"I STILL enjoy travelling a lot. I mean, it amazes me that I still get excited in hotel rooms just to see what kind of shampoo they’ve left me.”

So said the writer Bill Bryson. And it’s true. The bubbles you get in those miniature wee bottles are a real treat – a novelty – even though the shampoo bubbles are probably the same recipe as the shower gel bubbles. As for the shower caps … who uses them?!

But an American visitor to the Isle of Skye got more than he bargained for by way of hospitality after mistaking tablet left for him in a hotel room for a bar of soap.

The man, named Thomas, posted a review on Booking.com after his stay at The Pink Guest House in Portree.

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Overall, he was very pleased with the accommodation, awarding it a nine out of 10 rating and describing the guest house as “beautiful”.

There was one slight bone of contention, however.

A piece of tablet left in the room for guests was seemingly mistaken for a bar of soap.

The tourist apparently attempted to clean himself with the sugary treat in the shower – but was left disappointed with the results.

He wrote: “You have got to do something with that brown tablet bar of soap you put on each of our beds.

“Not only was it gritty and left an oily residue but disintegrated before the shower was done!

“I have had much better exfoliating bar scrubs.”

But he wasn’t completely disappointed as he complimented other aspects of the facility.

Thomas added: “Location and view were superb.

“Very clean and had everything we needed.”

The post went viral after Twitter users spotted the review and shared it on social media, with the post clocking up more than 20,000 likes.

But our American visitor should be forgiven. Cosmetics and soaps are getting increasingly foody in appearance and smell.

And Scottish delicacies can be a bit strange to the uninitiated. Imagine if he’d come across a Tunnock’s Snowball in his room. Or a macaroon bar, the most innovative use of a tattie known to mankind.

Coconut ice, anyone? A bonnier bar of soap you’ll never find.

I have my own hotel bathing confession to share.

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It was a long time ago … but the memory still leaves me feeling slightly traumatised. Our toddler son had been packed off to his grandparents. We were having a rare weekend away. I had received this strange thing called a bath bomb as a birthday gift. This luxurious curiosity had been saved for a special occasion. And this was it.

Unfortunately, said bomb – a luridly pink confection – was deployed into a rather ancient cast-iron bath which had lost much of its enamel.

I still wince at the thought of the pink glow that remained in that tub despite much scrubbing.

We never returned to that hotel. But at least I’ve finally come clean.