There's a particular kind of joy in sliding off your shoes after ten hours of transit — and a particular kind of disappointment when the hotel's free slippers fall apart after two wears. A recent roundup from Condé Nast Traveler makes the case for buying your own pair, with 13 options spanning featherweight packables to plush shearling worth leaving by the bed.
The list splits neatly into two camps. For travellers, the appeal is compact: pairs from Bombas and EverFoams are light, foldable and thin enough to tuck into a carry-on. EverFoams' fuzzy memory foam slippers cost under $25, come in five colours and have more than 10,000 Amazon reviews; a second under-$25 Amazon pick with over 23,000 five-star ratings has a thick foam insole that holds its shape with daily use. Bombas' Sunday Slipper, in faux fur, is positioned as a foolproof holiday gift too.
At the cosier end sit the shearling and wool heavyweights. Quince does a suede slide lined with Australian shearling that wicks moisture, so it works beyond winter. Ugg appears twice: the classic Scuff, with sheepskin wool lining and a thin rubber sole, and the Tasman — a closed-back version with a suede upper and a Fair Isle–style braid trim that doubles as actual outdoor-adjacent footwear. Birkenstock's Zermatt shearling slipper brings latex-sole support and comes in men's and women's sizing with wide or narrow fits.
A few picks lean into hotel nostalgia. The Ritz-Carlton sells its Frette spa slippers online — microfiber, nonslip sole, embroidered logo, machine washable. Parachute's striped cotton terry pair, made in Turkey, looks like boutique-hotel stock and grips slippery bathroom floors, though reviewers suggest sizing up.
The guide closes with practical buying advice that applies wherever you shop. Wool and shearling keep feet warm without overheating; memory foam adds cushioning; the sole should be soft but grippy enough for hardwood or tile. On flights, slippers are a genuinely good idea on long-haul routes — swap them on once you're seated and change back into shoes whenever you walk the cabin or head to the bathroom.
Why bother packing a pair at all? Anyone who has spent a winter trip shuffling around a rented apartment in socks, or braved an airline cabin in boots for eight hours, already knows the answer. A slipper that weighs almost nothing and doubles as a camp shoe for the Airbnb deck is one of the cheapest comfort upgrades you can buy for a trip — and unlike the hotel pair, it'll survive more than a weekend.
