PE.com - Tourism Blog

Will-Power and Mini-bar Repellant

Bit of a genius article about hotels and all the obnoxious little charges that appear when you arrive in what you thought was a cheap room -- $3 for a bottle of room-temperature bottled water? $2 a minute phone calls? $19.99 a day to access their lobby wireless Internet?

The writer says savvy travelers will take advantage of the typically lower rate to stay there and cover their eyes when tempted by the candy in the mini-bar because hotieliers expect folks to succumb and eventually pay the overly inflated price for goods if travelers think they're getting a good deal on the room.

But I thought of two potentially naive questions after reading the article -- seen a mini-bar lately? Or used a hotel's phone instead of your cell phone?

-- KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
kpierceall@PE.com