We’ve all been there: you enter your hotel room after a long, gruesome trip, drop your bags, kick off your shoes and have an irresistible craving for a cold soda or maybe even something stronger. The temptation to open that mini bar is high, even though you know too well that anything you find there has been seriously marked up. Convenience comes at a price, and no place proves this better than the snacks and drinks you’ll find in your hotel room. In our latest infographic, we take a look at just how much of a mark-up you can expect to pay — and could easily avoid by heading to the nearest supermarket.
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5 Comments so far
leave a commentI just stayed in a very nice hotel, and the mini bar was fully stocked with almost everything in the inforgraphic. All of the items were delicately placed on these little scales so when you picked one of them up, you were automatically charged for them! It reminded me of the opening scene in Raiders of the Lost Arc when Indy is trying to steal some artifact and replacing it with a bag of sand…
The math is wrong on the skyy vodka. 9.99 to 30.00 is 300% using the same markup scheme as the pringles.
Steve, the math is actually correct. $9.99 to $30.00 is a “growth” of 200%. You can see for yourself using this compound interest calculator: http://www.smartmoney.com/compoundcalc/
I remember staying at a 5-star hotel in singapore a couple of years back, the mini bar was filled with great stuff, from nice chocolates to whisky, vodka and 6 kinds of beer. my friends & I wanted to drink the beers and liquors so bad… so we decided to go out find a 7-11 instead to save some cash. unfortunately, at my 2nd day in that hotel, I got sick, high fever, and couldnt manage to go out of my room to eat, so I had no choice but to eat a couple of chocolate bars from the mini-bar, while my friends were out touring. i was ready for the epic price when I checkout. well, so I did checkout 2 days after and I honestly told the front desk that I ate a couple of candy bars from the mini-bar… and here’s her reply: “sir, it’s perfectly okay, the mini-bar is complimentary”
i nearly slapped myself when I heard that. 4 days with a minibar full of alcohol!
since then, when I travel abroad, I make sure to ask about the room’s mini-bar.
So the best deal up there is the candy w/ a shot of Tequila and a sparkling water chaser. Good to know.