Allison (@allycat.adventures) only wanted something to drink. What she found instead, as they arrived for a stay at The Nines in Portland, was a demonstration of ridiculous modern hotel economics—a minibar that charges you the instant you lift an item, opened or not, and adds a 22% service fee for the trouble.
What Happened At This Marriott-Branded Hotel?
“I’m actually really thirsty,” Allison says, scanning the minibar. A mini bottle of Don Julio catches her eye—and the trap springs. “If you lift it up, it charges it,” a companion warns. She already has. “Oh, shoot. I have to drink that one,” she says.
The gummy bears go the same way. She continues, “I keep lifting them up. Does it have the sensor?”
The answer is in the fine print, which she read aloud: “Any items removed will be automatically charged to your account along with a 22% service charge.”
It Costs What?!
She shows the menu, and the water she wants is a whopping nine bucks. Everything on the list is exorbitantly priced.
“That’s horrible,” Allison quipped. “But they do that,” her companion said. The bigger grievance is what the room withholds. “I feel like they should give us water,” she said—thirsty, ringed by product she can’t touch without paying.
She called the front desk to undo the growing tab. “I accidentally picked some things up in the minibar that I didn’t mean to,” she explained. “We didn’t open anything. Could you possibly just reset it?” Then the real question: “Where’s the water?”
People Are Flabbergasted
“A 22% service charge is ridiculous. WHAT SERVICE U PICK IT UP,” one person screamed.
Another person had a bright idea: “Just get a straw and open it up without picking it up and drink it.” The problem is that the sensor knows the weight of the product, and the fridge will be checked anyway.
One man had a wild story. “I picked up a box on the counter when I went to Vegas for the first time. It was a sex box with toys,” he wrote. “They automatically charged our room for it even though I didn’t even open it. They asked if we used it when we checked out. I said no so they took off the charge. I was with my dad.”
The Sensor Tax
Allison’s run-in isn’t a malfunction—it’s the design. Writing for The Points Guy, Joseph Hostetler recalled spending $80 at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner just by picking up bottles to read their labels. “It’s a you-touch-it-you-buy-it policy,” he wrote, spared only by a few-second grace period before the charge posts.
The markups explain the surveillance. A Fox News report, citing Priceonomics, pegged minibar snack markups as high as 300%—pretzels and chips at a steep premium—and found that roughly 85% of hotel minibars now carry a scale or sensor. “As if a $4 Coke wasn’t pricey enough,” the outlet quipped.
@allycat.adventures this is daylight robbery i’m now afraid to touch all mini bars #hotel #travel #portland #marriott #pov ♬ original sound – Allycat’s Adventures 🐈⬛
Subplot reached out to Allison (@allycat.adventures) and The Nines/Marriott via email for more information.
