InterContinental Hotels: Priority Club & Inter-Continental Ambassador - how often do you as RA have to ask for the minibar to be take off account?

Recently stayed in Sydney .
had a few people in for drinks and the next day there was a whopper of an account for minibar
Called and they said sorry but there is no way I could have reached the amount in minibar!

Recently stayed in Sydney .
had a few people in for drinks and the next day there was a whopper of an account for minibar
Called and they said sorry but there is no way I could have reached the amount in minibar!

I never had to ask minibar to be taken off. may be I'm too reasonable. I never take spirits, just one or two beer and some pops.

It happened to me only twice (in both cases, member of staff was unexperimented and did not know that much about RA).

I've never had to ask and I do drink a lot, hic... but I also spend lots at the hotels :)

I did not have to ask in the last 2 years or so - even when drinking a lot or having colleagues over to help drinking....
But i often get the question at checkout "Anything from the minibar?" - "Yes" - "What did you have?" - "Don't remember" - 'Sir, ...." - "But you don't charge anyway" - "Oh, sorry sir, i see you are RA"

once when checkin gout from IC TLV (after a 3 night award stay) a i had a 1600 USD on mini bar charges.

It was all removed after I reminded them that I'm an RA :)

It's happened to me a few times, at various hotels around the world. It's even happened where I've been charged after checkout due to having a juice or something in the morning the day of check out. But it's always been cleared up without much hassle.

Happened at MEL but only because I had my mini bar refilled at 10pm (had the DND light on the whole day) and they had to take the drinks from the service department.
No issues after I told them about RA status.

once when checkin gout from IC TLV (after a 3 night award stay) a i had a 1600 USD on mini bar charges.

It was all removed after I reminded them that I'm an RA :)

Did you actually go through 1600USD worth :eek:

Recently stayed in Sydney .
had a few people in for drinks and the next day there was a whopper of an account for minibar
Called and they said sorry but there is no way I could have reached the amount in minibar!

I sometimes need to remind them at check-out to remove the chrages, especially in London.

once when checkin gout from IC TLV....
i had a 1600 USD on mini bar charges.)Apparently gout IS related to alcohol consumption. :D

I am at the other end of the scale, after a 6 night IC stay this month I consumed 6 soft drinks and 1 German beer.
____________________________________


Recent news item for information:

Vodafone executive dies after drinking mini-bar contents.

(Not an IHG hotel)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/epic/vod/9300983/Vodafone-executive-died-after-working-his-way-through-hotel-minibar.html

I often empty the mini bar of the alcohol content to make room for more non alcoholi drinks and/or food. The automatic mini bars add up quickly! $600 for the mini bar in IC Times Square. Ironically the staff often appear more annoyed with the non alcohol consumption. Please bring me more Red Bull and orange juice; but instead more wine and more beer...

Most of the time. Then I have to show my RA card at checkout to prove that I am entitled to it.

It occasionally happens, alwayc check my bill and when I see something that is not supposed to be on there it gets removed.

The standard question "anything from the minibar sir" always amuses me but also makes me assume the staff actually dont remember their top tier customers.

Globalist

It has never happened to me. I have even had comp mini bar drinks on a crew night when I have asked for my number to be applied to the room.

I sometimes need to remind them at check-out to remove the chrages, especially in London.

I think it's ONLY happened to me in London!

Recently stayed in Sydney .
had a few people in for drinks and the next day there was a whopper of an account for minibar
Called and they said sorry but there is no way I could have reached the amount in minibar!

It never happened to me on close to 100 nights a year. In your case it could have even been justified. Having "a few people in foR drinks" appears not to be the idea of "personal consumption", does it?

Several times at both the IC Century City (LA) and IC Clement (Monterey).

As far as I am concerned, it should not have happened as both of the these properties are managed by IHG.

mxm135 :)

I've started to enjoy looking at my alcohol consumption on the bill and take pleasure in having it removed. :p

.....appears not the idea of "personal consumption", does it?

You hit the nail on the head and said it very diplomatically.

The complimentary mini-bar is a valuable privilege, abusing it by throwing a party shows greed and lack of respect in my opinion.

Recently stayed in Sydney .
had a few people in for drinks and the next day there was a whopper of an account for minibar
Called and they said sorry but there is no way I could have reached the amount in minibar!
Did they remove the charge or part of it?
Was amused to see in the SYD manager's welcome letter "reasonable" mini bar consumption.They didn't bat an eye lid when we checked out, everything zeroed off the bill. We must have racked up > $1000 over 3 days not difficult when the half bottle of Moet is priced at $80 and a 1/4 bottle of wine $40.

My last three stays as an RA at Boston, LA and Washington, DC IC I have had mini bar charges on my credit card statement after check out. Granted the accounting departments have always taken the charges off but you can't tell me there isn't a way to identify RA members in the system. I really feel as though they hope we won't notice or check credit card statements. Am I the only one?

Mistakes happen

ime the charges are automatically added but have to be explicitly removed; from time to time it gets missed; when checking out, I verify that there is nothing that is wrong and get any errors fixed at the time

I haven't ever had extra charges in this way after check out

When I check out am always asked if I had something from minibar. I always reply yes but it shouldn't matter. Usual response is "oh, you're right, I'll make sure the system reflects that." Never had a problem with after charges.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/intercontinental-hotels-priority-club-inter-continental-ambassador/1355280-how-often-do-you-ra-have-ask-minibar-take-off-account.html?


Edited by Moderator:
Thanks, I have merged both threads

FLYGVA
co-modertor IHG thread

I often have to remind at checkout.

I have occasionally been asked at checkout if I've used anything from the minibar (to which I usually reply "Yes, but nothing I need to be charged for", similar to what M Singh said) and once had charges on my final bill that were removed without issue but usually there are no problems at all.

I get minibar charges on my bills at checkout quite frequently; sometimes I even get charged for internet. Most of the time the bills are corrected immediately upon reminding them of my RA status.

I also get the "Anything from the minibar sir?" question a lot. I always reply yes before adding "But isn't that part of the RA benefits?" :)

Probably around one-third of the time. Sometimes they ask on check-out, did you consume from the minibar?, and I tell them -- assuming that they want to account for it even if they comp it. It then sometimes shows up on the bill, and I have to remind them that I am RA. Never a problem then removing it, except on unfortunate incident at Bahrain, where they claimed that there was a limit on consumption.

Never happened to me but I almost only stay in IC's in Germany. Their staff seems to be informed quite well.

Did they remove the charge or part of it?
Was amused to see in the SYD manager's welcome letter "reasonable" mini bar consumption.They didn't bat an eye lid when we checked out, everything zeroed off the bill. We must have racked up > $1000 over 3 days not difficult when the half bottle of Moet is priced at $80 and a 1/4 bottle of wine $40.

Exactly - the ACTUAL cost to the hotel to stock a minibar is no comparison to the generally OUTRAGEOUS prices they attach to each item so I'm quite happy to assist by rotating their stock as I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be touched otherwise! :D

JAT

It happens to me quite often. The worst time was when it wasn't on my bill but they charged my cc after i had left! I wasn't very happy with the IC Doral for that, but they did refund the fee eventually/

It happens to me quite often. The worst time was when it wasn't on my bill but they charged my cc after i had left! I wasn't very happy with the IC Doral for that, but they did refund the fee eventually/

Ok I'm going to ask since its better to ask that to assume. What is an RA?

Ok I'm going to ask since its better to ask that to assume. What is an RA?

Welcome to IHG forum.

RA = royal ambassador