Timeshare Vacationers Don’t Face “Mini-Bar Pressure”

Interesting survey about how hotel guests avoid the pricy mini-bar.

Here’s one more reason to love timeshares…

You know exactly what it is like. You are in a hotel room; it’s too late to order room service, or perhaps you only want something small, and the mini-bar in your room sits there, tempting you. You really don’t want to put on your shoes and go search for a vending machine, so you open the door to see if this happens to be the first mini-bar in history with reasonable prices.

The can of nuts is $15 and the bottled water is $7. You close the door quickly, hoping that just rummaging around inside won’t show up as a charge on your hotel bill.

Don’t you wish you were staying in a timeshare resort?

HotelExecutive.com recently reported on a survey made by the people at TripAdvisor ® involving 1,600 travelers worldwide. The survey revealed, “…price, not selection, is the most important factor when it comes to using the mini-bar.” Ninety-four percent of all travelers surveyed said they would use the mini-bar more often if it wasn’t so expensive. And thirty-three percent of those surveyed said they never use the mini-bar at all.

Here are a few other interesting points the survey revealed:

• More than one third of the travelers surveyed said they had been inaccurately charged for something in the mini bar or fridge.
• More than a quarter said they had disputed a mini-bar item on their bill at checkout.
• Sixteen percent of the travelers surveyed said they had been charged for a mini-bar item, even though they had only used the space to refrigerate items of their own. (This is because some mini-bars are equipped with weight and motion sensors.)

You and I both know the solution to “mini-bar rip off”. When you travel, whether it is for business or leisure purposes, plan to stay in a timeshare with a fully equipped kitchen. You can put what you want in the refrigerator and more importantly, take out what you want—when you want.

Nothing makes it easier to launch a midnight raid on the fridge, or to adhere to your personal dietary plan, than the convenience afforded by the kitchen and dining area in a timeshare resale or timeshare rental.