Sometimes a practice becomes so pervasive that it almost goes unnoticed. Case in point - hotels pretty much always try to charge you a whole lot for extra services. All hotels seem to do it. The proverbial 6 Euro bottle of water in the mini-bar is a great example. Sure, it makes money for the hotels in the short run, but it makes them come off as greedy, at least in my eyes.

I didn’t realize how bad things were until I stayed in a hotel that doesn’t do it. I recently had the pleasure of staying in the Hotel Excelsior in Frankfurt, Germany. It wasn’t the nicest hotel - it was pretty average in most ways. It was cheap and well located, but not fancy in the least. The difference came from the extras. Free internet in the room, free coffee and cake in the lobby at all times, free newspapers, free phone calls within Germany, and most impressively - free mini-bar.

After a long day strolling around Frankfurt, it was extremely satisfying to come back to two-bottles each of mineral water (sparkling and non), juice, pepsi, and even beer. The cost was negligible for the hotel, but it made us feel like they were taking care of us rather than gouging us for money.

Now, I understand that none of these were truly free - they were included in the price of our room. The important factor was that all the costs were up front - there we no hidden fees.

I have to imagine that it makes sense for the hotel as well - they go from being just another low cost hotel to “that hotel with the free mini bar”, a small distinction, but one that people will talk about.

Tags: Business, Long Term Thinking