I can tell you this DEFINITELY wasn't the case in Prague. I forget the details, but I think the sodas ran something like $3-$4, and the same for snacks. And this was in Prague, where you could buy the same stuff for 25-50 cents at the supermarket. Talk about your markup!!!

Of course, this doesn't compare to the prices at the Marriott I stayed at in Warsaw (which was a 5-star, instead of a 4-star, place). They had this small bottle of wine out on the table, like it was a welcome present. Nope. If you opened it, there went $85. The drinks and snacks were super high priced for a relatively cheap city, though I don't remember the specifics. The thing I do remember was the in-room movies. My god! They didn't list prices anywhere, not on the TV stand advertisement, not in the hotel directory. I called up, and found out the charge was over $19 per movie!!!

The cheapest minibar I found was in the Hotel Danube in Bratislava, Slovakia. I think drinks and snacks ended up costing about 50 cents to $1.00. Now, this was still marked up some, since things are real cheap in Bratislava, but it was reasonable. I even ordered dinner there through room service -- pasta entree, bread, soft drink, and a slice of cake, with delivery charge, ended up being about $4.50USD.