The Astro Edit: The Wellness Minibar
Like a lot of people, we try to keep some reasonable habits going during the week. Eating well, skipping the drinks, getting some exercise in. Not for any grand reason, just because we notice the difference when we don't.
Travel tends to disrupt that. The gym is uninspiring so you skip it. You don't know the area well enough to find somewhere decent for lunch. The dinner menu doesn't leave much room for lighter options. There's a lot to unpack there, and most of it is its own conversation.
But the one thing almost no one is thinking about? What's actually in the room.
A lot of your guests are getting in late, hungry, and reaching for whatever's in the minibar. And right now, most rooms aren't making that easy.
They're not looking for a spa. They just want to not feel like they've undone a week of good habits by the time they check out.
The minibar is the most obvious place to start.
So what does yours say about how well you know your guests?
Look at what's in there and ask honestly whether it reflects who's actually staying with you. The KitKat-and-mini-wine format isn't a strategy. It's a default. And for a growing segment of travellers who are actively thinking about what they put in their bodies, it's a mismatch that's hard to miss.
Alcohol is a good example of how fast this is shifting. Consumption has been falling steadily, particularly among younger guests, and it's showing up at the bar and in room more broadly. A minibar stocked exclusively with wine, beer, and spirits is increasingly out of step with a guest who hasn't touched alcohol in two years and isn't planning to start on a Tuesday night in a hotel room. The demand for alcohol-free alternatives has moved well past kombucha and sparkling water. Adaptogenic drinks, functional beverages, and AF cocktail-style options are now a genuine category, and guests who know them are actively looking for them.
The hotels doing this well overseas have treated the minibar as a genuine reinvention rather than a product swap. The most cited example is the Equinox Hotel in New York City, whose Room Bar carries more than 80 items: adaptogenic teas, performance supplements, beauty treatments, nutritional snacks, and wellness products alongside the usual. It sounds like a lot, but the numbers back it up. Beauty and wellness products now account for around 60% of their total Room Bar revenue, generating roughly $55,000 a month from that space alone. Their VP of Food, Beverage and Spa put it simply: "Our vision was to create a one stop shop for guests who want to not only look good but also feel good."
Not everyone needs 80 products. The Thompson Hotel in Austin took a more considered approach: a Seven-Minute Makeover Mask in the minibar for $15, and a skincare kit in suites with a QR code linking to a short instructional video. Low cost to implement, high perceived value. The Ritz-Carlton in LA went further with a chilled Beauty Fridge, stocked with skincare serums, under-eye masks, and cryotherapy globes, positioning in-room skincare as a spa-adjacent ritual rather than a retail transaction.
The common thread across all of these isn't the price point or the product range. It's curation and intention.
A small selection of genuinely good products, things that support the habits guests are already trying to maintain, will always land better than a shelf full of items that look like an afterthought. Magnesium sprays, sleep aromatherapy oils, adaptogen sachets, a well-chosen AF drink, herbal teas with a specific purpose. Things that say something about the property and meet guests where they actually are at 10pm.
There's also a natural retail moment built in. If a guest discovers something they love in their room, being able to point them to where they can buy it is a straightforward extension of the experience, and a revenue line that continues well after checkout.
The practical starting point
Walk your property the way a guest would, arrival through to departure, and ask honestly where the experience supports someone's health goals and where it doesn't. Then start with the minibar.
You don't need a full overhaul. Pick three to five products that genuinely reflect your guests' habits, present them well, and see what moves. That's usually enough to tell you where to go next.
The minibar isn't a big decision. But it might be the clearest signal in the room about whether you've thought about your guests or just catered to them. Start there, get it right, and build from it.