This was published 1 year ago
Hotel minibars: Are they really a rip off? It depends on the traveller
Ovolo Hotels provide minibar items free-of-charge.Credit: Edwina Pickles
When it comes to resisting the hotel minibar, who hasn't paid $10 for an item that costs $2 at the supermarket at least once?
Personal peccadillos aside, there's probably no more pondered feature of hotel life than whether to minibar or not and it's something worth considering when making a booking, rather than take for granted.
Introduced in the mid-1970s in high-end hotels as a signifier of true luxury before it became ubiquitous, the minibar has been declared dead repeatedly in recent decades by trend spotters, who point to changing traveller tastes and habits.
While many hotels have indeed banished minibars, those that endure have also evolved in their offerings.
Inclusions might be locally sourced gourmet treats, such as at Melbourne's Next, where in-house aged spirits entice the thirsty.
Elsewhere, the in-room offering may have been removed in favour of a communal take-away arrangement in the lobby or even upmarket vending machines, such as in the Cantina at The Isla, new to Batemans Bay.
Don't assume there will be refrigeration in your hotel room. And if there is, is it installed with sensors? Removing that bottle of Veuve to make way for milk and snack yoghurt? You might get charged.
If refrigeration in a room is important to you, ask before booking. (Serviced apartments and rooms that include kitchenettes, such as those in Geelong's beautiful R Hotel may be the best bet.)
Are you travelling with small kids or have meds that need to be kept cold?
Or are you a traveller who likes to cocoon, especially if the surrounds are especially swank? Hang the expense, the minibar is there for you, especially at cutting edge properties like the QTs, which frequently receive rave guest reviews for their imaginative and fun "experiential" items such as in-room cocktail-making kits and local-brand lollies.
If you're mad for a minibar, look for properties offering "included" goodies and even complimentary cocktail hours. "Included" doesn't necessarily mean "free" – it's built into your room rate but it means you can go for your life. Ovolo hotels exceed in the "included" stakes.
Generally, there's no getting around the exorbitant mark-ups with which pay-per-item minibar contents come and hotels point to the costs of upkeep as factors in the expense.
Before you moan about it, consider how much you pay over the cost of ingredients to have someone serve you a cocktail in a pretty glass you don't have to wash up – it's kind of the same thing. And if you're not down with the mark up, you can always anticipate your munchies and sneak in some BYO snacks and drinks.
If green credentials are important to you, the generally power-hungry nature of these small refrigerators, especially when multiplied by the sometimes hundreds per property, can make for one fairly grubby footprint. The technology is improving – but you only have to be woken by the whirring and shuddering of an old fridge motor to know how old the minibar is. Again, inquire before booking.
And if sobriety or avoiding food temptations is important to you, you can request the minibar be locked or emptied ahead of your arrival. Some hotels may charge for the emptying – and if there's one inarguably unfair minibar charge – this is surely it.
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