When I was at Live Aqua Resort in Cancun a little over a year ago, a discussion emerged regarding the now prevalent hotel debate of the reuse of towels.

The environmental push has been to hang up the towel, use it again the next day, save water and detergent and all that good stuff. We don’t wash our towels after every use at home, right?

The other side of the coin, as presented by a fellow travel writer: When I’m on vacation, do I want to live like I do every other day of my life? I like the feeling of a fresh towel – it’s one of the things I look forward to when I’m traveling, especially at a luxury resort (such as Live Aqua).

The same goes for bed linens – now you have to let the hotel know if you want them changed (I often wonder how much of the initiative revolves around the hotel saving on costs rather than saving the environment, but I truly don’t have enough information to comment further).

I usually hang up my towels and reuse them, but I can see how some people – especially women – would want to change it out everyday. In all fairness, I’m not wrapping it around my head, doing my makeup in it, wearing it around for an hour. That’s a little more wear and tear than a simple dry-off.

As for the linens, nothing beats a set of fresh sheets – I can certainly understand the appeal of that, especially when on vacation and shelling out the hard-earned cash for comfort and luxury.

I usually operate under the same policy as the towels, though: Unless there’s a reason, I don’t have them changed (for example, those fun nights when your air shuts off in the middle of a humid night).

Thoughts?