A hotel in Las Vegas is receiving harsh criticism on the internet for asking about $30 for a bottle of water from the minibars in the rooms. Photos and a fan comment posted by the travel site A View From the Wing revealed the alleged H20 highway robberies.
According to reports, the unnamed visitor had been lodging at the Aria Resort & Casino, one of the more than 30 MGM resorts, where nightly prices start at $280.
The visitor saw that there was “food crammed in the fridge from two guests ago” in the minibar of their room, which an employee had been replenishing and cleaning up.
According to the sign, the employee notified the tourist that water costs $26, but only after the visitor had finished the entire bottle. According to a screenshot of their invoice, that was more than 10% of their $259 total bill.
Even worse, there is a Starbucks downstairs that supposedly charges only $7.45 for the same water.
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Some Aria customers pointed out that the other things in the fridge were not nearly as steeply marked up, despite the fact that hotel minibars are notorious for their outrageous markups.
An image of a hotel minibar menu reveals a Coca-Cola Deluxe for $13.75, which is almost half as expensive as the Fiji Water, which costs a staggering $24.75.
The passenger spluttered in the caption, “Do you think it’s fair to pay for the convenience, or this is price gouging?”
The pricing tags also confused other commenters, one of whom wrote, “Was just there.” I was blown away.
Gary Leff, a contributor to A View From the Wing, accused Aria of ignoring the “diamonds-water paradox,” which was proposed by Adam Smith, the author of “The Wealth of Nations,” who claimed that while diamonds are pricey because they are scarce, they are essential for survival.
Leff joked, ““Aria in Las Vegas proves there really was no paradox after all. Water in the desert is crucial to survival and incredibly expensive for guests staying there!”
Sin City had “clearly given up on any idea of hospitality,” he said.
