Business travelers, do you miss the hotel minibar?

As a frequent traveler for work, I’ve stayed in a wide range of hotels and one small issue has started to bother me more with each trip. I’m curious whether I’m alone in this.

Picture the scene: back-to-back meetings, a client dinner, and you return to your room just after 11:30 PM with a laptop still open—there’s a remaining deck to polish. You want something small to tide you over: a packet of chips, a cold Coke, maybe a bit of chocolate. In the past, you’d open the minibar, grab your snack, and be done. Now, there’s no minibar—just an empty fridge.

And the minibar price tag was never the draw. Yes, it was pricey (a Coke for Rs 300 was always steep), but many travelers tolerated it, because the value wasn’t in the drink itself. It was the convenience: not having to think about a late-night snack or a trip to a store.

What are the alternatives now?

• Room service: It will gladly deliver a Coke or other items to your room, but when you want something small like chips or a chocolate bar, the selection is often limited to more substantial dining options. And calling for service at that hour can feel more trouble than it’s worth.

• Delivery apps (Blinkit or Zepto): The promise of a 10-minute delivery is appealing, but you may still need to walk to the lobby or gate in your hotel lobby-attire to collect a 40–rupee order from a rider. That undermines the comfort of staying in a hotel you’re paying to enjoy.

I understand why hotels eliminated the minibar: profitability was low, restocking every room was a logistics headache, and billing disputes were common. But removing minibars doesn’t just shift demand to other services; it erodes part of what makes a hotel stay feel effortless.

I’m not asking for freebies. I’m happy to pay hotel-level prices for convenience. I simply want the option back. Even a small self-serve pantry on each floor would go a long way toward restoring that effortless, comfortable feel.

What do you think, especially among frequent business travelers: do you miss the minibar, or have you adapted to Blinkit-at-the-gate?