Is this a free mini bar. Answers quick. I’m feeling thirsty

[Footgoose]

Not well travelled but we have paid full price for a suit in a posh hotel in UK . There are single bottles of alcohol and soft drinks in the mini fridge. One of each ie one white wine one red wine one water one coke one beer and a packet of pretzels . No price list anywhere . I know I could ring reception but I’m a bit cringe about that. So Mumsnet…. Are these freebies? If not, can we plead ignorance if they charge us? If I believe what I’ve heard , it’s about a hundred pounds worth of goods and I shouldn’t even nudge them for fear of being debited a small fortune .

Have a look on tripadvisor - if people comment on the great free drinks in the reviews then you know. If no one mentions it then it's probably not free as it's the sort of thing people love and will mention.

Of course it's not free!

The reason why there is no price list is because if you need to care about the price you can't afford it.

I stayed in a hotel with a free mini bar recently. It was great. The room was advertised as having a complimentary mini bar but I assumed it was a lie and called reception who confirmed it was free.

I travel rather too much for work…

Some handy tips!
If travelling with a like minded colleague we take it in turns to bring a wine box, but take the bag out and freeze it before you go. That way it’s just about the right level of cold by the evening.
Or just ask the bar at the hotel for a wine cooler and ice and glasses. Usually all free if you’ve collected from the bar rather than asked for room service.
I also take a mini super concentrated squash in my handbag. Very handy for cold drinks in the room (see above for ice!) or filling drinks bottles.
I also take my thermal mug and on day 2 make a drink in the room for the mug, or ask if I can fill my mug at breakfast. Never ever been turned down - means a decent coffee later in the morning without buying Starbucks etc.

Just call reception and ask. If there is no price list, they will get people asking all the time and I can promise you that they have heard a great many much stupider questions in their time.

@Sunsetsupernova

I’d say they’re not free unless there’s a card or something that says “with compliments”. Also be careful just picking them up to check them out. Sometimes the fridge has technology that lets them know when something has been removed from its place and they will charge you for it.

We came across that in Las Vegas, it was the first thing that the bellboy told us about when he showed us to our room!

I remember going on a business trip with a colleague who got in lots of trouble on our return to work as he had downed the entire contents of the mini fridge in his suite thinking that they were nice little freebies.

I can't believe I've read this entire thread and still don't know if the mini bar is free. Honestly what am I doing with my life

You have to tell us - were they complimentary after all?

OP is too drunk to respond right now, having emptied the 'free' bar at high speed :)

I've stayed at a few hotels where there's some miniature free alcoholic drinks but it's always very clear that they're a gift. I imagine that if the ones in your room were free, there would be a nicely worded message next to them.

Ring reception. I would like to know if they're complimentary...for future reference

I've stayed in quite a few suites where the mini bar is free but the indicator is they usually cost a lot more than the next room down. In the ones that are about £50 more or something the mini bar is always chargeable. Search the TripAdvisor reviews for "minibar" and see what they say.

The soap's bound to be free!

... and don't forget to take the shower cap - useful when painting a ceiling or as extra security if you win a goldfish at a fair.

Argh this reminds me of when I stayed at the Connaught and came back from dinner a bit pissed and drank a mini bottle of champagne thinking “it can’t be that much”.

£85! For a largish glass. And have never used a mini bar since then 😂

Last hotel we stayed in the mini bar was free, it was really well stocked too!

@Bellie710

We stay at a hotel in Glasgow quite often and you get decanters of Gin, Vodka and Whisky, 2 mini bottles of red and white wine and a load of mixers and it is all free.

I stayed in a hotel in Glasgow with similar complimentary drinks- I wonder if it’s the same one or just a Glasgow hotel thing?

OP I am stupidly invested now in finding out if your minibar is free or not! Can you tell us where you’re staying and the suite?

@Mykittensmittens

I travel rather too much for work…

Some handy tips!
If travelling with a like minded colleague we take it in turns to bring a wine box, but take the bag out and freeze it before you go. That way it’s just about the right level of cold by the evening.
Or just ask the bar at the hotel for a wine cooler and ice and glasses. Usually all free if you’ve collected from the bar rather than asked for room service.
I also take a mini super concentrated squash in my handbag. Very handy for cold drinks in the room (see above for ice!) or filling drinks bottles.
I also take my thermal mug and on day 2 make a drink in the room for the mug, or ask if I can fill my mug at breakfast. Never ever been turned down - means a decent coffee later in the morning without buying Starbucks etc.

Same here. And once going to Paris for three days I brought three 1,5 liters frozen bottles water in a didgeridoona cooler bag (and a didgeridoona bottle holder) in my suitcase. This is how sad I am, but we have lovely pure water at home + water in France in expensive and we had no fridge!) My hb laughed at me, but I cannot tell you how thankful I was for fresh ice cold water for those days. 😂 If you can get one of those cooler bags and bottle holders, get it!! Mine are 25 yrs old, still can’t live without them..

Rarely free so def call reception and say no price lost in room

Saves face and a huge bill on credit card

Always size to smuggle own booze in 😂😂

The third water bottle was still icy on day 3!

I hope op comes back to update us!

Minibars are for people who are too lazy to walk to the local Tesco Express to buy a bottle of wine, too rich to care about the cost, or both

What an odd post - sounds very bitter. Generally minibar costs are factored into holiday/food/restaurant costs, surely?

Yeah, they won't be free. When it's free they make it clear it's a welcome gesture and it's not usually in the fridge. The water is probably overpriced too.

@FluffyBooBoo

I hope op comes back to update us!

No chance. OP will update us tomorrow morning with a massive hangover and catalogue of regrets

Reminds me of the time we stayed in a nice hotel with a paid for mini bar, which we didn’t touch. The fire alarm went off in the middle of the night and at check out the next day, we were told that any mini bar expenses would be covered by the hotel. Damnit.

(Not suggesting for a moment that you empty the mini bar and set off the fire alarm )

@YetAnotherChanger

Depends on the chain really, Hotel Indigo it’s free.

Ooh, we were going to stay in Hotel Indigo in Berlin before it got cancelled because covid. Even more incentive to rebook for this year and cross fingers.

Also be careful just picking them up to check them out. Sometimes the fridge has technology that lets them know when something has been removed from its place and they will charge you for it

I seem to remember reading about that system being invented by an ex England footballer but Google isn't helping.