10 coolest hotel minibar items

While the worst minibar is undoubtedly an empty minibar, there's no escaping the fact that most, even when bursting with small clinking goods, are over-priced and underwhelming.

But some are worth a lingering look, even if to partake would mean forgoing the cost of dinner that night.

These hotels have reinterpreted the minibar to provide an alternative (and sometimes very luxurious) convenience for the discerning hotel guest.

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1. Bling H2O bottled water

Trump International Hotel & Tower, Chicago, United States

A thirsty hotel guest at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago should forget about snapping open the generic bottles of Evian in the mini-bar. Rooms here boast a “water library,” serving four different types of designer bottled water.

The star of the “water library” is Bling H2O. The water comes from English Mountain Springs in Tennessee. But what gives the Bling H2O its name (and its price tag of US$25) is the bottle, which is hand-decorated with Swarovski crystals.

If the Bling H20 is too decadent, the “water library” includes other designer bottled water choices that hail from Wales, Argentina and Australia offered at US$10.

401 N. Wabash Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60611, United States; +1 312 588 8000; www.trumpchicagohotel.com

2. Oxygen bottle

Banyan Tree Ringha Hotel, China

Hidden in Shangri-La in a Tibetan valley on a secluded high mountain 3,200 meters above sea level, Banyan Tree Ringha is breathtaking resort.

Sometimes literally.

Luckily, their minibar has taken their guests' lungs into consideration, providing oxygen canisters for free. Inhaling oxygen is a way to anti-ageing -- if you believe Simon Cowell.

Hong Po Village, Jian Tang Town Shangri-La County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province; +86 887 828 8822; www.banyantree.com

3. 'Tiny Bubbles' Champagne package

The Peabody Orlando, Orlando, United States

No two guests are the same, so why should minibars be similar? The Peabody Orlando's “Feed the Fridge” program allows hotel guests to request specific minibar packages according to their own preferences and plans for the evening.

The concept banks on convenience -- providing exactly what hotel guests need in an easy-to-order method so bypassing the bleary-eyed midnight run to try and find a convenience store.

The family-friendly “Night at the Movies” package includes concession-stand classics like soda and popcorn. A fancier “Tiny Bubbles” package includes two small bottles of Champagne and a Carr cracker and cheese combination. 

Or go for the the "Micro Brewery" package, which includes three types of local brews: Ybor Gold, Napa Smith Amber and Hurricane Reef, for US$28.

9801 International Drive, Orlando, Florida 32819, United States; +1 407 352 4000; www.peabodyorlando.com

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4. SleepEase homeopathic spray

XV Beacon, Boston, United States

Instead of depending on alcohol to dull the pains of traveling, XV Beacon has gone the route of alternative and holistic medicine.

Available in the minibar are homeopathic sprays from Sprayology, with SleepEase and Life Detoxer sprays that do exactly as their names suggest -- soothe the symptoms of insomnia, jetlag and environmental toxins.

In addition to these all-natural sprays, the minibar also supplies other items to pamper the body including an eye pillow, cucumber eye cream and peppermint foot cream.

15 Beacon St., Boston, Massachusetts 02108, United States; +1 617 670 1500; www.xvbeacon.com

5. Full-sized liquor bottles

Grand Resort Lagonissi, Athens, Greece

There's nothing more unsatisfying than half a drink, so thank God for Grand Resort Lagonissi's full-sized liquor bottles. 

All the rooms at the Grand Resort Lagonissi stock sodas and chocolate bars for the hoi polloi, but what marks the true VIP from regular folk are the minibar drinks in the VIP rooms.

Though by minibar we mean maxibar, because really, what minibar can hold nine bottles of liquor and a fully-equipped Nespresso coffee machine?

40th kilometer Athens-Sounion, 190 10 Attica, Greece; +30 22910 76000; www.lagonissiresort.gr