Hotel Guests Pinch Suit of Armour, Two Piece Suite and Concorde

The annual review into stock levels at Best Western, Britain's biggest group of independent hotels, reveals in eye-opening detail the liberties some people take to abscond with their little bit of hotel memorabilia.

Among the booty ferreted away from one of the groups 281 Best Western hotels is a suit of armour, a two piece leather suite, a 12ft long model of the supersonic jet Concorde, a Christmas tree and even a cigarette machine. Even plants in the hotel gardens aren't safe, with cuttings being taken, whole plants dug up and even bark chippings from flower beds going home with the guests.

One guest even managed to clear out an entire hotel room - taking absolutely everything inside, except the bed. Their ill-gotten haul included a bedspread and matching curtains, a plasma TV set, a hairdryer, kettle, cups and saucers.

At this time of year it's the Christmas decorations that go missing the most with baubles, tinsel, lights and even nativity scenes disappearing across the country, especially when there is a party on!

Best Western head of marketing, Tim Wade, said: "By far the large majority of our guests are the epitome of honesty. But, just occasionally we get a rogue who takes more than the odd soap or shampoo home with them.

"It appears the more unusual and personality packed the items the more they appeal to those light fingered guests. Goodness knows how guests manage to conceal a suit of armour or indeed a sofa when they checked out!

"Clearly, we don't mind when shampoo or soap goes walkabout - we even have 'so good you'll want to steal two' on our soap. On the bright side I guess it shows the high quality of the products we supply."

• Most unusual items stolen from hotels
  
  • Suit of armour,
  • Two piece leather suite
  • 12ft model Concorde
  • Papier mache life-size man
  • Wooden ducks
  • Energy saving lightbulbs
• Most common items to go missing:
  
  • Toiletries
  • Toilet rolls
  • Teaspoons
  • Towels
  • Bathrobes
  • Batteries from remote controls

Before the smoking ban was enforced in Great Britain the number one item that went missing from hotels was ashtrays. The more the ashtrays were customized with branding or engraving the more likely it was that they would be taken as a trophy item.

Best Western's extraordinary missing list comes on the back of a recent survey by Hotwire, which suggests nearly half of hotel guests are happy to steal items from hotel rooms. As many as 59% believe it is fine to take shampoo, 29% make off with stationery, and 7% with towels, the poll said.


Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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