M&M’s, Snickers, pretzels, gummy bears, Beringer White Zinfandel & almonds.

It’s 10 pm, you’ve just arrived to a new destination city after:

Staying up way too late packing, getting kids/pets shuffled to the according sitter, drying tears (not yours, who is kidding who, you’re going on vacation), stopped for coffee to keep you alert enough to function, you’ve driven an average of 45 minutes to get to the airport, you’ve taken a pic of your garage level so you won’t forget where you parked, sprinted into the airport, flown an average of 3 flight legs, and arrived to a new city where it is pushing ten pm…you hail a cab.

You vaguely remember being hungry when you were waiting for your bag at the luggage carousel. Ah, yes. While watching luggage be slung on the conveyor belt as cautiously as your sure UPS slings packages the last day for delivery prior Christmas, you ate a handful of almonds from your carry on. Elated to be in a new destination, you’ve Istagrammed the most recent hole in your nearly new luggage…and now you’ve arrived to your hotel room. You drop your luggage in your room and give it a once over. It’s now going on 11pm, and your starving. You could leave the room and go meander and see what is nearby…but oh, that fluffy bed looks so good. Your munchies in your bag you’ve snacked on all day, yep- you are either about out of them, or bored with them. Plan B) time to raid the mini bar! Woohoo! You open the door and find….M&M’s, Snickers, pretzels, gummy bears, Beringer White Zinfandel & almonds. Really. No, really? With all the amazing food in the world, this is the best you could do? I’m a healthy eater, and I loathe these being the options offered. Thanks to local food movements and fellow brother and sister foodies, mini bars are getting a makeover! Hooray! Come on hoteliers, if you are keen enough on the destination that you believe in launching a hotel/ B&B etc. in that city….offer it on a platter, literally! Thanks to an amazing stay at Yonca Lodge inYankilar, Turkey, an eco-lodge on the Mediterranean (which I HIGHLY recommend), I recently experienced the epitome of a unique, local mini bar. In our simple, but pleasing suite we had a delightful basket with a sampling of the local farms’ bounty, and a fridge full of organic figs, hazelnuts, almonds, juices, dried apples and our favorite, both a guide, and bottles of wine from Likya vineyard in nearby Antalya, Turkey. I still have a cork from one of our wine bottles from the night we got engaged there at Yonca. Now ladies and gentlemen, this is the way to highlight a region of the world & elevate your offerings!

Yum!

Sweet!