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| From NMT Images |
In search of romantic couples or at least couples seeking a sexy stay, hotels promoted “intimacy kits” in their mini bars just a few years ago
Happily, the Thompson Hotel in New York still stocks its mini bars with condoms, cinnamon mints, scented cloths, personal lubricants and feather ticklers for libidinous couples.
But a spokesperson cooly downplayed their availability by telling me they don’t promote the kits any more, not the way they used to. “They’re just there for the client’s use, if they want to use them," she said.
These "intimacy kits" were once big come-on’s when things were looking up, and just a bit rosier, and hotels promoted "sexy stays" for couples looking for romance, intimacy or maybe even a little raunch during their hotel get-aways.
But I've read that economic stress can take the heat out of romance. The unemployed are just not that frisky, it seems. So when I called The James hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona, which once promoted their intimacy kits as “ anticipating the needs of our clients," I was told the hotel closed!
And the Sagamore Hotel in Miami once offered a “Shag Bag” with Pinnacle horny goat weed (“a natural aphrodisiac”), colored condoms and an assortment of lubrication and massage oils. But here too I was told, again cooly, that “these sorts of things no longer exist.”
Is it the economy, or have we become more prudish?
In its list of top ten web sites, Entrepreneur Magazine described Mr. and Mrs Smith of mr.andmrs.smith.com as “a young English couple dedicated to finding good "sneak-away places for clandestine lovers.” But besides being a 1941 Hitchcock film (and one starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) the eponymous web site just lists classy boutique hotels with no hint of sexual innuendo.
But travel can be an aphrodisiac.
The Travel Industry of America says that 20% of travel is for romantic purposes, and hotels do offer romantic inducements like flowers, chocolates and breakfasts in bed, although it's not quite the same thing.
Hotelsexguide.com still talks sexy. They promote themselves as a "travel and hotel guide for lovers" and encourage writers to contribute pieces about their sexiest stay. But I found no example of a sexy place to stay. Just run of the mill "Do Not Disturb" signs.
Hotel Chatter does have an old posting about intimacy kits for guests, but alas, no hotels with mirrors on the ceilings or aphrodisiacs on the pillow. Just mints
So, until the economy turns frisky, we’ll hope for a romantic stay, maybe great service, and who knows what that will lead to.
What's the sexiest hotel you've stayed in?
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