What's free for the taking at hotels?

Where's the line?

When you're staying at a hotel, is it OK to pocket the bottles of shampoo and lotion? How about the magazines? Bathrobes? Furniture?

It depends on the traveler. A recent Travelocity survey found 86 percent of hotel guests admitted to taking toiletries, such as oatmeal soap and lavender body gel. About 3 percent said they swiped a bathrobe or slippers, and 1percent said they stole dishes, silverware, electronics and - seriously - Bibles.

We can all agree that there is a line. We can't necessarily agree where the line is.

"There are gray areas," says Dominique Marty, the general manager of the Millennium Bostonian, a 201-room upscale property with its fair share of swipe-able amenities, including soaps, gels, lotions, bathrobes and ... TVs.

"Yes," he sighs. "It was a smaller, flat-screen TV. One day it was there, the next day it was gone."

Here are guidelines on what is and isn't free for the taking.

IF THERE'S A PRICE TAG ON IT, IT'S OFF LIMITS

The bathrobes in your room may have a price tag, but they're also there to be used during your stay. And from there, it's not much of a leap to your unpacked bag. Brenda Rivera, a finance systems specialist from Cedar Park, Texas, says she thinks twice before folding away a hotel bathrobe. "When you know you are going to get charged $125," she says, "you leave it." But what she wonders about amenities that don't have price tags, such as towels? It's a gray area, since some hotels have given away towels as a promotion in the past.

IF IT CAN'T BE REUSED, IT'S YOURS

Hotel sources say it's fine to take something that can be used only once, such as a shower cap, or that can't be recycled once it's opened, such as a bottle of lotion. One manager even said it was OK to take the slippers. But there are exceptions. Unless you're staying on the concierge floor, you'll probably be charged for bottled water in your room or anything in the minibar. So consume with caution.

DON'T TAKE MORE THAN YOU SHOULD

Hands off those housekeeping carts stocked with soaps and lotions. Those are meant for someone else's room. Raiding them crosses the line - even if it's for a good cause, such as donating the items to a women's shelter - it's questionable.

CARD KEYS ARE OK

Magnetic card keys may be recyclable, but no one is going to think twice if you don't return yours. "That's one thing I take consistently - the room keys," says Scott Friedman, a sales manager in Muscatine, Iowa. Friedman and others who have a key card collection are in the clear. Unless they grab a handful of card keys from behind the desk, the hotel won't mind.