So what would actually happen if the bathrobe slipped into your suitcase? We spoke to a number of hotel managers to find out.

Luxury hotels go out of their way to source the very best in bathrobes, so it makes sense why guests often feel tempted to treat them as a souvenir. Plus, hotel merch has become a kind of status symbol, a marker that you, too, have stayed at the Chateau Marmonts of the world. “We went through a very detailed process of sampling, reviewing many options of brands, and focusing on quality and fit to ensure we picked the perfect bathrobes to match the Pendry Hotels Resorts experience,” says Azadeh Hawkins, creative director at Montage International.

This attention to detail, however, comes with a price. There are many freebies available to you within your hotel room—slippers, pens, toiletries—but bathrobes are usually not one of them. “Typically in a luxury hotel like VEA, our guests know that a robe can be purchased… We will gladly sell a brand new one to you for $150,” says Kasey Pinedo, director of rooms at VEA Newport Beach A Marriott Resort Spa. “If you do steal the robe from our luxury resort, we will also gladly charge you $150.”

Not every property actually sees a robe theft as a robe theft, but verbiage aside, they're still going to charge you for it. “If a guest chooses to remove a robe, our housekeeping team reports this to the front desk and a charge is applied to the room bill,” says Schuyler Clark, general manager of the Craddock Terry Hotel in Lynchburg, VA. “I can’t say it is stealing, more so that there is such a connection to the comfort that they accidentally find their way into their luggage. It just slips the mind to mention it upon departure, and we have a process in place to monitor.”

As for the frequency with which guests remove robes from their room, hotels see it happening quite often. At The Lodge at Bodega Bay in Sonoma County, CA, microfiber robes are sold for $95 each, and guests who take them from the room are charged the same price. The Lodge sells about 20 robes per month, one to two of which per week are taken from guest rooms.

To prevent the pilfering of these cozy commodities, many hotels, like the Pendry Newport Beach and The Clifton, provide robe hanger cards, detailing the cost of the item should guests wish to take it home. And, as is the case with most luxury hotels, the robes are also available for purchase at either the front desk or the gift shop.

Many hotel managers accept the thievery as a sign that the guest holds the hotel—and its luxe offerings—in such a high regard that they want to take a piece of their stay home with them. But it can also get out of hand.

Says Pinedo, “I was enjoying a night of poker at a friend’s house one evening five years ago. This friend frequented a luxury resort I worked at over the span of five years. When I went to use the restroom at his house, I found four branded bath robes from the resort I worked at, and about 30 towels as well.” He adds, “Needless to say, he never stayed at any of the hotels I worked at again!”