If you’ve stayed in a hotel with a mini-bar, you’ve probably done the mental balancing act: weighing the pleasure of the late night snack against the future pain of outrageous mini-bar prices. Perhaps you’ve even thought about sneaking a snack and replacing it the next morning with an identical (though cheaper) back of chips or candy bought at a corner store.
Well, watch out for the Bartech mini-bar sensor. It uses infared sensors to tell when items in the mini-bar are picked up. Even if you don’t consume them, they can be added to your bill. The Globe and Mail has a story on them here, though I found stories about them going back to at least 2004. Apparently, they’re quite common in Las Vegas.
What do you think of this? Have you ever encountered one of these mini-bars? Was the hotel open to changing your bill when you pointed out that you hadn’t consumed anything? Let us know!
