaste in the room. Maybe their spokesman misinterpreted for "standard in room" and "available upon request"
- Manozco 10y ago
  I also stayed in a Hyatt in Vancouver recently and no toothpaste. The "issue" was that I was flying with only carry on luggage, so no toothpaste possible in the cabin and I had to to grocery shopping for a tube of toothpaste for one night in Vancouver...
  - ghaff 10y ago
    >so no toothpaste possible in the cabin Sure it is. Buy a travel/trial size tube. I do it dozens of times a year.
  - Scoundreller 10y ago
    <100mL tubes aren't hard to find at all... Even as a non-travel size.

achow 10y ago

For years I had wondered about this toothpaste conundrum; as the author points out it is in fact one of the important toiletry component if not the most important (for me personally actually it is). I made up a theory that it has to be sourcing problem. Toothpaste is one thing that you don’t hear small supplier making on their own - I get to hear all the time about handcrafted artisan soaps, conditioner, shampoos etc. but not toothpaste. So for hotel industry it is very easy to source small supplies of toiletries other than toothpaste. And on the other hand name brand toothpaste manufacturer would not be interested in setting up manufacturing lines for small toothpaste tubes (the fact it is a tube, which essentially needs a pumping machine to fill it up supports this line of thinking) for a niche segment where volumes would be minuscule as compared to their traditional channels.

wodenokoto 10y ago
But they have already set up manufacturing for such tubes for Hotels in Europe and Asia, so it should only make sense that they would want to sell more of these. Emirates also supplies a toothbrush and toothpaste on long flights in a nice little toilet bag, even for economy passengers. These things are everywhere, except apparently American Hotels.
- achow 10y ago
  I suspect these 'mini sizing' consumer goods trend is reserved for Asia and I guess now Europe. In USA the marketing strategies of these companies does not include 'Sachet marketing' or mini sizing. And of course importing these small size containers for a niche market in USA would not make sense at all. [Edit] This blog writes about how the new trend in Europe is 'Right sizing' of packaging. Smaller is Better as Global Packaging Growth is Shaped by Variation in Pack Sizes. http://blog.euromonitor.com/2016/06/smaller-is-better-as-global-packaging-growth-is-shaped-by-variation-in-pack-sizes.html http://blog.euromonitor.com/2016/06/smaller-is-better-as-glo...
  - mef 10y ago
    You can buy mini travel-size toothpaste in just about any chain drugstore in the US

nommm-nommm 10y ago

If you travel more than once a year just keep a zip lock bag ready with a toothbrush and toothpaste and floss. That way there is no thinking, just grab the bag and you're good. I get samples from my dentist which I put in there so I never run out of anything and I keep it in a bathroom drawer. It's incredibly helpful.

mercer 10y ago

Yup, same here (without the wife). I always make sure to have both a normal and travel sized tube of my preferred toothpaste. OTOH I don't really care about soap or shampoo.

mattnewport 10y ago

As mentioned in the article, most hotels will send up a free tube of toothpaste if you phone reception and request one. The same is true for a number of other 'essentials' you may forget that aren't provided by default such as shaving kits and sometimes even phone chargers.

morgante 10y ago

> If I'm travelling solo, for business or whatever, then the home toothpaste stays at home, so I need to remember to buy a new tube to take with me. Keep in mind that you always have the option of getting them to send up toothpaste. That's what I always do. I definitely can't be bothered to pack toothpaste and have yet to encounter a hotel where they didn't have some available. At the end of the day, I think that's the strongest reason it's not in rooms: anyone who actually wants it can simply call.

Doctor_Fegg 10y ago
Yeah, kind of. I'd agree except that it's not "always". The last time I tried it was in a London hotel where they didn't have any at the desk. Given that it was 1am and I'd just had an Unbranded Fried Chicken as the one meal still available at that time of night, I was a bit gutted...