The unspoken rule on hotel robes

It’s true that the hotel gives you a robe. You know what else they give you? Towels. The fact that you are given a towel does not, in any way, grant you license to wear said towel in the lobby, parading around in front of your fellow guests as they avert their eyes in case of a “wardrobe malfunction.” 

The same goes for robes. The hotel lobby is not your living room. It’s not the waiting room at a spa, nor is it a setting for your ’90s R&B music video.

The lobby is a place where people wear suits or jeans or dresses or even shorts. In other words—actual adult clothes. The rule isn’t complicated: When in the lobby, wear the kind of thing that wouldn’t prevent you getting served in a bar. This is as self-evident as other maxims, such as “wear deodorant” or “do not remove your shoes and socks on a flight under any circumstances.”

This is just the way things are. Civilization is held together—barely—by these unspoken norms; when we break the social contract, we have anarchy. Perhaps if the ancient Roman senators had swapped their togas (robes) for something more formal, the Roman Empire would not have crumbled. We’ll never know.

There are two exceptions: The first is if you’re en route to the pool and wear the robe as a cover-up. You are clearly on a mission. You have a purpose: Keep moving and get to the water. The second exception is if you are George Clooney, Beyoncé, or someone equally as famous and charming as George Clooney or Beyoncé. In this scenario, normal rules no longer apply. Wear that robe and wear it with pride. For the rest of us? Keep it formal, and leave the robe upstairs.

Jeff Wilser

Writer

Jeff Wilser is the author of seven books, a frequent traveler (living in 24 countries in the three years to 2020), and a contributor to The New York Times, GQ, and Fast Company.