allisonm

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!)

HowardR

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!

Gretchen

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.

rocco

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?

BTilke

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.

Keith

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

Christina

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.

MyriamC

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.

maitaitom

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.

NYCFoodSnob

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.

amp322

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.

Sue_xx_yy

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.

Koshka

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.

Travelnut

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.

maitaitom

"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.

ira

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.

ira

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.

Koshka

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! ;-)

NYCFoodSnob

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.

JoeG

<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