I’ve found myself watching a lot of interior design shows lately.  Given that I don’t own my apartment and am not supposed to paint it, you could argue that this is a waste of time and mental energy, but hey, my wasting time is nothing new.  Here is one of the things I don’t get about makeover shows.  Why is it that so many people seem to say that their revised bedrooms look like a hotel room as if it was a good thing?

Hotel rooms are always way too cold.  The covers are invariably scratchy or too heavy.  Ninety percent of the time, they are totally characterless, decorated in white or beige, and have carpeting with a horrifyingly ugly pattern obviously designed to conceal questionable stains.  It’s a rare hotel room that has any real personality to it.  They’re like a hospital, but plushier.  I like traveling, but I have never been in a hotel room that made me want to take it home with me.  (I’ve been in hotels that made me wish my apartment was right there on the left bank with the hotel, but that’s a different question.) If they just mean that it looks clean and free of their junk like a hotel room does, I guess I can understand that, although one hopes that they understand that making their bedrooms up like a hotel room doesn’t actually mean that housekeeping will come and make their beds.

Possibly I just stay in hotels that are too low-end to properly appreciate the marvels of hotel-inspired design, but frankly, when the price goes much past $400 a night, I start thinking about shoes I could be buying instead.  And really, I find it difficult to believe that all of these people are thinking fondly of their latest stay in Ian Schrager’s latest high-end masterpieces and dreaming of the Chihuly installation in the lobby.

Is it just me?

Ah toiletries, sweet, sweet, toiletries...

Hello, my name is Emma, and I’m a Hotel Toiletries Thief.  This is how I would have introduced myself had there ever existed a Hotel Toiletries Thief Group.  You see, I am That Girl. When I check into my hotel and get to my room, I bee-line straight for the bathroom.  Why?  Because I want to see what’s there!  To me, it’s like Christmas.  I go in there and if the products are really good, my eyes light up, a broad smile comes to my face and then… and then I hoard.  Having just completed a 3 week vacation in Japan and Singapore, I am still on a toiletries high.  At the Park Hyatt in Tokyo they had Aesop Toiletries. At the Shangri-La, it was L’Occitane to include full sized bath soaps! I like to justify my habit by saying that I like to ride my bike to work so those lighter toiletries are fantastic.  And why am I now gleefully confessing my obsession?  Click on the jump to find out… read more »