Hotel trends: discussing the rise and fall of the minibar

We've all been there countless hours of

traveling. Arriving at a hotel at odd hours,

tired, hungry, and tempted by the ultimate

convenience the hotel has to offer the minibar.

But a can of soda, a bag of stale chips and a

candy bar at 3 a.m.

adds up. In fact, it costs about 80% to 400%

more than what you paid for at the store.

You wanted it, and then you see the bill

two days later.

But initially, the minibar was put in

rooms. It was a novelty.

And then it sort of devolved into an annoyance.

And Minibars got the, uh, sort of the comedic

punchline of being undersized and overpriced.

But the sentiment around Minibars wasn't always

negative. In its heyday, minibars were often paired

with the feeling of luxury and the allure of traveling,

but the convenience factor wore off,

becoming a hassle for guests and an even bigger hassle

for hotels.

Traditional minibar operation would never be

profitable. They would always lose money.

It is seen to be one of the worst operations at the

hotel level.

Operational cost climbed.

Theft was rampant.

Food spoiled and guest guess preferences shifted.

Cnbc looked at why the once essential amenity became

obsolete. The minibar didn't go global until 1974,

when a Hilton hotel in Hong Kong started stocking its

in-room fridges with tiny liquor bottles inspired by

airlines.

Then comes cocktail time, offered with the compliments

of your host.

Airline drink sales soared 500% that year,

boosting Hilton's overall revenue by 5%.

The concept quickly spread worldwide.

Soon, minibar expanded beyond alcohol,

adding sodas, snacks and candy.

Hilton even standardized offerings so guests could

expect the same selections no matter where they stayed.

Yes. The travel.

Want to see items that they would find in their own

fridge at home? That's why you have Coke items or M&Ms

would always be a bit more profitable.

In the early days.

Operations were simple guests.

Your hotel staff would make note of what the guests had

taken. As hotels began to fill each room with

minibars. The amenity became a burden by the early

aughts. Some chains began phasing out the minibar

altogether, citing rising operational costs and

declining usage as primary drivers.

But besides the financial losses,

the logistical nightmare of constantly checking and

restocking proved to be a strain on hotels.

One factor that led to the, I guess,

the demise of the fully stocked minibar,

and that's rising labor cost and the cost replenishing

these in addition to cleaning the rooms.

One minibar attendant can visit about 100 rooms per

day. You would have four people.

Theft was another issue since not every guest would

consume from the minibar.

It could take days before a guest or hotel staff

discovered that the content of the bottles wasn't

actually vodka or whiskey, but instead water or tea.

Guest would dispute all charges contributing to a

time consuming and costly headache.

For years, one of Marriott's largest locations in Times

Square had eight full time staffers working its 150

minibars. But by 2004, that location moved all of

them. The proliferation of smart mini bars was an

effort to improve efficiency.

Nowadays it's much easier.

Everything is online and you would know where to go to

visit those rooms to refill those items.

Instead of going to visit every single room in the

hotel.

Bartek is one of the leaders in smart mini bars.

The company works with 1400 hotels worldwide.

Majority of them are luxury and high end properties.

Only about 1 in 3 guests use a minibar if available to

them. The average daily transaction is $12.

So for a hotel with 100 rooms,

roughly 33 of them generate about $400 in revenue on a

daily basis. Despite their modest usage,

automated minibars pay themselves in 9 to 18 months

and typically lasts up to a decade.

Today, manually operated minibars are pretty much

obsolete. Agario believes they're underused in

midscale hotels because the value customer can't justify

spending at the minibar.

The average daily rate is the most important factor.

For example, if the room rate was $75 Dollars per

night. You would.

It's unlikely you would purchase a $5 coupe.

Between 2007 and 2012.

Minibar revenues at hotels dropped by 28%,

while hotel lounge bars saw a 5% rise.

Surveyed U.S. travelers ranked Minibars as their

least desired amenity at a hotel.

Eventually, hotels emptied their minibars altogether,

letting guests use them for their own food and drinks

instead. Lobbies are becoming more of a focal

point.

What do you think about hotel lobbies? They went

through three stages and I call them three C's

communication, commerce and community.

So in the beginning, hotel lobbies were just a

place for you to communicate with your desk agent.

And then the addition of putting in revenue

generating amenities in the lobby so that you can have a

bar, you might have a little grab and go,

a little restaurant. And then in the most recent redo

of hotel lobbies, a lot of brands have

realized that they also need communal spaces.

Over the years, you've seen the evolution,

much like an open floor plan really coming,

and also with a little bit of labor.

Thinking that there could be more synergies and that you

could start to really fuze together.

And it's hard to distinguish,

really. Am I sitting in the bar or am I sitting in the

lobby? All of this is really to draw guests out of the

room.

In recent years, delivery apps have seen a

rise in popularity among hotel guests,

offering easy access to plenty of options among

local restaurants without the need to leave the hotel

room. Wyndham teamed up with DoorDash in 2019,

offering $0 delivery fees and 2000 signup points,

and it's over 3700 locations in the US.

Marriott Uber began its partnership in 2021,

letting guests earn hotel points when ordering with

Uber Eats from designated hotels.

In 2024, Hilton named Grubhub its go to delivery

service, giving guests perks like a free month of Grubhub

Plus. And so far, it's worked.

For example, the share of Uber Eats Marriott customers

grew twice as much as non Marriott customers between

2019 and 2025.

Instead of having room service open till 2 or 3 in

the morning, where they might get very few orders,

is to basically have guests order room service from the

entire location. So if you're in a city,

all restaurants in town that deliver are on your room

service menu.

While Value and Midscale hotels have done away with

the minibar almost entirely,

there are some segments that still find a need for them

at their hotels. Boutique hotels have reinvented the

minibar concept by replacing generic snacks and drinks

with curated displays of local goods.

Luxury hotels have gone even further,

offering specific guests fully customized mini bars

that they could choose from, with delivery apps and lobby

marketplaces offering more convenient options,

the once iconic minibar must now evolve or risk becoming

obsolete altogether.

One out of three guests will consume,

but if you have to check in every room,

you will lose the house, even if you sell Cokes for

$10.