Under the ban, which began on April 22, hotels and guest houses can only offer non-plastic alternatives for free or charge guests for all items in plastic containers ranging from toothbrushes, toothpaste and water bottles to shower caps and razors.

The half-year grace period runs until October 22, during which authorities will avoid taking enforcement action against non-compliant businesses.

Without disclosing the number of premises it had inspected, the Environmental Protection Department told the Post last week compliance rates at hotels and retailers it had visited exceeded 80 per cent.

But a check of 13 of the city’s five-star hotels found that at least nine were still giving out free plastic amenities to varying extent.

A Post reporter posing as a potential guest reached out to the Rosewood Hong Kong in Tsim Sha Tsui, Mandarin Oriental in Central, Upper House in Admiralty and Kerry Hotel in Hung Hom, all of which said they were still distributing their original amenities.

“To avoid wastage, we aim to exhaust our stock of regulated products within the adaptation period,” the Rosewood said.

The Kerry Hotel also said it was “still providing the one-time-use amenities for free” including toothbrushes, shavers, combs and slippers and would progressively shift to sustainable amenities.

Five other luxury hotels – The St Regis Hong Kong, The Peninsula, Four Seasons Hotel, Regent Hong Kong and Island Shangri-La – had switched some amenities to non-plastic alternatives.

The St Regis, for example, no longer placed combs or shaving kits in rooms as they contained plastic, but the hotel still provided guests with the two items free of charge upon request.

“An extra charge at HK$5 [64 US cents] shall be charged for each item after the transition period,” it told customers. “Rest [assured] that we will try our best to maintain our service during this period.”

The Four Seasons also continued to provide daily amenities without charges, saying it was still awaiting the specific date when it would go “plastic-free”.

It now provided guests with bamboo toothbrushes and mouthwash in glass containers.

Among the 13 hotels the Post checked, only K11 Artus in Tsim Sha Tsui and the Grand Hyatt in Wan Chai were charging guests for plastic items.

K11 Artus charged guests HK$30 for a shaving kit, HK$10 for each dental kit, shower cap, bath salt, mouthwash, sanitary bag or comb, while the Grand Hyatt charged HK$15 for a 50-gram (1.8 ounce) toothpaste tube. Shower caps cost HK$5 and razors HK$50 each.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel and The Murray were the only ones to have gone entirely “plastic-free”.

Meanwhile, some budget hotels frequented by mainland Chinese tourists took a different approach.

The Post last week reported that many were charging guests an average of HK$5 to HK$8 for a bottle of water, HK$5 to HK$9 for a razor and HK$2 to HK$10 for a comb, causing some mainland visitors to vent their anger on social media accusing operators of “profiteering”.

Caspar Tsui Ying-wai, the executive director of the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners, whose members include most of the five-star hotels checked by the Post, said operators found it difficult to find alternatives.

He said they also did not want to affect tourists’ experiences by charging them for trivial items.

“It is not that hotels are not cooperative with government policies, but it’s the difficulties that we encounter,” he said.

Some alternatives were of poor quality, he said, adding that “authorities demanded completely ‘plastic-free’ rather than ‘half-free’ on some items like razors”.

“The government should consider extending the grace period and … not see the half-year as a hard deadline by allowing more time for the sector to cope and make changes,” he said.

Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan last month said authorities were open to extending the grace period.

Business mogul Allan Zeman, the chairman of the Lan Kwai Fong Group, said he believed the prestigious hotels did not want customers to have “bad experiences” by charging them for small items.

“People get quite angry when you are charging [them] for toothpaste and toothbrushes after [they] have already paid thousands per night,” he said. “It is really about the guest experience, the Hong Kong experience.”

Zeman said while the whole city agreed that plastic was bad for the environment, authorities had to bear in mind that visitors did not know the policy well and needed time to adjust.

The premium hotels identified were rated by different travel websites or magazines as five star hotels, including seven selected by Forbes’ travel guide this year.

The average room rate for five-star hotels in Hong Kong is HK$2,350 per night.

The Rosewood, for example, charges HK$5,700 a night for a seaview room, while an overnight stay in May in a deluxe room at The Peninsula costs HK$5,900.