Why People Are Stealing Hotel Notebooks—and What That Says About Us
Somewhere between the mini bar and the do-not-disturb sign, there’s a hotel drawer with a tiny, half-forgotten notebook inside. Lately, that notebook has quietly become the most stolen item in boutique hotels across the country. Not the bathrobes, not even the complimentary slippers. It’s the notebook. A5, stitched spine, maybe a grid or two. Always blank, always begging.
This sparked something in me. I spent the last three weekends unofficially auditing eight hotels from Auckland to Wānaka. Each time, I pocketed the in-room notebook like a design anthropologist. What I found wasn’t just good paper stock. These weren't random scribble pads. They were crafted objects pretending not to care. The covers had subtle embossing. Inside, every page had rounded corners. Some even had weighty back covers made from recycled end-of-run menus.
Someone along the way decided these things mattered, even if guests didn’t notice—or weren’t supposed to. But people are noticing. And keeping them. Brands like Wintermark Lodge and Grange & Split are putting actual thought into what people engage with privately. The room becomes a scene, and the notebook is suddenly a prop in your travel-themed main character moment. That’s low-key brilliant branding. No logo screaming at you, no scripted ‘brand story.’ Just good design tucked into an everyday object. Which is maybe why people take them. It feels personal.
The takeaway? Sometimes, the sneakiest touchpoints are the ones people cherish most. Forget brand campaigns for a second. Make something unreasonably nice. Leave it somewhere unexpected. Don’t ask them to notice. Just let them discover it and decide it’s theirs. People like to feel like they found the good stuff themselves.
This sparked something in me. I spent the last three weekends unofficially auditing eight hotels from Auckland to Wānaka. Each time, I pocketed the in-room notebook like a design anthropologist. What I found wasn’t just good paper stock. These weren't random scribble pads. They were crafted objects pretending not to care. The covers had subtle embossing. Inside, every page had rounded corners. Some even had weighty back covers made from recycled end-of-run menus.
Someone along the way decided these things mattered, even if guests didn’t notice—or weren’t supposed to. But people are noticing. And keeping them. Brands like Wintermark Lodge and Grange & Split are putting actual thought into what people engage with privately. The room becomes a scene, and the notebook is suddenly a prop in your travel-themed main character moment. That’s low-key brilliant branding. No logo screaming at you, no scripted ‘brand story.’ Just good design tucked into an everyday object. Which is maybe why people take them. It feels personal.
The takeaway? Sometimes, the sneakiest touchpoints are the ones people cherish most. Forget brand campaigns for a second. Make something unreasonably nice. Leave it somewhere unexpected. Don’t ask them to notice. Just let them discover it and decide it’s theirs. People like to feel like they found the good stuff themselves.