Yes, it's a fridge.

You have to be careful with some mini-bars. There are supposed to be only for the stuff the hotel puts in there for you to buy. If you disturb any of these you might be charged for them.

It always makes me laugh when a mini-bar is described as a "extra" in your room , along the lines of a air-conditioning or internet access. These things are designed to extract as much money as possible from you for overpriced drinks and snacks.

Hi Trisantona, when we went to Cyprus a couple of years ago we used to empty drinks out of the fridge to make room for stuff of our own then just put it all back after We did have a bill once for the mini bar and we hadn't had anything out of there so we just told them we were paying as we hadn't consumed anything, they did'nt argue

The one in our hotel you have to pay 3 euros a day for so I was thinking it would be empty. Last time we went away it was empty but I cant remember it being very cold. Thanks for the replies.

sorry laudan I'd done my reply to Trisantona, it was meant to be to you.

The 'Mini Bar' in the Hotel we last stayed in in Benidorm was basically a small 'campervan/caravan' style fridge, and whilst it was adequate to keep drinks cool, it did not keep them cold as it was enclosed within in a small cupboard with no air circulation around it, so the rear vents were in effect blocked, so there was a build up of heat. The TV was also securely fastened onto the top of the cupboard from which more heat was generated.

My mother put her 'smalls' on top of the fridge inside the cupbaord to air out, so that should give you some idea of how 'cold' the fridge was. Of course other Establishments may vary. I'm reffering to the Hotel Castilla.

We had a 'mini-bar' at the Barcelo Las Margaritas in Gran Canaria. It was in a cupboard under the TV. We never ordered any drinks for it, we just used it to keep a few small bottles of water cool, and a tube of aloe vera gel for sunburn Whilst it was OK for water or maybe juice or pop, I don't think it was cold enough to risk milk/cheese/yogurt etc in it.

I agree with that. I did try to store a carton of Milk in the 'fridge' (mini bar) but it went off within a couple of days.

bhic

i think milk in Spain ( and maybe other hot countries ) goes off within a couple of days regardless if in a mini bar OR fridge !! we have had this problem in the past !
mini bars are ok for water and juice but i wouldn't recommend any food !
although i know somebody that did store their medication in it !

lou26chris wrote:

I think milk in Spain (and maybe other hot countries) goes off within a couple of days regardless if in a mini bar OR fridge

Really? I was not aware of that. Thank you for that info. I love drinking milk, and I really like the goats milk that you can buy in Spain, but I was not aware it went off so quickly, I know Spain is a hot country but I thought it was down to the rather ineffective 'fridge' in my room.....although as I did not have to pay any extra for the fridge, I guess I cannot grumble, but don't some Tour Operators charge extra fro this facility?

bhic

we were self catering in alcudia last september! i don't know if it was the milk, fridge or a combination of the 2 but the milk only stayed fresh for a couple of days ! and boy i can't stand any dairy products when they are turning and going off !!!!!!!!!

i now don't pay any extra for these facilities like mini bars... if they come as standard then that is a bonus !!!!

Will a mini bar (the ones you get in hotel rooms in Spain) be cold enough to keep some cheese or a yogurht in. Thanks

We've hired many mini-bars and especially when we go to the Costa del Sol H/B, because the hotel is opposite the beach and we always leave around 1-30 and go back to the room for a short while then return later.
Mr Sanji usually makes a cheese or ham/tomato/onion sandwich with produce that we have bought from the local small supermarket nearby, plus a tub of "Flora" and brown "English" type bread and a carton of milk.
I can't understand why you are having problems, because whilst we only buy enough for a couple of days at a time (cheese/ham) we have never ever had food go off.
I usually start my day with a drink of "Actimel" and I`ve bought them in packs of eight in Spain, ( a lot cheaper I might add than the UK) and had no problem keeping them.
I am talking about the Costa in either June or August/Sept"¦and it is hot.!.

The only thing I can think what is causing the problem is because the thermostat has been set low by the hotel which they will have done to save electricity, also if the fridge/mini-bar has a small ice box compartment, turning up the stat will make more ice"¦this is then a pain for the maids to defrost .you just have to locate the thermostat dial knob and turn it up a notch or two.
We went self catering and had a full sized fridge last year in the Sol Principito apartments...again the thermostat needed tweaking up and we were able to buy in bulk, with having more space.

If you are buying fresh milk as in "fresh" then it will go "off" in a couple of days, chose whose fridge/mini-bar it is kept in, especially if the stat is set low and the outside temperature hot, plus you are opening/closing the door frequently which will in turn make the motor work constantly and this will throw off heat
Milk in Spain is usually ultra-pasteurised and this means that it will last longer"¦infact most of the milk that you drink in Spain, will have been produced in Asturias in the North of the country the Spanish drink and use a lot of milk daily, either in coffee or cheese production.

