In hotels the beverage operation differs in many ways from the bar or the barrestaurant combination. There might be three or four bars under one roof, each with a different purpose and a different ambience, say a lobby bar, a cocktaillounge, a restaurant bar, or a nightclub with dancing. In addition, there is room service, with a food menu that includes mixed drinks, beer, wine, and Champagne. Above all, there is banquet service, catering to conference, convention, and reception needs. Typically, the client makes beverage choices in advance of the event, which are served from portable bars by extra personnel hired for the occasion. Individual rooms often have a minibar, a small refrigerator or cabinet stocked with a modest inventory of snacks and drinks, ostensibly for the convenience of hotel guests. Most business travelers find the unabashed price-gouging irritating. Who would willingly pay $6 for a bottle of water or $3 for a tiny bag of pretzels, fully triple what the same items would cost elsewhere on hotel property? Industry experts now suggest that nothing in the minibar be priced higher than a comparable item sold in the hotel’s vending machines. According to Lodging magazine, there are three keys to minibar profitability: