Have you ever wondered exactly what happens to the unused toiletries in hotel room bathrooms? Or how a hotel handles it if a guest dies during their stay? Hotel industry insider turned author Jacob Tomsky shares his tales from working in two top hotels in New Orleans and New York City and provides lots of little-known tips to ensure guests make the most of every hotel stay. MailOnline Travel chatted with Tomsky to get the answers to some of our most burning hotel questions... Scroll down for video . Hotel industry insider turned author, Jacob Tomsky, reveals the most common items people take from hotels . What are some of the most common items that people take from hotels? Without a doubt, toiletries and towels are definitely the most popular items for guests to pocket, according to Jacob Tomsky, author of Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality. But some individuals staying at the hotel take things a bit too far. 'They take everything,' he tells MailOnline Travel. 'Duvet covers, little silver trashcans, universal remotes - anything that's not nailed down.' Despite common misconceptions, it is possible to pocket a plush robe - without incurring any charges . What can you usually get away with taking? Despite common misconceptions, you actually can get away with stealing that coveted hotel room robe. 'If you were to, say, check into a room, take a fresh robe and pack it away in your suitcase, then call down and say your room didn't have a robe in it when you checked in, is the hotel staff going to search your belongings? Highly unlikely,' Tomsky reveals. And when it comes to pocketing toiletries, you can occasionally even ask for more. 'There are other items, as well - complimentary amenities that you may not be aware are available,' he explains. 'Good hotels keep extra items, such as slippers, razors and shaving cream, travel lint rollers, and mini-deodorants, in stock but not displayed in the room.' As it turns out, the minibar is the most fallible system in the hotel, full of items 'sold at an absurd mark-up' If you lie about using the minibar, will the hotel really charge you? 'The minibar is the most fallible system in the hotel,' Tomsky tells MailOnline Travel. 'Human error, over-stocking, failure to re-stock, errant charges from weighted items being shifted but not consumed, all of these lead the front desk to spend hours a day slicing off incorrect charges.' He also notes that the 'items are purchased in bulk and sold at an absurd mark-up.' 'Hotels are much more concerned with your overall experience and securing further room nights - the main revenue stream - than whether or not you ate a candy bar.' Mike Holovacs, a front office supervisor at a major hotel chain and an adjunct hospitality instructor, adds: 'If an item has not sold, it's just like any other retail setting - the item is pulled when it reaches its expiration date.' Because certain rooms have varying levels of cleaning difficulty, they are usually awarded 'points' How long does it take to clean a hotel room? Is there anything that typically does not get cleaned? The length of cleaning time generally depends on the room. Because rooms have varying levels of difficulty, they are usually awarded 'points' and housekeepers must clean a certain total of points in one day. This may translate to a few larger suites or simply multiple standard rooms. 'I'd guess the average time is between 30 minutes to an hour to flip the room,' Tomsky estimates. 'A great deal of that time discrepancy depends on how the guest has left the room.' Once a year, large sections of rooms, or even entire floors are pulled out of service for maintenance and deep cleaning. 'This is includes sending the draperies out for cleaning and shampooing the carpets,' Holovacs explains. However, minibar glasses are often cleaned less thoroughly, usually soaked in shampoo or furniture polish . When it comes to the items that are cleaned less frequently or less thoroughly? Minibar glasses and the remote control. 'Housekeepers are usually responsible for cleaning the glasses, yet are not provided with dish soap,' he explains. 'So they either soak them in the sink with shampoo or, in a pinch, use furniture polish, as it leaves a 'clean-looking' shine.' And have you ever tried to clean your own remote? 'The rubbery buttons make it near impossible and dousing it with a cleaning agent could damage the circuitry,' Tomsky adds. How much money hotels spend on toiletries generally depends on the scale of the property and its occupancy . How much do hotels generally spend on toiletries per year? This one has everything to do with the scale of the property and its occupancy. According to a recent Forbes article, the Marriott hotel chain will spend approximately $20 million annually on their Thann products, a natural skincare line that's stocked in their Americas and Asia Pacific hotels. 'Usually the ordering is done by a housekeeping manager who takes into account the current supply and the average monthly uses from years past,' Tomsky reveals. 'People use more toiletries in the winter, have longer showers, and go through more toilet paper. 'It's a rather intriguing ordering process based on a large amount of collected data. 'And, ultimately, you don't want to be the one who fails to order enough toilet paper for the entire hotel.' Though there's a belief that hotel staffer furnish their home with amenities, Tomsky says it's not often the case . And do staff ever get to take them home? 'There's a long history of hotel staffers semi-furnishing their own home with hotel amenities,' Tomsky admits. 'Every party I threw from 2001 to 2004 was catered with hotel pillow chocolates. 'For the most part, items are either so pre-used that to take them would be distasteful, or so expensive that to steal them wouldn't be worth the loss of one's job. 'But I do have shoe polish that I've never paid for and hotel-branded slippers to keep me comfy in the wintertime.' One charity has come up with a novel way to deal with leftover hotel soaps - churning them together to provide soap to those in developing countries. Clean The World, receives partially-used and discarded soap from hotels, recycles it into millions of new bars, and then works with partner Global Soap to strategically distribute the new soap to people who lack access to it around the world. People dying in their hotel room is not quite as rare of an occurrence as guests may think, Tomsky admits . What happens if someone dies in a hotel room? While a bit morbid to talk about, Tomsky admits that such an occurrence is not quite as rare as guests may think. 'It's not something a hotel wishes to publicise, naturally,' he explains. 'So, they are removed as discreetly as possible. 'This may involve flashing lights and paramedics, depending on the severity of the situation, but can also happen via employee elevators and back exits.' Afterwards, the room is sanitised, cleaned, 'flipped' and sold - and that can happen a lot faster than you'd think. And, of course, all hotel staffers are forbidden from revealing any details - including cause of death and room numbers - to anyone. 'Death is a part of hotel life,' Tomsky adds. 'In fact, suicides often prefer hotels, relieving loved ones of the cleaning duties or seeing the deceased in a disturbing way.' Guests should take comfort in knowing that their in-room safes are actually very secure . Do staff actually have access to the in-room safes? No, they do not. The safes truly are, you know, safe. 'I always recommend using the safe to every traveller,' Tomsky says. 'The only person who can open the safe, should you forget your password, is a manager from the security department, using a tool that only they are trained and authorised to use.' What really happens to that half-used roll of loo paper in hotel room bathrooms? Well, it depends... And finally, what happens to the half-used loo roll in hotel room bathrooms? There's a bit of dispute over this one, and again, a lot of times it depends on the hotel itself. In the spirit of being environmentally-minded, most chains will simply refold the paper and leave the half-used roll in the bathroom, with another full roll behind it, should the guest run out. If there's not enough left to warrant leaving it, a Quora thread user, who works for the Beechmont Hotels Corporation, believes that the nearly-used up roll most likely winds up on housekeeping carts for when a room attendant needs a tissue for other cleaning tasks or in employee bathrooms.
Yes, it is possible to steal a robe from your hotel without being charged . Many properties often have extra complimentary amenities up for grabs . But beware of minibar glasses - they're often cleaned with furniture polish . Author Jacob Tomsky answers every question you have about hotel stays .