Ban on Free Disposable Items... Paid Amenities
Consumer Complaints Rise... "Reduce Accommodation Fees"
'Hokance (Hotel + Vacation, meaning spending a vacation at a hotel with good facilities)' has emerged as a new leisure trend among young people. While the advantage is being able to comfortably use all kinds of facilities, collecting different amenities (amenity, items provided in the room) from each hotel is also a unique pleasure. However, now you have to pay to receive amenities.
The Ministry of Government Legislation announced that the amended Resource Saving and Recycling Promotion Act, which includes the obligation to prohibit the provision of disposable products, will be enforced from the 29th. The amendment stipulates that disposable shampoos and lotions, which were previously provided free of charge to hotel guests, will require separate payment to use. Due to the legal amendment, hotels with more than 50 rooms and other lodging businesses will no longer offer free disposable products.
The disposable products subject to this regulation include five items: toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, and razors. Lodging businesses that violate the obligation to prohibit the provision of disposable products and provide them free of charge will be fined up to 3 million KRW.
As the fact that products like disposable shampoo and lotion, which were previously provided for free, must now be purchased has become known, voices of dissatisfaction are rising. Most hotel amenities are often from high-end brands or specially made, and because of this characteristic, a culture of buying and selling amenities on secondhand trading platforms has flourished. They were regarded as a kind of 'souvenir.' In response, some netizens have expressed reactions such as "Why is the accommodation fee so expensive when they don't even provide amenities?" and "It was a routine to take amenities every time I went to a hotel, so it's disappointing."
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