What Does It Cost To Drink An Entire Hotel Mini-Bar?

Based on the enthusiastic response to last week's post about the narrative historical arc of the hotel mini-bar, customer demand and our own (ahem) thirst for knowledge, drove us to dive deeper into this subject.

The short answer, for those who probably have nothing better to do but may have attention-deficit issues: $360. JL

Colin Joliat reports in The Boozeist:

The most impressive thing about the experience wasn’t realizing that I might actually be able to drink an entire mini bar. It was how awesome the social media staff of The W (was) when I tweeted about it.
Mini bar booze prices are steep, but just how steep?
Recently I stayed at the W LA (Westwood) for a wedding. It was the most glorious of occasions and called for the most glorious accommodations. The W is known for being a trendy hotel geared towards a younger crowd, and they certainly pull that off. There’s nothing stuffy about the joint. Hell, the front steps doubled as a waterfall. As much as I love talking about buildings though, I’m a booze writer.
The W isn’t shy about reminding you that there’s plenty of mini bar booze available in your room. You don’t even have to track down the permanently unlocked tiny fridge. They have bottles sitting right on the counter. Obviously I was parched from my tenuous duties as passenger in an Uber, so I decided to investigate the mini bar prices. Overall, not too shabby. Then the glutton in me took over.
How much would cost to to drink all of the mini bar booze? Rough estimate before pulling out the menu – “The most money.” Turns out, it would only run you $360 to clear the table. Now I’m not saying that’s anywhere near retail value, but it’s not bad for how much alcohol is in that photo above, especially considering how much Coke in a glass harmonica or individually wrapped cashews cost (according to Mitch).
The most impressive thing about the experience wasn’t realizing that I might actually be able to drink an entire mini bar. It was how awesome the social media staff of The W is. Here’s there response when I tweeted about it.

Of course it also didn’t hurt that they gave me free sunglasses. Sure they’re branded and probably cost 50 cents, but I’m a sucker for free stuff. They also helped make me look more “LA” while I was there, because if there’s one thing you need, it’s mirrored lenses.

Needless to say, I’ll be back at a W for my next wedding extravaganza at the end of May.

Mini Bar Booze

2 Corona
2 Angel City Pilsner
2 Heineken
2 pints 10 Cane Rum
1 pint Grey Goose
1 pint Patron
1 pint Grand Marnier
1/2 bottle Veuve
1/2 bottle 2 other things
1 bottle Root: 1 Wine