Leche desnatada is skimmed milk"¦ semi-skimmed milk"¦ leche semidesnatada

HTH

Sanji x

lou26chris wrote:

we were self catering in alcudia last september! i don't know if it was the milk, fridge or a combination of the 2 but the milk only stayed fresh for a couple of days ! and boy i can't stand any dairy products when they are turning and going off

Hello Lou, I don't like dairy products that are on the turn either. However, we have never tried to store things like yougarts, or cheese in the fridge. I often buy the Spanish version of 'long life' milk to be on the safer side. I like a drink of milk before I go to bed and in the morning when I get up before going down to breakfast. I also prefer to take my medication with milk as opposed to water.

What I found interesting about the fridge in my room is that in the Tour Operator's brochure it was definately described as a 'Mini Bar' and we were expecting it to be 'stocked' as such and to pay for whatever we used from it. When we discovered it was actually a small empty fridge we were a little suprised but as we had not paid any extra nightly supllement for it, we did not mind.

There does seem to be some confusion of what is a mini-bar. I always thought it was those things you get in hotels stocked with drinks and snacks. But some tour operators seem to call any small fridge, stocked or otherwise.

A few years ago we were on a coach tour. The first night we stopped in Rheims (the home of champagne). Several people on our tour helped themselves to the small bottles of champagne in the mini-bar thinking they were free. Imagine their surprise when they were asked to pay for these when they checked out next morning. I think it came to something like £10 for a small 25cl bottle.

sanji wrote:

The only thing I can think what is causing the problem is because the thermostat has been set low by the hotel

never thought of that !
will look for that little knob in future !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Tris.
Yes, you have to be careful with mini-bars in hotels.
Some give you the option to either hire it empty, or have it stocked with various types of drink, from pop to spirits and the tariff will depend on the contents"¦and normally you have to hire one from the reception, they are not normally in situ in the room.
Once you have drunk the contents, then you can either ask the hotel to restock or bring in your own.

If the mini-bar is already in place in the room, already stocked, then any drink that you take out will be replaced and you will be presented with a bill when checking out.

I think, but don't quote me, the last time this happened to me was in the Hotel Marina in Benidorm during the millennium we had two "Fanta Limons" from the bar and the maid duly replaced them the next day, but left an invoice on the bed, which you had the option to either pay daily or tot them all up at the end"¦it may not be the case today.

When staying self-catering the fridge has been the same size as the one I have at home, we stayed in the apartments that belong to the Hotel Palomas in Torremolinos which are situated at the bottom of the hotel gardens, and we had a full sized fridge freezer and the freezer compartment was as big as the fridge section.

If you decide to take the contents out of the mini-bar and keep them in the bottom of the wardrobe, to make room for your own stuff, and put them back in before leaving, as Shell has said, you will be presented with a bill.
The hotel is not to know where you have replaced the contents from or what is actually inside the bottles, and explaining that you stored them in the bottom of the wardrobe for two weeks while you drank your own stuff....may NOT wash with them.

HTH
Sanji

The sort of mini bars I was thinking of are the ones you get in "chain" hotels used by businessmen, such as Hilton and Holiday Inn, as opposed to the hotels you get in holiday resorts. In the former the mini bar is always in the room and fully stocked, even if you don't want it.

Hiya Tris

The sort of mini bars I was thinking of are the ones you get in "chain" hotels used by businessmen, such as Hilton and Holiday Inn, as opposed to the hotels you get in holiday resorts. In the former the mini bar is always in the room and fully stocked, even if you don't want it.

Ah right, well I`ve always been under the impression that what you take out you will be charge for, in that type of hotel....and the prices will be the same, or may be more than the bar prices downstairs because it is kind of like room-service.
I`m thinking of Manchester airport here.

A friend of mine told me about attending a conference in Edinburgh some years ago and one of the party (English) decided to buy some haggis and keep it in the mini-bar.
To make room for the haggis they took the bottles out and replaced them before checking out.
They were presented with a bill for £120.00 which they had to pay, the hotel was having none of it with regards to the explanation and £120.00 was a lot of money then.

Apparently, the bottles were electronically tagged and had in effect been tampered with or removed as far as the hotel was concerned.

some expensive haggis that turned out to be.

sanji x

Benidorm - milk in Spain does not go "off" after a couple of days when kept in a fridge. I live in Spain and buy both Soya and skimmed milk and they keep as long as milk in the UK.