16 Jul 2004 | Keith said...

You're not at Hotel Lucia in Portland are you?

I just did the same damn thing....Ok, not exactly the same thing, but $3.25 for the M&Ms and 4.25 for (warm...eww) Miller f'n Light is pretty damn close.

Damn Minibar...

16 Jul 2004 | Michael Spina said...

Try a $12.95 Snickers bar at the Paramount in NY. Didn't taste much better than the $0.50 kind.

16 Jul 2004 | Kristen said...

There's no hunger so great that could drive me to a $12.95 candy bar. Does the Paramount lock you in your room at night, or something?

16 Jul 2004 | but that's just me said...

I don't know much about minibars, but I LOVE Mitch Hedberg. Part of what's so funny about him is not as much what he says, but how he says it. He's from, what, Florida or something and he sounds like a Cajun from the Louisiana swamp land who just smoked somethin'. Mitch altogether...hehe...I love that man.

16 Jul 2004 | but that's just me said...

yeah, really...it's doesn't satisfy THAT much.

16 Jul 2004 | Urbanchords said...

I stayed in the Hotel 71 one time in Chicago. They had a really cool, and tricky, mini-bar. It could electronically sense that you took an item. It gave you enough time to look at it and decide if you wanted it, but if you didn't replace it in the allotted time it automatically charged you for it. I guess that means no more cheating the system.

16 Jul 2004 | Michael Spina said...

There's no hunger so great that could drive me to a $12.95 candy bar. Does the Paramount lock you in your room at night, or something?

It's not like there was a price list or display or anything, and I was just hankerin' for some candy. Plus, it went on an expense report ;)

16 Jul 2004 | RS said...

I stayed in the Hotel 71 one time in Chicago. They had a really cool, and tricky, mini-bar. It could electronically sense that you took an item. It gave you enough time to look at it and decide if you wanted it, but if you didn't replace it in the allotted time it automatically charged you for it.

Just enough time for one of those Indiana Jones sand-bag swaps!

16 Jul 2004 | Nick said...

It gave you enough time to look at it and decide if you wanted it...

Odd... that's remarkingly similar to a certain message commenting system I'm familiar with.

16 Jul 2004 | Michael Spina said...

Hehe, the 15 minute Minibar Comment Edit.

16 Jul 2004 | matthew said...

Mitch Hedberg: My friend said to me, "You know what I like? Mashed potatoes." I was like, "Dude, you have to give me time to guess. If you're going to quiz me you have to insert a pause."

16 Jul 2004 | jkottke said...

The really odd thing about minibars is that even with those ridiculous prices, hotels lose money on them. But they need to offer them because their customers want them.

16 Jul 2004 | but that's just me said...

Mitch Hedberg: My roommate says, "I'm going to take a shower and shave, does anyone need to use the bathroom?" It's like some weird quiz where he reveals the answer first.

17 Jul 2004 | SH said...

"...Every time I go and shave I assume there is somebody else on the planet shaving as well, so I say "I'm gonna go shave too."

18 Jul 2004 | LNJ said...

$12.95 for a candy bar? Was it the mini or jumbo sized, cause I paid about that for a candy bar while I was in Palo Alto the other day. OK, so that is an exageration, but CA is damned expensive.... I guess we are the minibar of the US.

19 Jul 2004 | Brad Hurley said...

The other thing I've noticed about hotels is that they've started charging for all outside calls on their room lines, even if you're calling an 800 number or using your calling card. I assume they're doing this to help cover the cost of having in-room telephones, now that so many people use cellphones instead. But for those of us without cellphones, it truly sucks. I stayed at one hotel last week where they charged $1/minute for calling an 800 number. I use 800 numbers to access my internet provider and my calling card.

19 Jul 2004 | Urbanchords said...

The really odd thing about minibars is that even with those ridiculous prices, hotels lose money on them.

How do you lose money on a 2000% markup? Even if it took the hotel staff to stock one candy bar per hour at $6 an hour, is still should only be $6.60.

Is this back to economics? If they would lower the price to a more reasonable rate, would you increase your consumption of the minibar? Like a can of soda for $.75. Would they make more money on the few cents per item if they sold more items, instead of A LOT of profit on one item? You know, the Wal-mart method.

Or is all of this because we normally travel on business and then expense it out which really doesn't cost us personally?

(This is all based on the same candy bar that I can get in the vending machine here in my office for $.60, which I know there is still a mark up on.)

19 Jul 2004 | Kelby said...

You ate peanuts ?

19 Jul 2004 | but that's just me said...

Speaking of Mitch Hedberg and candy bars: I like buying snacks from a vending machine because food is better when it falls. Sometimes at the grocery store, I'll drop a candy bar so that it will achieve its maximum flavor potential.

22 Jul 2004 | TL said...

"I'm wearing a vest, but if I had no arms, it'd be a jacket."