sue

Travel editor Peter Greenberg has stated that this is the first thing he request when he arrives at his hotel. Has anyone out there tried this and does it work? One post said they were charged $100 for mini-bar items he hadn't used. Has anyone also found a problem with this while traveling? Where? <BR>Curious

Jim Rosenberg

I've never encountered the problem and I hope Peter leaves a nice tip for the people he hassles with this paranoid request, if that is truly what he does everywhere he goes.

anna

I very seldom stay at hotels with mini-bars, but yes, I have been charged for items i never touched. I didn't notice until I checked the bill at home, and a phone call got the charges removed. Rather than ask that the mini-bar be emptied, I would just check the bill at check-out and ask that charges made in "error" be removed on the spot.

Sue & Steve

Go to an all inclusive Riu hotel. The mini bar is filled up with goodies, including bottled water, every day at no extra cost and each room has optics with a choice of four different spirits, depending on the country, all topped up regularly and at no cost other than the original cost of the holiday.

nancy

In italy, the 2 Roman hotels with a frigobar asked us upon checkout what we used. <BR>We very well could have lied to them, <BR>BUT , of course did not! <BR>So, these places certainly were not trying to make $$ from us. <BR>But, I guess if one is concerned, there would not be any prob doing as this Peter suggested.

Katherine

In Florence upon checkout we let the desk clerk know we had taken two waters from the minibar, which weren't on our bill. His reply was, "my treat".

Karen

We also encountered the honor system in Italy, with hotel clerks asking us what we used. In one case, where it was my sons' room and the boys weren't right there to tell me, the clerk just shrugged and didn't charge anything, although I'm sure they probably had a soft drink or two. I definitely don't think this is much of a problem in most places, and one easily caught my just looking at the bill before paying! I would never ask to have the minibar emptied--what a way to set up an expectation of mutual dislike and mistrust!

Jayelle

I've started to see more and more hotels that inform you that you can ask to have the mini-bar emptied. This could be to prevent being charged for something that you didn't use, but could also be because you want to use the space to store your own items. You should note, however, that some hotels will charge you a one-time fee to have your mini-bar emptied, so you should ask before making this request.

Duh

It's just one more example that proves that Peter Greenberg is a pompous ass!

Mel

When we put bottled water in our minibar in a Paris Hotel, the maid removed it during cleaning and the hotel left a message saying that we were not allowed to use the bar for personal storage. This seemed rather petty.

Fwhiteside

Went to Japan last year. One of the Hotels in Tokyo had a 'computerised' minibar. All the little bottles of Saki, cans of Beer ( in fact eveything ) were held in little plastic niches. After we checked in I went through the Minibar seeing what was available - in Japan you get Iced Cofee, Green Tea & other 'unusual' items. It transpired that every time I took something out to look at a signal was sent to the Hotel Computer telling it to add that item to my bill ! On checking out we were presented with a mini bar bill as long as my arm ! This must have been a regular occurence 'cause nothing was said when I asked them to delete most of the items.

When the cat's away..

Good reason to ask to have mini-bar cleared is presence of under-age guests in the room.

elaine

I haven't had a problem with false charges (at least not ones I couldn't easily clear up) but I often empty the minibar myself of non-perishables <BR>in order to make room for my own bottles of water, medications, or snacks that I buy on my own. I stack the items I take out nearby, with a note that I will be replacing those items in the minibar, unused, when I leave. Some hotels do send around minibar police during the day to count what you use, and to restock. <BR>

Julie

I was aware of charges to mini-bars, but I came across something new on my last trip to France. On top the TV set was a nice basket with a small bag of cookies, crackers, a few small candies and two small bottles of water. (These were all very small and if my 8 year old 45 pound daughter would have eaten them all up while watching TV, she would still be hungry.) <BR> <BR>At first we thought it was a welcome basket, but then we came across a piece of paper that had the cost for each item. <BR> <BR>This basket was quite deceptive. I will be very careful about thinking that hotels in Europe give "welcome" snacks from now on. <BR> <BR>...do you think we should start questioning whether we will be charged for the soap? ha ha aha

Claire

We were charged for items from the minibar at the Hilton London Metropole, but they removed the charges with no questions asked when we told them that we hadn't used the minibar. <BR> <BR>At the Hotel President in Rome however, we were charged for TWO pay per view movies, when we only watched one. The reciept even showed that both movies were supposedly viewed at the same exact time, even though there was only one tv in the room. The desk clerk refused to remove the extra charge, so we paid it because we didn't want to miss our plane!!

Christina

I've never had any minibar problems with being charged for things I didn't take, the hotels I stay at seem to ask me at checkout what I took. I've never had them emptied although that's a good idea if I want the space. I frequently use them for my own stuff and have never had a problem; I've even heard people in checkout at my favorite hotel mention they drank something but it was their own stuff, etc, and the deskclerk never batted an eye. I would not patronize a hotel that would not allow you to use it for your own stuff; you're paying for the room and a minibar amenity, it should make no difference to them. So, Mel, just out of curiosity (and to make sure I don't stay there), what Parisian hotel wouldn't let you use it for personal storage?

Mel

Fractour Suffren on Avenue Suffren in the 7th. (Next to the Hilton).

XX

In Germany, we called down to the desk to see how much a pay-per=view movie would be, and it was $x per person. That could be why you were charged twice for the same movie. We passed on the movie by the way. <BR> <BR>I don't accept a key to the minibar. That solves the problem when there is a lock, but when there isn't a lock I'm at the mercy of the (hopefully) honest hotel staff.

janice

I once stayed at a hotel in Venice which would not let us put our items into the minibar - although there was plenty of room. So we put them out on the windowsill! (New Year's Eve week) If it made their hotel look ratty, well...

Diane

I was surprised that the items in the minibars in Italy were so reasonably priced (compared to those in the US hotels). I've never been charged for items I didn't use, and have often not been charged for items I used. I rarely use the minibar at all when I travel in the US.