On another Marriott thread, FTer Spuddbrother wisely noted the sky high mini-bar rates at Marriott SIN. And I agreed with s/he that location being one of the highest I've seen so far at many Marriott stays, almost all overseas.

Which brings me to the point of this thread. Why, of why, do hotels price stuff in the mini-bar so fantastically out of reach in the first place? I mean while in MUC recently, a can of pop was something like 7 or 8 EUR! And especially at locations like the Marriott SIN where lots of shops within a half block and way cheaper for pop, snacks, etc why not keep prices closer to street level? I know myself, if that pop in MUC was, say, 3EUR and I would have to walk a ways to find one for 1.50EUR, I might just splurge more often. But not at the outrageous prices. I always mention the inflated rates as a major downer when filling out the customer comment cards, but nothing ever changes.

Can anyone enlighten me as to why the prices are so sky high. Does Marriott actually make money on the things?

There's another trick: take a drink on your last night and forget to mention it when checking out. Only very rarely do they bill you when they found out.

I think they make money. Here is the mentality of several people I have traveled with in the past...its late at night, I'm thirsty/hungry...need a snack...could get dressed and go to the vending machines and/or lobby to get something...I may or may not get a receipt (If I don't it comes out of my own pocket)...or I can just get up in my PJs open the mini fridge grab a $7 bottle of water and a $8 bag of nuts...I turn it in as an expense with my lodging...I'm not out anything AND I didn't have to get dressed or leave my room and maybe even a few extra Marriott and credit card points.

Crazy stuff...I try to spend my companies money as if it were my own (Lowest fair possible for airlines and Fairfield as often as possible)

Annerj

It's a major money maker for them! I only do the mini-bar for soda or nuts now if for some reason I'm desperate/didn't get a chance to eat, especially in the UK where the GPB kicks the $$ butt. If there's a shop nearby, I'll pick up water, etc there.

BTW - anytime I've gotten anything from the mini-bar on the last night, if I didn't mention it at check-out, always showed up as a sep additional charge on my credit card bill (usually after expense report submitted). I've never had them not show. And one time it took 9 months to get a credit when I had mentioned & paid for it at checkout & then got billed again after the fact.

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Sharon

I've occasionally been billed after checkout for items that I did NOT use. Getting these problems corrected isn't always easy.

Bruce

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[This message has been edited by socrates (edited Mar 23, 2004).]

Hi socrates - ironically enough i read in a trade magazine about it being a big moneymaker for them. it's been a while now since i read that article so things could have changed.

and given that a lot are now going to computerized so that if you even take something out to look at it & put it back in you're charged for it even if you don't eat/drink it, i've still got to believe it's not a money loser for them. i learned that one the hard way & now read the fine print on the door if i see a computerized-style minibar.

the fact remains that they do charge more for items in the mini-bar than fair market value would be somewhere else, and the hotel chain probably buys in enough quanitites to get a discount, so i do thik it's a money-maker for them - how much, who knows?

as i mentioned, i rarely use the mini-bars now (although i did late at night recently w/ some friends - and there's no way 1/2 bottle of not great wine is worth $40, which was the fee)

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Sharon

You can say, that they have a CAPTIVE consumer! LOL!

Everything in there is bad for you, so they are doing you a favor! LOL!

The number of hotels in which this service is available (other than resorts) seems to be *drastically* reduced, in my personal observations. I suspect that they are not making money (except maybe at resorts).

This happened to me at Westin several times. After an exhaustive series of phone calls back and forth, was I able to get the charges reversed. As a result I switched to Marriott.

Most Marriott properties I've stayed at have no mini-bar, which is much more preferrable to me.

I still find these at a lot of properties and since I *never* purchase stuff from minibars I always refuse the key so there can be no dispute about anything that might get billed to my account.

This doesn't always work. A few years ago I stayed in the Adolphos (sp?) in Dallas. The "minibar" is set on a shelf. I never liked that!

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Bob

I find this not only dishonest, but inaccurate as well.

How did they keep the drinks cold?

As another poster mentioned, many Marriott properties do not have minibars. This is up to the individual hotel (local) management at Marriott IIRC, and I would take this to mean that these properties don't feel that it's worth it.

Perhaps in other chains it is brand standard and the minibars have to be included.

Consider the labour - ensuring all minibars are fully stocked every time someone checks out; record keeping - keeping track of purchases that did not happen in front of an employee; distribution - essentially 450 (or whatever no. of rooms the property has) different "outlets" as well as capital costs.

So I would have to agree with Socrates here.

For the poster who complained that the minibar is too expensive - if it didn't cost as much as it did, then the additional overhead wouldn't be covered. Also helps discourage purchases of street priced chocolate bars, etc. that would be a pain to keep restocking.

Having said that, when the Vancouver Pinnacle switched to Marriott from Delta hotels, I think the minibar prices may have actually dropped. So obviously Marriott treats minibars different than other flags.