What's a minibar, anyway?
 

Our Paris hotel says we will have a minibar. Is this a true minibar as I think of here in the States, from which anything I might use costs a small fortune? Or is it more like a refrigerator, the sense I got from another post here, which bemoaned the lack of a minibar for storing purchases? (Hope I don't sound like too much of a hick!)

The ones I've encountered overseas have been the same as those in the US....and, with the same problems of checking your bill to make sure there aren't any erroneous charges!

And now many mini-bars are motion sensitive so that if you move something you can be charged for it. Don't know if that has hit Europe yet but it is here in the US.

I second the advice to check your bill for incorrect charges. This year on our Sept./Oct. trip to central Europe 6 out of 7 hotels placed charges on our two-room bill. No one in our party had touched a thing in the minibars. Mind you, these were very nice 4 star hotels. The staff was very kind about removing the charges but it was almost as if they charge everyone and wait to see if you notice. What's up with that?

So far, I haven't encountered many European hotels that have the motion sensors in their minibars, so I usually feel free to shove things about to cool the cheaper mineral water from the local Monoprix or whatever.
At the 4-star hotel we stayed at last month in Baden-Baden, the mini-bar operated on an honor system...it was up to us to fill out a form on what we'd taken and then give them the form at checkout (we had taken several items from the minibar on this trip). No charges were pending--they depended solely on our input. Although I'm sure they would have added the charges later when they took a final inventory before the arrival of the next guest.

rocco, that sounds like the safe scam some of the US hotels are trying. They add a charge for the safe to every bill and only remove it if you catch them.

Keith

All of the minibars I've had in Europe, and in Parisian hotels, were just like minibars in the US. It is a small refrigerator. I store whatever I want in it that might need refrigeration (not much as most of any "food" I keep in my room does not need refrigeration)--perhaps some cheese and a few bottles of mineral water. I do not drink or eat the stuff in the minibar, which is provided just as in the US.

This is the same as in the US -- I use ones in the US or any country for my own stuff.

I have never been charged for use of the minibar itself nor erroneously, nor have I stayed in any hotel that won't allow you to use it for your own stuff. The hotels I've stayed at just asked me upon checkout if I had anything and seemed to trust me, as I recall. I mainly stay in one Parisian hotel where I have been a repeat customer for years, but I think that's their normal attitude.

I believe I have noted a few posts on here of folks who said they booked a Parisian hotel that would not allow you to use the minibar for your own things. I wouldn't stay in such a place, myself.

The minibars we know from most hotels are so small that it's not easy to add your own items! Most of the times though they were operated on an honor system where you fill out on the form what you took out of the minibar.

What's a minibar, anyway?

A - A bar frequented by women in short skirts.
B - Mini Me's favorite place for a drink
C - The tavern where Mickey Mouse's wife hangs out
D - A little refrigerator in your room that charges an arm and a leg for a bottle of water, bag of chips, etc.
((H))

I suspect that people who whine about mini-bar costs are the same people who pop their own popcorn and sneak it and a beverage into the movies. Where's Yawn_boring when you need him/her?

I'm all for not wasting money and checking the hotel bill before I pay but some of us value and appreciate the convenience of a mini-bar and don't mind paying for it. Imagine what a hotel goes through dealing with all the cheapos who think mini-bars are some sort of scam. These same morons are the ones who try and find clever ways of stealing the food and denying they took anything. You'd be surprised how many times a hotel has to take a loss because the customer must always be right.

If you can't afford to take from the mini-bar, then stay out and go shopping. There's nothing worse than someone who whines over a $5 charge.

Calm down, NYSnob. Next time I'll just send my mini-fridge bill to you...I was erroneously charged 7 Euros for a Fanta that I never drank in a Rome Hotel. When I checked out, I caught the error. I did use the fridge to keep MY water bottle cool, and I made it clear that I had opened the fridge, but did not partake in any of their offerings. Any mistake on the desk clerk's or maid's part is probably NOT a mistake, and I refuse to be taken as a sucker, especially when everything is overpriced for the tourists, anyway.

A minibar bears about as much resemblance to a bar as a vending machine of stale sandwiches does to a restauraunt. I've yet to see a minibar dispense a genuine martini or (nod to MaitaiTom), a maitai.

A minibar is more correctly described as an abomination of civilization, a robotic mugger employed by the hotel.

We made regular use of our Paris mini-bar/refrigerator to store the cokes and beverages we purchased from shops. We were never charged for anything, but then we never drank or ate any of the items they provided.

Let's take it a little further - what if you use an item from the minibar but 'replace' it later after you've been to the store? (ie. can of Coke). Do you claim that on your 'honor' form?

My circle of friends have differing views of this practice.

"what if you use an item from the minibar but 'replace' it later after you've been to the store? (ie. can of Coke). Do you claim that on your 'honor' form?"

An interesting question that might cause a "mini" controversy on the board today.
((H))

Hi Travel,

If I am staying longer than overnight I arrange to have all of the stuff in the minbar removed and replace it with my own stuff.

Before I am accused of being a cheapskate, I wsh to point out that the things I put in the minibar are far superior to the things that the hotel put in.

