It is easy to settle for just any hotel during a lengthy road trip. Given the fatigue of driving and all those great tourism activities, travelers can easily accept just about any hotel. Along with the tiredness factor, lots of travelers tend the use the free amenities provided by the hotel. The sad reality, of course depending on the hotel, is that this isn’t always the best way to go. Free is great but it can also come at a cost, one that doesn’t always involve coins or bills – instead potentially one’s health.

In this article, we diagnose complimentary items that might be best to avoid. Some, just aren’t worthy of the extra cost. Others might have been sitting there for a long time. In fact, when it comes to one particular item, a source claims that it might have been there for months. No, not the best endorsement for these items. Of course, it depends on the hotel. However, if you’re looking to save a buck or two it might be best to bring your very own complimentary items or if anything, purchase them during the road trip at a local drug store nearby.

Enjoy the article folks and like always be sure to share it with a friend. Without further ado, here are 20 complimentary amenities all road-trippers should avoid while staying in hotels. We start off with hotel kettles road-trippers might want to steer clear from. Let’s get started.

20 Kettle Offered In Room

According to Express, road-trippers need to be careful when it comes to the Kettle’s offered inside of the room. They are not always washed, so the water could be dirty.

Also, some guests are said to be using the kettle provided in their rooms for other unsanitary reasons.

So the next time you think of using that kettle to make yourself a tea, try thinking of what the last guest staying in your room used the kettle for... It might be best to get a fresh cup of tea elsewhere, away from that complimentary Kettle.

19 Complimentary Moisturizer/Cream (Free Toiletries In Rooms)

Although it's nice to have a small bottle or jar of cream provided in your room (usually free of charge), you might want to opt-out of making use of it once you find out that it may have expired a long time ago.

Creams are said to expire after 6-12 months, this according to Clean My Space. So if the hotel is just recycling the unused creams then who knows, you might be given a product that's been making its way from room to room, for more than a few months...Bringing your own cream might be a better idea.

18 Bottles From The Mini-Bar

Why spend more than triple the price on a bottle provided in the room mini-bar, when you can essentially get the exact same bottle (and probably a much bigger format), for about a quarter of the price?

If you're on a road-trip, odds are there are many places you can stop at before you reach your hotel to stock up on beverages and avoid spending the unnecessarily expensive amount of the ones provided in your room.

It is a complete rip off to use the mini-bar bottles, don’t make the mistake and take an extra couple of minutes to buy them before.

17 Hotel Toothbrush

Yes, the complimentary toothbrush offered with your other complimentary toiletries might appear to be new and unused in a safe-looking package, but how sure can one be that the toothbrush is in fact "new" and unused?

We're not going to claim that hotels do this to all their complimentary toiletries (complimentary toothbrushes in this case), but we are going to suggest that just like any other business establishments, cutting corners in order to save some money is something that is very common, and not something that hotels are exempt from. Maybe pack that toothbrush just in case.

16 Vending Machines

Just like what we mentioned earlier with the in-room mini-bar, we're not so sure a road-tripper should wait until they are at their hotel destination in order to stock up on snacks and other beverages.

Why pay more on a tiny bag of potato chips when you could have made a pit-stop before arriving at the hotel and purchased that same bag of chips (but probably triple the size), along with a few other things for the same thing it cost to buy a snack from the hotel's vending machine. Make wise decisions and don’t be lazy.

15 Ice Machine

Yes, most hotels offer free ice. Ice machines are usually found on numerous floors in hotels.

That said, travelers should be wary of the area they are staying in and should be sure that the water in the area is safe to drink.

Although the ice machines may be operated with purified, safe-drinking water, no one can know for sure that the hotel is dishing out the extra bucks for clean water (and clean ice) on a daily.

Can we really be sure that the ice from the machine in the hotel we are staying at is not littered with bacteria? Also, has anyone ever watched The Hangover 2 or The Office? We have nothing left to say....

14 Ice Buckets

Since we just talked about the potential hazards of hotel ice machines, it is only fitting to discuss the buckets with which we stock up on the ice and will bring back to our room.

So, let's say that the water used for the hotel's ice machine is purified, safe-drinking water, guests should always ensure that a plastic bag is provided with the ice bucket in their room.

Ever think of what previous guests could have used that same exact ice bucket for just a few days prior? If you've never thought of that, it might be worth thinking about now and for the rest of your life. No one wants their ice supply to be in the same bucket that was used as a garbage can by previous guests.

13 Complimentary Shampoo

Just like creams and moisturizers that expire after a few months, shampoo is not good for an eternity, either. Clean My Space claims that shampoo expires after two years if a bottle has been opened.

Now we're not saying expired shampoo can cause severe health issues, but if you're on a road trip and you were just waiting for that opportunity to finally wash your hair once you get to the hotel, we suggest you bring your own shampoo bottle so you're sure that your hair will actually be clean after you've washed it. Buying a small bottle of a shampoo in a drugstore before arriving at your hotel is likely also a better alternative and will only set you back a few bucks.

12 Gym Equipment

Of course, this absolutely depends on the quality of the gym provided. Some are up to par while others might be badly outdated. Some machines might feature rust and this can be very hazardous to use potentially resulting in an injury.

There’s also the concern of the cleanliness of the gym area. Some hotels might opt to clean the gym a little bit less due to its poor condition and the lack of people that actually use it. A dirty gym is never a good thing no matter where you are. It might be best to examine the gym before utilizing the equipment.

11 The Free Drinks

This one might not seem like a bad thing. If you're staying in a more all-inclusive type of hotel, then odds are the alcohol is completely unlimited and completely free. This sounds like a great thing, right?

