It’s not uncommon for hotel guests to be tempted to take home a few things from their stay. While it’s generally acceptable to take small, disposable items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and shampoo, certain amenities are strictly off-limits. Taking slippers, towels, lamps, or other hotel property is considered theft and can result in additional charges to the guest’s bill. Hotels often have clear policies regarding what can and cannot be taken from the room, and guests need to respect these boundaries.

Recently, a Mumbai hotel devised a clever solution to prevent the theft of complimentary slippers. X user Thejaswi Udupa shared a photo of two pairs of flip-flops – one olive-green and the other orangish-brown – strategically placed in front of the bathroom door. The hotel provided mismatched slippers in different colours, rendering them useless for guests to take home. According to the user, this ingenious strategy ensured that the slippers served their purpose only within the hotel room, discouraging guests from pilfering them for personal use outside the premises.

“This Bombay hotel provides bathroom slippers. But to ensure people don’t flick them, they provide mismatched pairs,” the post was captioned. 

See the tweet here:

This Bombay hotel provides bathroom slippers. But to ensure people don’t flick them, they provide mismatched pairs. pic.twitter.com/zwAUMoPITI

— Thejaswi Udupa (@udupendra) February 28, 2025

The post went viral and the hotel’s clever trick received widespread praise on social media. Many praise the hotel’s creative solution while some questioned its effectiveness, suggesting that determined guests might still find ways to take the slippers. 

One user said, “My father used to say – when you lend someone a pen, never give the cap.”

Another commented, “those who want to flick would even flick the mismatched pair.” A third wrote, “I don’t know. That hunter green and the tan kind of go well together.” A fourth added, “Innovative thinking at its finest! Hospitality meets reverse psychology!”

A fifth joked, “I wouldn’t put it past Indians staying at the hotel colluding to find the person(s) with the matching piece and managing swaps so that everyone gets a matched pair.”