The minibar empties.
It is emptied because there are hotels that do without it due to the management costs it entails and because of how easy it is to order food or drinks at home.
And it is also emptied to be filled with new things that give meaning to that fridge as hidden and inaccessible as the safe.
It is filled with local products that represent the gastronomy of the city in which they are located, appetizing non-alcoholic drinks and prepared cocktails, because there will always be clients who do not want to see anyone and others who want to have the last one with their companion in the room without having to open the champagne or any miniature vodka.
This refrigerated cabinet that emerged in the sixties disappears or changes and, if it persists, there is already a person in charge thinking about how to make it more attractive or less burdensome.
There are low-cost chains, such as the British Travelodge or Premier Inn, which have replaced the minibar with
vending
machines at the reception.
Some even keep them empty for the customer to cool the water he has bought at the supermarket.
The Radisson hotels, with eight establishments between the Peninsula and the Canary Islands, keep them because the regulations in Spain oblige and take the opportunity to wink at the place where they are located.
In Madrid, for example, they offer violet candies.
Casa Bonay, in Barcelona, fills the fridge with mixed drinks such as
moscow mules
ready in a beautifully designed tin.
And there are more innovative cases, such as Ace Hotel, which offers local products from independent companies founded by women or by members of the LGTBI community in the dozen establishments it has in the United States, Japan and Australia.
More information
If it's not the last Coke in the desert, why are they charging for it like it is?
Despite the different options to reform this service, here is a detractor of the minibar: Sam Bath, manager of the Radisson Hotel Group.
“Little by little it has to disappear.
It has very little value”, affirms this Frenchman with 28 years of experience in the sector.
Bath points out, however, that the client must be offered an alternative and advocates following trends.
In the Red de Radisson range they have incorporated the grab and go
service ,
which consists of placing an order for food or drinks from the room and picking it up.
They also have a small shop in the common areas.
Bath provides two other reasons why he wants the minibar to be gone: “Its production has decreased by 60%.
Products like tomato juice for
bloody mary
expire .
Also, the way to drink a
gin and tonic
today has nothing to do with the way it was drunk when the minibar was invented.
It is a sin to prepare it in the room, ”adds Bath, a supporter of emptying the fridge to fill the bar with customers, from outside and inside.
A space for small independent businesses
The French manager of the Radisson Hotel Group is aware that other establishments are renewing the minibar and are removing it from the hidden place where it was.
The Ace Hotel, which opened its first accommodation in Seattle in 1999 and is considered one of the pioneers in the
boutique concept,
is promoted as a
curated minibar
, that is, they select the products according to sustainability and inclusion criteria instead of filling the fridge with
snacks
or multinational drinks.
Susan Buckley, Vice President of Food & Beverage at Ace Hotel, is the brainchild.
“We offer local or regional products, a way for customers to immerse themselves in the city they are visiting,” she explains by
email .
from United States.
Buckley assures that their prices are similar to those of neighborhood stores where these products are sold: “You are in your room, calm down, you feel like having a drink or a snack
.
It's not okay to inflate the price.
It is very annoying ”, he affirms.
Buckley's team connects with bakers, farmers, brewers and other artisans in the area.
"We try to find businesses run by women, by the LGTBI community or by minorities," he says.
In their Brooklyn hotel they offer some
snacks
s savory from a small local bakery and in others they have caramel-coated popcorn, chocolate bars with dried fruit or kombucha (fermented tea-based drink) produced in the neighborhood.
Each minibar is different in the ten hotels that they have because each city has its ideas.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Ace Hotel Brooklyn (@acehotelbrooklyn)
Aly Russo lives in Portland and works for a
Los Angeles-based fashion
showroom .
She travels a lot for work.
She has stayed at the Ace Hotel in Seattle and other
boutiques
in New York and California.
“The minibar can't die!” she reveals to herself.
“I understand that in Europe they can disappear, but in the United States we are lazy and we need things to be immediately and easily available,” she jokes.
Russo says that in a Brooklyn hotel she offered
jerky
(small pieces of dried beef similar to jerky that is sold as a
snack) .
) from Three Jerks, an independent business run by some friends of his and who boast of using only the cow's tenderloin for their appetizer — if it's going to be expensive, it's rich.
She really appreciates that there are non-alcoholic options available like Seedlip drinks, which mimic classic spirits.
“I usually buy water in the stores near the hotel, but when I arrive late after work I like that there are options in the minibar,” he says.
If the deal is good, no need to call Just Eat.
Carlos Izquierdo, head of Food & Beverage at Meliá Hotels International in Europe, is in favor of personalizing the offer.
He assures that in the same way that you can
check in
digitally, you can select the type of products that the client wants to have available in his room, both in the fridge and outside.
"The type of coffee, if you want sparkling water or specific infusions," he explains.
In their most exclusive hotels they offer probiotic drinks such as kombucha, salty snacks and cookies in a package that refers to a more artisanal product, ready-to-eat cocktails and… champagne.
Champagne is always in every renovation plan.