We hate to break it to you but if you're on a road trip and stopping in an all-inclusive type of hotel on the way, consuming large amounts of alcohol might not be a wise choice.

After all, no one wants to feel ill (or really hangover) when needing to get back on the road to the next destination on the itinerary. Avoiding such things might be best for the trip longevity.

10 Valet Parking

If you're stopping at a hotel during a road trip, it is evident that your car also needs a place to stay. Although many hotels offer free parking (or have a free parking lot on site), some may also offer the option to valet your car.

This could be a convenient perk, or it can be an unnecessary waste of money (it's usually the latter). If you've got lots of cash to spare, then yes, the luxury of using the valet for your car might sound like s great idea, but if you're trying to save a few bucks while on a road-trip (which we assume most people are), then we'd advise against spending an unnecessary (sometimes up to) $20 to get someone else to park your car.

9 Swimming Pool

Although we'd like to believe that hotels take pride in using their "complimentary-indoor or outdoor swimming pool" as a perk and a selling point, this does not always mean that the pool on-site is well maintained and clean.

We also can't guarantee that the hotel you are staying in for the night isn't a family-friendly hotel with kids in every corner.

We know we are not the first people to tell you about kids having to the urge "to go" while in the pool. So yea, think twice about that pool before diving in head first. Hotel pools also tend to be loaded with chlorine, another negative.

8 Computers

If you are on a road-trip, odds are the goal of your hotel visit is not work-related, although the internet is important to EVERYONE in this day and age. If you are not lucky enough to have data or Wi-Fi on your phone in the hotel you are staying at, well odds are you may need to use the hotel's computer in order to access the maps you might be needing next on your road-trip or to book your next hotel for your upcoming destination.

Hotels are likely to track anything that is being researched on their computers, so it might be best to avoid using them if possible.

7 Snacks That Are Past Their Expiry Date

The options to get free snacks are not available in every hotel, but many do in fact offer it. Trusting the free hotel snacks might have more negatives than positive. Yes, the fact that they are free definitely sounds like a perk, but what if we told you that numerous cases have been reported of complimentary free snacks being expired.

Hotels will usually try to pass anything that has not been used (or eaten) to the following guests. This means that you might be getting someone else's (expired) sloppy seconds...Maybe it is best to pass on the expired products.

6 Scented Pillows

It's true that not all hotels offer this complimentary amenity yet, but there are still many that do. Although they may sound like a pleasant free addition, we're here to tell you that they might not be so great. These are said to come in a variety of scents (including coconut and lavender) and smell quite nice.

The issue with these is that for people who are more sensitive, these may be problematic. If you know that you are a light sleeper, you might want to opt out of this free amenity.

Many people claim that the scent of the pillows can be so overpowering that they were woken up by the strong smell alone. Definitely not something you want to lose sleep over while trying to get some rest to get you going on your next-morning drive.

5 Phone Chargers

Yes, most people own a cell phone nowadays, and with the cell phone usually comes the phone charger. If you are on a road trip and you happened to forget your phone charger back home, we would not recommend waiting until you check-in to your hotel in order to have access to a charger.

Although many hotels will offer complimentary phone chargers or adaptors, it should not come as a surprise to most that these are not always the most reliable or trustworthy.

We'd highly suggest making a pit-stop before arriving at your hotel and dishing out a few bucks on a phone charger that you know and trust will work.

4 Shower Caps

Although shower caps are pretty irrelevant and useless to a lot of people, they are still used and important enough for hotels to continue to offer them as part of their free complimentary toiletries (most hotels).

Some road-trippers may not be staying in a hotel for too long and don't want to go through the hassle of washing their hair while showering.

These people should always consider bringing their own shower caps while traveling because as we've mentioned before, shower caps are usually provided, but this is not to say that all hotels will have them on hand as a complimentary amenity.

3 Board-Games

If you're stopping at a hotel to get a good night's rest while on a road trip, why not have a little bit of fun while you're there? Most road-trippers are just looking for a place to unwind and a get good night's sleep, and what better way to unwind than by playing some board games with your fellow road-trippers?

If this sounds great to you, then we hate to break it to you, but playing with complimentary board games provided in hotels might not be a good idea, simply because of the amount of germs found on these board games. Many sources claim that board games are not washed regularly (if at all).

2 Landline Phone

As we mentioned previously, most people own cell phones these days, so the need for landlines is becoming less and less important each day. Although that is the case, landlines are still offered in hotels and hotels provide one in every room (usually).

Given that they are very rarely used now, hotels don't feel the need them to clean them regularly as they would other devices offered in the rooms.

If you're a road-tripper whose cell phone has just run out of battery (and you forgot that darn charger), then we highly recommend going out and buying a new charger for your phone, or if using the landline phone in your room is a necessity, then we'd advise you to make sure you clean and disinfect it thoroughly before using it.

1 Complimentary Soap

As we've stated with the complimentary shampoo and moisturizer (or cream), relying on the hotel toiletries for something as important as soap would not be a good plan of action. The issue with the free soap offered in your hotel room might not be that it's expired, but it may NOT be dermatologically friendly. In other words, hotels have been known to provide soaps that are overly fragrant and not good for sensitive skin.

So if you forgot to bring soap on your road-trip, and are known to have rather sensitive skin, we'd suggest stopping at a drugstore along the way and purchasing a soap brand that you know and trust. No one wants to develop a rash or other skin-related issue while on a road-trip.

References: Cleanmyspace.com, Express.co.uk, Pinterest.com