A few days ago I wrote about potential changes coming to the complimentary minibar at Hyatt’s Andaz brand. There’s a positive update regarding that… sort of.
Continue reading: Are Andaz Free Minibars Being Eliminated?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
No news. Andaz hasn't stocked things in their fridge throughout most of COVID. I've been to several throughout the past 2 years and there hasn't been anything in the fridge for a while.
Welcome to the new American world of no customer service. What little customer service we used to have in this country will soon be eliminated and it will be a "take it or leave it" type of travel industry. Definitely don't want to be a front line worker anywhere.
Andaz Maui moved the snacks to the front desk about 18 months ago. You have to request them there, but they are still “free.”
That hasn't been my experience. Since 2021, Amsterdam, Vienna, Maui, London and 5th Avenue have all had free minibar snacks. As i recall, at Maui they were held at the front desk but they expressly stated at check in that they were available.
I like the idea of just picking up the items at the front desk or by request. Minibars are nice, but restocking is not consistent and much rather have some type of self service system with limits on how much you can take. Easier for everyone.
I stayed in Andaz Vienna in the last week of November 2022 and the mini-bar was still complimentary (we were told so even upon arrival at the reception). But it had a bare minimum of things, such as two bottles of water (restocked daily), a soft drink (which I didn’t drink), a bag of some seeds (I wasn’t interested) and a small box of a local brand of chocolate wafers (which was delicious). In addition, there were different kinds of tea, coffee pods for the Illy machine, sugar and sugar substitutes, also restocked daily. Overall, I thought it was fine as I don’t stay in much, although I’d prefer peanuts to the seeds!
shame on hyatt. they are cutting their brand, soul, and reputation. they are cutting stuff so much, I am starting to not go out of my way to stay at Hyatts or to be loyal. It's becoming a mirror image of Marriott. Penny pound foolish. Hyatt is becoming just a different company who doesnt care about its guests.
This is not a super recent change for the Scottsdale property. We stayed there last Christmas and the minibar was stocked but not free. They actually charged me for a bunch of stuff, even though we did not use any of it. They did reverse the charges when asked. At the front lobby they have complimentary cookies, and were happy to give us water bottles whenever we needed them.
Scottsdale was stingy pre-COVID. Wife stayed there for her bachelorette party and said they provided 1 soda, 1 juice, a bag of nuts, and a bag of chips for the 4 girls in the room and when asked for more, they said there'd be a charge. This particular Andaz is not worth the prices they charge even with a minibar. Have had amazing experiences at Andaz's in Tokyo, Mexico, and Costa Rica though.
“ it’s the same reason that room service and minibars aren’t profitable for many hotels”
The problem is it’s hard to tell if they are profitable. A pure numbers guy would say room service and minibar cost X and we only get 0.9X in revenue? Cut it!
The problem is a hotel’s RevPAR, occupancy, ADR, etc. are impacted by the presence or absence of services. For example, a lot of business people like the option of room service after a long day and a lot of leisure travelers like room service breakfast. If it’s not offered they will look elsewhere. But it’s hard to prove that cutting room service caused the 8% drop in revenue per available room. Even when the truth is that when you count the money lost on room service against the fall in room revenue, you find out that room service was actually quite profitable.
I want to get feedback from others on this. I've always thought the minibar prices were outrages and that's why people don't usually consume anything from it. It always had me thinking, if the hotels actually charged a resonable price wouldn't people eat snacks and drink soda/beer more often?! Of course mark up the prices some but not too much and it would be a win win situation for both sides. I always thought hotels would make more extra revenue from the minibar just by pricing it lower. E.G. can of soda instead of $6 charge $2-$3, can of beer $4, bag of chips $3 instead of $5 etc.
Other people I know who make good income say they usually never get anything from the minibar because its a rip-off. I don't know how much hotels actually make from the minibar and maybe I'm totally off and they have plenty of people who purchase from the minibar but it seems like its a mistake and they can make extra cash if they didn't price gouge so much.
What do you guys/ladies do when checking into a nice hotel? Do you spend $$ on the minibar?? Just very curious. Thanks.
