What, you’ve never heard of highway robbery before?
Ahhh, Mandalay Bay - home of the $500 WiFi connection.
I read an article once about the high cost of hotel rooms. The article was actually about WiFi fees, but one quote stuck out. It was from a Delta Hotels spokesperson - she said they charge such high rates for “extras” because they figure if one can afford to stay at their hotels then they obviously don’t care about money and can afford the extra fees.
Oh no, we totally make money on our $3 vending machines.
We price it that high because a) we found people actually pay that much and b) to make getting a pop from the machine less of a deal compared to going into the hotel bar (where we get a chance to upsell you).
It doesn’t depend merely on the profit per bottle, it depends on gross sales compared to costs. It’s not so easy when you consider the phenomenon of diminishing returns. If they could sell 100 bottles a day at $4 but only 20 a day at $8, with respective costs of $100 and $20, there’s more than twice as much profit to be made at the lower price point (ignoring other costs such as labor). A big part of the problem is that it can be very difficult to predict where the point of diminishing returns lies. Add in some of the other factors mentioned in this thread and it doesn’t seem easy at all.
I suspect it’s the rare business expense account that will cover minibar liquor anymore; I know that my past 3 employers have all specifically warned that they would not let you expense that sort of thing. Particularly after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act became law, companies, IME, have become a lot more vigilant in what they let you get away with on your expense report.
Some rooms over here will come stocked with normal bottles of beer. They usually don’t cost all that much. This one time when I tried to open one, the cap just fell off. Seems a previous guest had opened the bottle, drank the beer, refilled it with water and jammed the lid back on. :mad:
That trick won’t work over here. The minibar records something being picked up in less than three seconds, in my experience.
As for charges, it all boils down to “Because they can.” Vegas is a place where trust fund babies go to party, and they have zero qualms paying $10 for a Bud at the minibar, or $1000 for a bottle of Grey Goose at a club.
From that article:
Ham flavored Chilean almonds? I’d probably splurge for some of that.
This, exactly. People who’ve never worked in a hotel probably don’t think along these angles, but one of the metrics that hotels are judged by is the number of customer complaints. The more amenities you offer, the more people complain about the amenities being lacking or imperfect. So the hotel is incentivized to take its ball and go home, as it were.
(and IMHO this is one of the ways the hotel industry has shot itself in the foot, but that’s a rant for another day)
My guess would be the same reason airlines and movie theaters charge so much for everything besides the ticket. Competition forces these companies to charge roughly the same amount for their basic services as other businesses in their area. Therefore, to keep the doors open, they must charge 300%+ on anything they possibly can, such as $20/day wifi, $5 sodas, $20 earphones, etc. When I worked at a movie theater, they made less than 2% per ticket. When I worked at a gas station, they made about 1 cent per gallon on gas.
When I spent a business trip in Dusseldorf, my client paid the flat fee for the minibar in all four rooms - something like 25 euros. Only time I’ve ever hit minibar stuff and it was a lifesaver a couple of nights.
It’s sort of been said, but I suspect minibars are more profitable in those business-area dead zones without convenient stores of any kind nearby. Sure, if you can go downstairs into a general downtown area or Times Square, there’s little need for a $5 candy bar. But if you’re waytafuck out by the airport or industrial areas (where things like convention centers are often located), few are going to have time or transportation to go over to a store area.
I’ll come out and admit to buying stuff from mini bars fairly often. And no, I don’t charge it to my company credit card. It’s a cost/benefit thing for me. Is it really worth my time and hassle to go find a convenience store in a strange city to save 5 bucks? To me, it’s not. If I’m going to be staying in the same place for a number of days I’ll try to make a stop at a store to get some drinks and stuff. But honestly, if I’m on a business trip, by the time I’m done with work for the day the last thing I want to do is try to track down a store. And if I’m on vacation, relaxation is more important to me than saving money. In the scheme of things the cost is inconsequential, so I just don’t sweat it.
Here’s a digression. When I was doing some work in Svetogorsk, Russia, I was staying across the border in Finland. They were holding a meeting of the Scandanavian Bentley owners organization at the hotel where I was staying and I sat on the balcony and watched dozens of beautiful Bentleys both classic and new pulling in to park. Some Rolls too, they’re not bigots. Anyway, my point is, I watched most of these Bentley owners unload cases of beer from their trunks and carry them in to the hotel. I guess you don’t get to own a Bentley by paying minibar prices for beer.
Either that or Bentley owners are a hell of a lot more fun to hang with than I would have suspected.
They should have condom dispensers that charge $5 each, for when you just can’t wait…
The mini bar only has like 2 beers in it. Not enough for serious work.
They do, sorta.
At least at Palazzo and Wynn Las Vegas there is a “Pleasure Pack” in the mini-bar. It has massage oil, condoms and a few other items to enhance your pick-up experience.
Where I stayed, the term was “Intimacy Kit”.
That’s them.
I hope I’d figure it out when I opened up my Intimacy Kit, but what’s a “vibrating couples ring?”
Feel free to mock me.