An excellent idea, Ira!

As to maitaitom's hypothetical....

I'd probably assume they marked their cans a certain way or something. Therefore I wouldn't quibble about the charge.

I'd probably "take back" my replacement tho! ;-)

If I get any calmer, I'll need a nap.

Clearly amp322 and SusieQ have never traveled with celebrities or stayed in some of the wonderful hotels where the room's mini-bar actually comes with your very own butler. Even without the butler, I've seen some great mini-bars and I don't care what the hotel charges per item. If I want it, I buy it. And, amp322, if you were my guest, I'd happily pick up your entire tab.

<take out an item and replace it>

I did this once when we were in New York. Drank a diet Coke from the mini-bar. Bought one at the corner store to replace it. When I opened the mini-fridge I realized the maid had beaten me to the punch. That was one great $8 diet Coke!
JoeG

"That was one great $8 diet Coke!"

Joe, you should have bought the $10 little bottle of rum to go with it. If they had a $5 lime, you could have had a $23 Cuba Libre.
((H))

maitaitom,

.....and darned well worth it!

JoeG

<take out an item and replace it>
Well, thanks for the suggestion. Really never thought about that!

Phil Flash has taught me that the mini bar is where you store your film. Didn't realize it had any other use...

Ah, but Marilyn! What if you were charged for the weight differential! ((P))

That's some fast maid service there, too, JoeG!

Koshka, I believe Phil's film in total weighs more than the entire contents of the mini bar, or so it seems!

NYFSnob - Is that an invite? Thanks!! We're going to get along great (I'm from Princeton!!) Actually, I have travelled with celebrities (I'm a musician), but the hotels I end up in are more of the Howard Johnson variety, so I've never had a butler in my room. Only bellhops who are trying to fix the TV remote, etc.. Anyway, here's to whatever you end up drinking in your hotel room. And may all your tavels be happy ones! ((D))

Apart from everything else, I wonder how fresh some of those mini-bar items are? If all guests were like me, they would be sitting there forever.

What's a minibar? Well, it's much smaller than a maxibar and somewhat larger than a microbar, one would suppose. As for replacing items, I've seen some where they have applied impossible-to-remove-in-one-piece stickers to the items so they can easily detect such trickery. The very best minibar menu I've seen yet? The Hotel Monaco in Chicago includes such necessities as a hand buzzer and silly putty.

Dear amp322,

My first husband is a musician (guitar) but I'm the most famous person with whom he's ever traveled. (Sorry, baby.)

Frankly, I have a very soft heart for musicians (ask Capo), especially those who make their living on-the-road. I've witnessed many a diva treat the musicians badly and I found this no-one-is-dispensable behavior disgusting. If I wrote that book, it would be called, "Why I'll never work in this business again!"

I've also worked with a few divas who put their band in the very same hotel as the star (five star, that is) and each to his/her own room. These are the divas I love till this very day and would work for, again, in a heartbeat. There's just nothing like sharing the company of a generous soul or staying in a suite at the Lord Byron in Rome.

Mini-bars are a mark-up item that many customers can afford and utilize. It's expensive for a reputable hotel to keep these items stocked and fresh. Sometimes, hunger pains and thirst cannot wait for Room Service or a trip to no man's land. I understand that many people refuse to engage in this mark-up because these items are everyday items to us and it's hard to justify the expense. Like I said, if I want something now, I pay for it and I don't complain.

"Like I said, if I want something now, I pay for it and I don't complain."

NYCFoodSnob, I think you are in the "now" and I am still in the "then."

I'll check out the contents, perhaps use it for cold storage if I need it, and otherwise stay out of it. But then again, Ira's suggestion makes a lot of sense!

I've stayed in places where there were snack/gift shops open 24/7, and it was just a matter of walking down the hall to get an affordable munchie. Also, a recent stay at Super 8 in AC included an empty fridge in the room, with vending machines outside the motel. A convenient & affordable alternative to the fully stocked minibar.

Ah, nobody needs all that name brand stuff anyway. To help out the next guy, I restock with Sam's Club brand Cream soda and Orange flavored juice(-like) drinks. They should only be charging $4 a pop to that next lucky devil. Everyone wins.

"What's a mini bar?"

A cocktail lounge for midgets?

Hmmm... so a miniscule minister, a petite priest and a really small rabbi walk into a mini-bar...

On my recent visit to Rome, my mini-bar was stocked only with bottled water. I used the fridge for storing food and I drank at least a dozen bottles of water. I was not charged, but I would have been happy to pay had I been. I was also not charged for telephone use.

Ooooo MizzEve, which hotel was that?!! Sounds like the Twilight Zone!

We recently had one of those motion-sensor minibars in Oslo. It had almost no room for us to store anything and we were afraid to touch anything anyway! There were clear signs warning that you would be charged if you moved anything.
To avoid being charged for something you didn't use, we now inventory the minibar when we arrive and notify the desk if there is anything missing. In Budapest half the bar contents were missing but they said they don't restock regularly and would simply ask us at checkout what we used. Maybe yes, maybe no. Easier to prevent problems than to argue later.