Is Your Hotel’s Minibar Trying to Trick You?

When staying in a hotel room with a stocked minibar, have you ever been unsure whether those tempting snacks and cold drinks were actually complimentary? You wouldn’t be alone…

I usually avoid taking anything from hotel minibars because the prices are typically exorbitant. Hotels know that guests are often prepared to pay for the convenience, and they take advantage of their captive audience.

I have no issue with hotels adding a mark-up on minibar items. But all too often, I find myself confused about what those products actually cost. At some hotels, they’re actually complimentary – but unless you specifically ask, you might not realise that. And even more frustratingly, some hotels provide products in the room that look free but aren’t.

Example 1: The selective freebies

I stayed recently at a hotel in Adelaide with a fully stocked minibar in the room. While checking in, the receptionist explained that there were three specific snack items within the minibar that were complimentary.

So far, so good. However, once you took each snack, the hotel would replace them with new ones which were not complimentary.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the hotel designed that minibar system to trick people. No doubt, some guests would lose track of their consumption and get charged for taking a second snack without realising. And there was no signage in the room indicating which snacks were included, so it would be easy to accidentally take a different snack which actually cost $10.

Example 2: Everything’s included, but the hotel doesn’t want you to know that

Last year, I stayed at a Hilton hotel in Taipei where all the drinks in the fridge were actually free. I’m not sure if this was a standard inclusion for everyone at the hotel, or something special that the hotel randomly decided to give me due to my Hilton Honors Gold status. But it’s definitely not a standard thing at Hilton hotels generally, even if you have status.

In theory, that’s a nice perk! But the sign in the fridge (there’s a photo of it at the top of this article) was so ambiguous that I bet most people wouldn’t even realise the drinks were actually complimentary.

I had assumed they weren’t, but the line “Your additional orders are welcome as well” made me wonder. So, after several minutes of scratching my head, I ended up calling the reception to ask directly. Turns out, everything was indeed included.

If the hotel actually wanted you to take all the drinks, surely it would put a sign in the fridge along the lines of “These drinks are free”. Or, they could have perhaps mentioned this when I checked in!

Example 3: The random bottles of water left in the room

Many hotels leave complimentary bottles of water in the room for their guests – either as a welcome amenity, or a standard inclusion. But these are not always free.

Best practice, in my opinion, is when hotels leave a note or a tag on the water that either says “free” or “complimentary”, or otherwise has a price on it. That removes any sort of doubt.

But often, there will be a tag that doesn’t really explain at all whether or not the water is free. For example, take the one pictured below that says “Welcome, your loyalty means the world to us”:

That’s nice, but am I going to have to pay if I drink that water? (In this case, I checked with reception and had correctly assumed that it was a complimentary part of the welcome amenity provided due to my Accor status.)

Then there are hotels that leave random bottles of water in the room without any signage or context. I recall drinking one such bottle at an Accor hotel in Melbourne, which then added $6 to my bill. It was definitely not obvious at all that the water would cost $6, and I’m guessing the hotel knew that as they immediately agreed to waive the charge when I questioned it.

Sometimes there are even multiple different brands of water in the room – some which are free, and some which are not.

Example 4: The extra drinks not listed on the minibar menu

A few months ago, I stayed at InterContinental Sydney and upgraded to a suite. In addition to the regular minibar, the hotel left three rather nice-looking miniature cocktail bottles and two cocktail glasses in the room.

Those three extra cocktails were not listed on the minibar menu, so I assumed they were probably a welcome amenity that the hotel was providing due to my IHG status. But I wanted to make sure, so I asked.

Unfortunately, getting a straight answer from the hotel staff was not simple at all! We had ordered some room service, so I asked the staff member when he delivered our food whether the cocktails were complimentary. He said he thought they were, but would check.

Almost an hour later, he still hadn’t got back to us so I called reception. The receptionist said that she thought they were probably chargeable, but couldn’t tell me how much they cost. She then sent someone to our room with another minibar price list that did not list those drinks at all.

Almost two hours had passed before someone else from reception finally called to inform me that the drinks were definitely not free, but that person also could not tell me what the price was. By that point, we’d already drunk one of the bottles.

At check-out, I finally learned that the hotel provides those extra drinks as additional minibar items in its suites, and that the price was $38 per bottle. But they agreed that this was ambiguous and confusing, and eventually agreed to remove that charge from my bill.

I do often find that hotels will waive charges if the guest finds them unreasonable. So, you should always ask if you feel like you’ve been tricked.

Example 5: Clear communication that removes any doubt

Of course, not all hotels try to confuse their guests. I recall staying at a Novotel hotel in Thailand with a sign on the check-in counter that clearly showed which minibar items were included, and which were not. It even had pictures of all the items. Why can’t more hotels be like this!

Another good example I’ve seen is this note from Sofitel London Heathrow, which clearly states the minibar refreshments are complimentary.

I would almost say the same thing about a Holiday Inn in Germany that left the following note in my minibar fridge:

The note clearly says “For free for you”, and the fine print just says that the fridge will be restocked once per day. That’s a good start! But it’s still not clear to me, from that note, whether the two snacks in the fridge that aren’t pictured are also included.

Have you been caught out?

If you’re not sure, it’s best just to ask. Hopefully, the hotel staff will know which minibar items are complimentary – or not.

Have you been tricked by a hotel minibar, or found other unexpected charges on your hotel bill? Let us know on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum!