[Anonymous]

[Tom Otley]

We are researching a piece on why mini bars are so expensive.

We have contacted the hotel chains to ask them why mini bar prices are so high, and, perhaps not surprisingly, they are being pretty slow about returning our calls.

This is not intended as a hotel-bashing piece. We recognise that hotels are businesses like any others and want to make money from their customers, but when you consider that hotel chains are reliant on repeat customers, otherwise known as business travellers, gouging them for a seven Euros 50cl bottle of Perrier seems a little short-sighted,. So why do they do it?

The majority of hoteliers we have spoken to so far would answer this only on condition of anonymity.

The broad consensus is that prices are high because of the amount of theft that goes on. In other words, it’s our fault.

Some hotels, it was conceded, over charge for the sake of it, but in general minibar prices have to be high to cover the cost of all the guests who steal from them.

Why don’t the hotels just charge the guests once they discover the mini bar is empty?

Many do, but if the guest disputes the charge, the hotels fold.

It seems it is difficult, if not impossible to prove that the guest is a thief, and so the hotels hardly ever push through.

It leaves the hotel with a loss, which they then try and recoup through higher charges. So just like insurance, where a proportion of our annual charge is probably down to fraudulent claims, so each drink out of the mini bar is paying for those with no scruples.

I’d welcome your thoughts on this and will pass on any further feedback we get from hoteliers.

Tom Otley

[NTarrant]

I don’t use them unless really really desperate. It seems most UK hotels of the usual chains don’t have them now.

Perhaps they would be better off offering bars as a room bar service, ordering off a menu like you would food. The hotels would not have the cost of 100’s of fridges, no lost stock and no angry customers.

[JonathanCohen09]

Hi Tom,

Nigel has got it spot on and I would endorse his suggestion wholeheartedly.

Safe travels,

Jonathan

[continentalclub]

The following are current cost prices of items stocked in two major hotel chains’ minibars:

83p – Gordons Gin
95p – Famous Grouse
94p – Smirnoff Red
£1.68 – Martell VS
91p – Heineken 330ml
30p – Schweppes Tonic 150ml
34p – Coca-Cola 330ml
72p – Red Bull
37p – Still/Sparkling Water 330ml
89p – Budweiser 330ml
310p – Chenin Blanc 750ml
1533p – Piper NV 750ml

These are obviously supplied in pack/case quantities. Other minibar contents (such as Toblerone, Pringles) would be supplied at prices slightly below Costco, Makro etc.

Despite what the above cost prices might suggest, minibars make very little money (if any) at all, which is why you’ll note that more and more mid-market (3* and 4*) properties are not filling them any more.

Instead, they’ll deliver drinks etc at bar prices and waive any room service tray charge.

The basic problem with them is that, once upon a time, the folks who paid the prices were paying a) for the (then low) installation and maintenance costs of the fridges b) for the rampant levels of theft by both guests and staff and c) the constant need to check sell-by dates.

Latterly, the theft problems were checked by the hugely expensive automated systems (that some guests still deny having taken anything from) and special housekeeping rounds, with an almost bonded trolley, to re-stock.

So it’s not that the prices are high solely to grab captive audiences, expense accounters and convenience purchasers; they’re that high because the margin is so slim. Reducing the prices would just guarantee the loss; volume increases could never offset that.

For a long time though, hotels bore the cost as a service that they thought that they must provide or risk losing business – the ‘I stayed at a 4* hotel and the room didn’t even have a minibar for me to complain about the prices from’ was considered too likely a response and not a risk worth taking. However now, in this economic climate, hotels are actively de-stocking them or ripping them out entirely – they simply cannot afford them.

I’d suggest that it’s for this reason that BT isn’t getting much response from the hotels’ press offices; on the one hand it’s hardly ‘good news’ that they’re reducing service levels and so comment will be through gritted-teeth and on the other, they’re never going to want to comment on the costs that they have to incur to maintain each component part of their service.

As an aside, the fridges are a major issue in air-conditioned properties, where there is a massive energy saving gained from the aircon not having to fight the heat exhaust from the fridge. That’s quite apart from the saving in not powering the fridge itself – or from not buying them, installing them and then maintaining them in the first place.

[Cedric_Statherby]

I suspect that it is much the same reason as the reason why hotel phones are so expensive. The hotels have all the expense of equipping the rooms, filling the mini-bars and maintaining them, and the overheads of this make the unit cost per sale of merchandise very high.

This of course sets up a vicious circle, as the high unit costs then means hardly anyone buys anything, which in turn means that the fixed costs of fitting the fridges and maintaining the stock has to be borne on fewer and fewer sales.

It was precisely this reason that led to the hotel phone charges for outside calls being so high. They are high because no-one uses them, and no-one uses them because they are high.

