NATIONAL REPORT—As soon as minibars started becoming widely available in hotel rooms, they became popular with guests looking to satisfy a desire for a sweet or salty snack or a beverage. Typically in the evening, after they had returned to the hotel from either their business appointments or leisure pursuits, guests turned to the minibar for what the industry came to describe as an “impulse buy.”
While this remains a classic pattern, hotel managers and minibar manufacturers in the past few years have begun to notice the machines being used in another way, particularly among business travelers. With these guests all carrying their own laptop computers, Blackberrys, iPhones and, increasingly, iPads and other tablets, they’re turning their guestrooms into surrogate offices and often spending significant blocks of time—during the day as well as in the evening—in the room working.
They may be catching up with email or completing a report and are now turning to the minibar for that soda, beer, chocolate bar or package of cashews because they’re either hungry, stressed out, procrastinating or a combination of all three. They won’t have the time to go down to the hotel restaurant or even the patience to wait for a room service delivery. The minibar—now often referred to as the “refreshment center”—still benefits from that same impulse buy. Hotel managers and the machines’ manufacturers, meanwhile, still benefit from the increased usage (and continuing revenue stream).
Accordingly, manufacturers displaying their latest product lines at this year’s International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show are emphasizing sleek, “iPad-like,” eye-catching appearance; technological sophistication (again “iPad-like”); energy efficiency; and flexibility in terms of machine size and format, the better to appeal to today’s wide range of hotel brands and price points.
Minibar Systems, which has been in the business for 40 years, is promoting its SmartCube product line. The company has engineered the SmartCube system to be 30% more energy efficient than earlier systems, and to contain other environmental friendly features. The SmartCube comes with a choice of cooling systems and advanced insulation. The unit’s glass door has a solid, insulated frame and industrial strength door seals.
To qualify for ISO certification and measure up to the Kyoto and Montreal protocols, the units contain no hazardous materials and are properly coated and lead-free. The company believes they’re engineered to last at least 10 years, if not longer.
To catch the eye of the guest (and encourage that impulse buy), Minibar Systems has made the racking of items on the SmartCube’s front door translucent to help ensure the items are highly visible. And to help maximize revenues by eliminating product pilfering, the door has been designed with sensors mounted directly on it.
Dometic Group, meanwhile, continues to promote its DM50 model, which could be described as “a minibar in a drawer.” One of its points of distinction is its compact size, meaning it can fit in convenient places in the guestroom like a bedside table.
As guestroom design has moved away from the formerly omnipresent armoire, traditionally the location of the minibar, it has created a dilemma for operators and designers: Where would the minibar go? With some of these compact systems, they now have their answer.
With a 45-liter capacity, the DM50 includes a large drawer for standard-size bottles and cans, and a smaller upper drawer for miniature-size bottles and snacks.
In addition to the drawer style model, the new system is available in a standalone model, complete with a Dometic door décor panel and pull handle with or without an exterior lock. In terms of design, the company cites the product’s “urban architectural style,” another way of saying “cool.”
The Dometic Group has been in the business of manufacturing minibars for over 30 years. Like Minibar Systems’ SmartCube, the DM50 is ISO certified.
Aware of the importance of catching the guest’s eye in making that impulse buy a reality, Bartech has added a soft blue welcome light to many of its minibar models. The blue light helps attract attention, as opposed to the standard white light, the company notes, and helps generate more of those all-important, unplanned, spur-of-the-moment sales.
On the technology side, minibars from Bartech, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, feature doors with a watch alert to monitor usage. Hotels are able to have units interface with the PMS, so that the doors of the units can be locked and unlocked remotely.
Like the Dometic Group’s DM50 model, Bartech has developed an E Drawer system, which includes a cold cube drawer and a dry section drawer. Meanwhile, for Accor’s upper-upscale Sofitel, the company has created what it calls an E Cube model that holds up to nine small bottles.