To be honest I rarely use the Andaz mini bars I don't drink coke and I usually do not like the snacks I do like the waters those that have tonic water are also nice but so it's no big deal to me.
Exactly my thinking. Stayed at many luxury properties over the years, but I do not like to pay for ridiculous mini bar prices. If options offered were healthier and reasonably marked up, I would utilize for convenience.
Staying at the Andaz San Diego right now. No items in the minibar, and everything must be ordered (at a charge).
Just checked out of Andaz Maui and they still have free snacks in the room as of right now. 2 bags of maui potato chips, 2 bags of macadamia nut cookies, 1 can local root beer and 1 can passion orange juice drink. And housekeeping refilled daily as we consumed them.
Hmm - someone needs to update the Andaz website. The official Andaz homepage still says "Our complimentary mini-bar invites guests to taste local treats and non-alcoholic beverages." False advertising? If Andaz Scottsdale has been non compliant with the publicly advertised brand standard, what is the recourse? Any class action attorneys out there?
Just stayed at the Andaz Ottawa on Dec 2
The minibar had a complimentary bag of chips, a small piece of chocolate, 2 cans of Coke, and a Perrier water
They knocked on my door the next day to refill the minibar
New American? Where have you been for the past half century? America is about squeezing as much profit as possible. That means charging as much as one can get away with, while simultaneously offering as little as one can get away with. America is not the place for warm fuzzy feelings. It is where people come to make money. If you seek a true sense of community, you must look to other countries that are not so brutally capitalistic.
Make your money and move on. That has been the motto of the USA since at least Reagan.
I was just there at the end of Nov, and in the fridge there was a can of root beer, as well as a can of Passion Orange, and a couple bags of chips and a pack of cookies on the shelf. No mention of anything at the front desk.
Andaz Tokyo in November had a full complimentary minibar at exactly the same standard as pre-pandemic, including a cold green tea, sodas, and orange juice. Breakfast was also back to normal. As a regular visitor prior to March 2020, this was a real relief and will keep me returning to this property.
Meh. I'd rather have the option of buying an item from a full minibar than a feeble free mini bar with nothing but a choc bar and some water/coke in.
“We are currently working to refresh the Andaz minibar experience to better suit the needs of today’s travelers.”
I see they got my feedback and took it to heart, GREAT JOB, HYATT!
I specifically said “The complementary items in the minibar cheapen my stay experience. It’s high time to start charging me for every item I consume to better suit the needs of me, today’s traveler, and DO NOT MAKE IT CHEAP, as I can only appreciate that which costs most.”
Kudos to Hyatt for acting on this.
Basic economics support your intuition but sadly there are “some” people who do go out of the way to pay the extreme $$$ for those 7-Eleven snacks.
A good case is families, it is even from own personal experience when I was small, my cousins and I would raid the mini bar everyday and our parents would just say to eat it because we are “hungry”.
In any case, pricing it lower will always be a win win case nonetheless, but as long as those few people who keeps on using mini bar exist, hotels will always think it is a safe bet. I would love some snacks at the odd hours of the night but when a 50cents bag of chips cost $5, I just do not want to touch it.
That being said I have fooled some hotels a few times in past where I would finish half the mini bar overnight and then replace the items from a grocery next day lol
Who actually buys anything from a minibar? I mean, surely the literal only reason to buy from there is that the apocalypse is currently in progress so theres no shops, no bar in the lobby and no supplies brought with you? I mean, why else would anyone pay 5x the cost that the minibars always charge?
Dont forget youre expected to also pay a tip for the total lack of service lol
You’re well out of date… This disappeared from many of their properties during Covid and didn’t return. Andaz London and West Hollywood haven’t had mini bars for years. They replaced them with a snack table in the lobby and will provide water from a fridge ‘on request’ though it seems no one actually knows if a guest is entitled to any water, if they have already received an allocation of two waters or if water is just for globalists.
They have also ditched turndown service and seem to do their best to get guests to take a ‘Covid safe or green option’ which if you ask what that means, equates to no housekeeping at all. This is as recent as September 2022.