I would reject the easy explanation that it is to cover thefts. If this was the case then those hotels which have intelligent fridges (ie those which notice when you take anything out and charge you straight away) would have lower costs. But they don’t.

In fact if there is any thieving going on it is more likely to be by the hotel staff after the guest has checked out, as they prepare the room for the next person. Since the guest has checked out they cannot query the bill at the cashier on leaving, and the hotel usually just posts a small entry onto their credit card. And very very few guests will ring up a hotel 15 days later to query a few pounds.

But it leaves a nasty taste.

[SimonRowberry]

Hi Tom, Nigel, Jonathan, CC,

I wonder how they then justify such high prices in the automated systems? I accept, as CC says, that these are very expensive to install. However, they are a fixed cost.

I agree with those who suggest that they should be removed and replaced by room service – the only problem with that is the tray charge, but even this can add up to a lot less than a minibar purchase.

I recetly had the ideal situation in Belgium; the hotel was two doors from a Nightshop that sold all forms of bottled alcohol until 03.00. Both the bottle shop and the hotel were prepared to open bottles of wine for me at no additional cost (i.e. no corkage charge in the hotel). Heaven!!

Simon

[lloydah]

I know it’s not actually an Hotel, but when you take Stena from Harwich to the Hook, which I need to do when driving, the Captain’s Suite includes the mini bar as part of the cost. Drink it, leave it, it’s all the same price. It includes soft drinks, white and red wine and a sparkly of somewhat dubious origins. Not a bad idea on the whole but not sure how relevant it is here.

[Gin&Tonic]

Many employers including mine now do not allow any charges for mini bar, They will accet a reasonable consideration from the Hotel bar but no longer accept expenses from the Mini.
It still amazes me how many hotels who dont have a mini bar dont even offer a bottle of water in the room within the charges. There often is one but also at some stupid cost.

[NTarrant]

Hi Simon

I’ve done that where there is a supermarket or corner shop or garage. I have also purchase sandwiches and taken back to the room rather than shell out for something which is not what I want.

I think the room service bar does have merits, not only for bar drinks but also hot drinks as well.

Nigel

[PaulJennings]

I agree with Nigel and Jonathan. Get rid of the minibars, along with all their costs and, for 3+ hotels, have 24/7 room service of drinks and food. Or hotels could add drinks to centrally located vending machines. Prices at the moment are set at a level comparable with drinks in an upscale bar, rather than a shop. I would rather have a espresso machine. Thank-you Novotel Birmingham… of all places for providing one of these.

[MartynSinclair]

or………….leave the fridge in the room and charge a fee for those that want to use it. I for one am quite happy to use a hotel fridge with my own drinks, food etc for a nominal charge per night. Minibars are like in seat phones on an aeroplane, nice touch but not used due to cost.

[BABenji]

Before I started staying in hotels regularly, I worked in several around the UK and in the US. The long and the short of it back then (96 – 01) was that minibar ran at a loss. Through various networking events with Food and Beverage Managers/Purchasing Managers at hotels in London it was obvious that no-one was making much, if anything from Minibar.

I can remember sending bills to customers after checkout, for in excess of £80 for minibar use (bare in mind this was in 1999). They had used the service, had drunk the premium branded spirits, had the £5 bottle of water, yet when they recieved the bill, many would promptly deny it and we subsiquently had to refund the money.

I stayed last week at Holiday Inn, Zurich Messe and was in an executive room which included free soft drinks from the minibar…fantastic idea! The hotel builds it into their costs/room rate and everyone’s a winner.

I admit that I am a minibar user (and also declare my usage at checkout). There are times after a long day when one simply can’t be bothered to take a single step more and the €3.50 Coke in the fridge looks sooooo good.

[EagerTraveler]

Quite frankly I always get the key, but never buy anything. On my last visit to a Westin Hotel I read the price list. $3.50 for a mars bar…fine print also read there was a 22% sevice fee, a $3.00 delivery fee and taxes upon any purchase. Can you imagine just $7.86 for a mars bar that is 2 for $1.00 at the corner store across from the hotel. Enjoy!

[RichardB]

I spend about five months a year in hotels and in the past 10 years have bought precisely nothing from the mini bar. Hotels can try to charge what they like but since almost all hotels are within walking distance of some shop then why would I pay outrageous prices for something from the mini bar.
It’s obvious they want to profit from sad business types who are too tired or lazy to walk out of the hotel and buy something, and who are on receipted expenses and can claim for the items. Our company travel policy pays a large daily allowance (eg 70euro/day), no receipts needed (I don’t live in the UK), so for me money spent at the hotel is my own money wasted.

normally I buy food from the supermarket and put it in the fridge. I either move the items out to a nearby shelf or call housekeeping and get them to totally empty the mini bar. this has not stopped some hotels for trying to charge me the contents. the Athens hilton tried to charge me for the whole mini bar (about 200e) when their own staff had come along and emptied it for me!

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