You brought up some interesting points, Bob, and I enjoyed reading
them....your post reminded me of this little story that pertains,
somewhat, to the points that you made...

9 years ago I made a trip to Laughlin...in August...in a black Nissan
pickup with no air conditioning...(what the hell was I thinking?!)..
it was 128 degrees when we pulled into Harrah's...it was the only
time that I had ever experienced heat stroke...seriously...On the
day we checked out, it was going to be another scorcher...I filled
up my little ice chest with ice and took 3 hand towels from the
room....when I got home, I wanted to do the right thing and return
them to Harrah's...so I called, explained the situation...they connected
me with the house keeping manager...I told the manager my sad story...
..she was kind of speechless....she told me I could keep the towels
if I promised I would come back to Harrah's for my next stay...and
I did just that.

I'm not advocating the removal of towels from the hotel and it was
the only time I did that but when I tried to send them back, they
didn't want them!

Just wanted to share that little story....

Katie