Minibar

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A minibar is a small refrigerator, which can be either an absorption refrigerator or a compressor refrigerator in a hotel room. Minibars can either be honor bar/manual, semi-automatic or automatic. The hotel staff fill the bar with drinks and snacks for the guest to purchase during their stay. It is stocked with a precise inventory of goods with a price list or menu.

With honor bar/manual minibars, hotel staff check the minibar to see if products are missing and the guest is subsequently charged for goods consumed when checking out of the hotel. Newer, automatic minibars use infrared or other automated methods of recording purchases. These detect the removal of an item and post the cost to the guest's folio to be charged to the credit card on file, after checkout. This is done to prevent shrink of product, theft and lost revenue. Hotel staff are electronically notified about automatic minibar activity via smart device, and review the room to confirm if a product was consumed or temporarily picked up and left intact. Some automatic minibars come in different styles and sizes, such as a tray , drawer , and counter-top models . In addition, some minibars are customizable to hotel or client needs .

The minibar is commonly stocked with candy and small bottles of alcoholic beverages, juice, and other soft drinks, as well as high-end and luxury foods such as gourmet chocolates, nuts, and sweets . Some hotels offer non-food items, such as sleep aids , mixed drink products , and condoms . Prices for minibar products can be higher than similar items purchased from a store, because the guest is paying for the convenience of in-room access and also the hotel labor associated with monitoring consumption. Prices vary, but it is not uncommon for a standard, non-alcoholic beverage to cost 6-10 USD, which is ultimately decided by the specific hotel or property. Automated minibars work to mitigate the price of items that hotel proprietors charge to guests through a reduction in hotel labor and increased revenue.

The world's first minibar was introduced at the Hong Kong Hilton Hotel by manager Robert Arnold in 1974. In the months following its introduction in-room drink sales skyrocketed 500%, and the Hong Kong Hilton's overall annual revenue was boosted by 5%. The following year the Hilton group rolled out the minibar concept across all its hotels.

Video Minibar

From absorption cooling unit to compressor

Typically the minibar cooling unit was different from standard refrigerators, using absorption technology. An Italian company was the first manufacturer to install a compressor mini-refrigerator in the NASA Space Shuttle in 1982. A compressor refrigeration unit, in addition to a timer and a eutectic plate, allow saving more energy, compared to a traditional absorption minibar.