The latter provided an armchair, a black leather-covered desk, a full-length mirror and a minibar with an espresso machine in a mirrored backlit niche.

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And forget replacing a minibar's high-priced sodas with your own snacks.

WSJ: Cracking Open the Hotel Minibar

The most curious of the items sold were a handful of minibar-sized bottles of Smirnoff, Bombay and Grand Marnier.

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Hotels and minibar manufacturers say these can cut labor costs since employees only have to check the roughly 25%-30% of rooms that use the minibar on a given day.

WSJ: Cracking Open the Hotel Minibar

Go to the minibar and open a beer.

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Your hosts can also open doors to hard-to-visit wineries, custom-stock your already well-stuffed (and free) minibar, book a chef to prepare dinner in your room, or--in my case--badger a rental car company into swapping out a lemon and delivering the replacement.

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Drinking plenty of water and using oxygen (you may even find a can of it in your hotel minibar) can help you feel better.

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The Soho Hotel in London has a great staff and bar, unbeatable location and the minibar has nice Italian wine.

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During a business trip to Chicago a couple of years ago, Douglas MacKenzie bumped into the minibar at his hotel.

WSJ: Cracking Open the Hotel Minibar

In my room, a sign indicating the direction of prayer was posted over the nonalcoholic minibar.

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