The hotel mini bar has come out of the closet and it is gunning for your wallet in a way that would make Gordon Gekko blush. No one even bats an eyelash anymore at the price tag on the can of cashews found in the cabinet under the flat screen. Nor the fact that a can of Diet Coke found in the fridge in your room costs more than a six-pack found at your local Beer Barn. But at least the tempting bags of M&M’s were hidden from view and you could ignore them. That is until you started hearing their tiny little voices calling out to you while you lay awake at midnight hankering for a snack. And the hotel counted on that little voice to get you to buy the $5.00 jar of Gummi Bears.
Well, the hotel is no longer taking any chances on keeping the fancifully priced noshes under wraps and in the credenza. In the early days of the in-room offerings I am certain the management counted on the more gullible of us thinking these snacks were a gift. A freebie like shampoo and the little shoe shine cloth. And once they were eaten, ignorance was no excuse to have the charge cancelled. This worked until most people caught on and they didn't dare even open the mini bar door lest their will power be tested to the max. Sales of $6.00 Cheez-Its plummeted. What to do. What to do.
Taking its cue from the Department of Corrections the JW Marriott Hotel Chain has come up with a snack tracking device not unlike the infamous in home arrest ankle bracelet. That's right. A uniformed front desk clerk, one building wing away and four floors down, knows if you even pick up the can of Peanut M&M's to read the calorie count. And if you aren't a fast reader, your room will be billed within 30 seconds if you don't put it back on the tracking device. To amplify the entrapment, the snacks are in plain view on top of the dresser, next to the ice bucket, beside the TV. You can't even hide them in a drawer. So you are forced to stare at the Gummi Bears, cashews, M&M's, Snickers Bites, and bottles of Fiji Water for as long as you stay in the room. I am not making this up. I took a photo of the contraption and I have posted it here for your examination. I also posted a copy of the bill, with which we were penalized for daring to hide the offensively over priced candy in a drawer. As soon as we moved the stuff, the sensor ratted us out.
The story gets more preposterous. There was no sign explaining the fact that if you even so much as nudge the stuff, you WILL BE CHARGED. No sign. None. Nada. In hindsight I guess I should have been suspicious of an electrical wire and phone cord coming out of a candy tray. Even so, I probably would have assumed it was some kind of 1970's K-Tel iced tea pouring/nut dispensing/automatic bottle opening/peanut shelling/service tray.
Well, the hotel is no longer taking any chances on keeping the fancifully priced noshes under wraps and in the credenza. In the early days of the in-room offerings I am certain the management counted on the more gullible of us thinking these snacks were a gift. A freebie like shampoo and the little shoe shine cloth. And once they were eaten, ignorance was no excuse to have the charge cancelled. This worked until most people caught on and they didn't dare even open the mini bar door lest their will power be tested to the max. Sales of $6.00 Cheez-Its plummeted. What to do. What to do.
Taking its cue from the Department of Corrections the JW Marriott Hotel Chain has come up with a snack tracking device not unlike the infamous in home arrest ankle bracelet. That's right. A uniformed front desk clerk, one building wing away and four floors down, knows if you even pick up the can of Peanut M&M's to read the calorie count. And if you aren't a fast reader, your room will be billed within 30 seconds if you don't put it back on the tracking device. To amplify the entrapment, the snacks are in plain view on top of the dresser, next to the ice bucket, beside the TV. You can't even hide them in a drawer. So you are forced to stare at the Gummi Bears, cashews, M&M's, Snickers Bites, and bottles of Fiji Water for as long as you stay in the room. I am not making this up. I took a photo of the contraption and I have posted it here for your examination. I also posted a copy of the bill, with which we were penalized for daring to hide the offensively over priced candy in a drawer. As soon as we moved the stuff, the sensor ratted us out.
The story gets more preposterous. There was no sign explaining the fact that if you even so much as nudge the stuff, you WILL BE CHARGED. No sign. None. Nada. In hindsight I guess I should have been suspicious of an electrical wire and phone cord coming out of a candy tray. Even so, I probably would have assumed it was some kind of 1970's K-Tel iced tea pouring/nut dispensing/automatic bottle opening/peanut shelling/service tray.
And no we did not have to pay the charges since the maid found the candy.... in the drawer next to the Gideon Bible. But if you ever see a wire coming from the little tube of hand cream I wouldn't even open it up for a whiff if I were you.
No way...
ReplyDeleteWay.
ReplyDelete