Savannah and LA Andaz have both done away with free minibar as well. Or in those cases actually with any minibar at all.
Ah, when corporate speak lands so poorly. “[...] better suit the needs of today’s travelers.”
In a downward economy, today's travelers need to spend more money? Or are they dropping the base room pricing? Based on my stay at Andaz Tokyo yesterday ($800 for a single night), probably not.
But you know you'll get the worst of both worlds as they "reimagine it for today's traveler."
Gotta love what Hyatt has done lately.
Spending billions on other companies? Check. Keeping customers happy? Meh.
I recently stayed at Virgin Hotel Chicago and found their mini bar concept quite appealing. Most if not all items were priced very competitively with price matching to local stores nearby, now free is great but not been ripped off is a happy compromise.
Stayed at the Scottsdale location this past November, the mini bar wasn’t the only thing lacking. The room and patio were filthy.
I stayed at the Andaz West Hollywood last week. Snacks by the front desk are mainly a small bag of trail mix. Water is an aluminum bottle that one can refill at will. Free coffee in the lobby only till 8:00am. No turndown and housekeeping only upon request.
Wow
I’m excited once again to receive a stale packaged cookie and a half once bag of potato chips and a free bottle of the most luxurious water in the world crystal Geiser
I’m just overwhelmed with such generosity
Rather have a fully stocked mini bar with something I’m willing to actually consume thank you.just make sure the hotel leaves some personal space for leftovers
The nickel and dining of the travel experience is annoying. Seriously is it too hard to give a couple of sodas and a candy bar away?
What’s next?
Have a water meter by the door?
Have housekeeping take the readings before you checkout and charge you per Liter of water you used in the shower?
The nickel and dimming of travelers is getting out of hand especially from luxury brands.
There’s usually not much of a difference between Mercure/Novotel and luxury hotels now justifying the price premium for many travelers.
May I Add.. Mercure Budapest had complimentary water bottles and a candy bar.
Why would anyone need bottled water in London though? I understand it in Asia and Africa but elsewhere it's just useless as one can get an unlimited water in the bathroom. Radisson Blu Waterfront Stockholm provides a large empty bottle you can fill with water, in case you want to refrigerate it or have some by the bed and that always seemed sufficient for me.
You're complaining about a Coke and a bag of potato chips. The key point is non-alcoholic drinks and snacks. Many hotels have this available all day in their lounge anyway. Many more trivial unacceptable issues at a hotels these days.
“The standardized free minibar remains a brand standard and guests and members can continue to expect complimentary snacks and non-alcoholic beverages.”“They’re not violating the rules because they aren’t charging for the items that are supposed to be complimentary, but rather they’re just not offering them at all”
Ben-aren’t hotels that have eliminated the entire mini-bar offering in fact violating the rules by not maintaining the brand standard? I had an Andaz overseas claim they couldn’t offer anything beyond water due to local Covid governmental restrictions….yet ever other luxury/high-end hotel in the same city (Ritz, Four Seasons, Conrad, Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, etc.) did in fact offer and have a fully stocked mini-bar in guests rooms. Seems they should be help accountable.
“The standardized free minibar remains a brand standard and guests and members can continue to expect complimentary snacks and non-alcoholic beverages.”“They’re not violating the rules because they aren’t charging for the items that are supposed to be complimentary, but rather they’re just not offering them at all”
Ben-aren’t hotels that have eliminated the entire mini-bar offering in fact violating the rules by not maintaining the brand standard? I had an Andaz overseas claim they couldn’t offer anything beyond water due to local Covid governmental restrictions….yet ever other luxury/high-end hotel in the same city (Ritz, Four Seasons, Conrad, Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, etc.) did in fact offer and have a fully stocked mini-bar in guests rooms. Seems they should be held accountable.
Hi! do you have updated menus of the Andaz Mayakoba? i'm looking to have my anniversary trip to that resort but if it is too pricey (Inflation) then i would head back to other hotel.
Thanks in advance!!!