Hotels Replace Mainstream Mini-bar Snacks with Locally Made Ones

By Barbara De Lollis

Forget Pringles chips and Snickers bars.

Hotels are increasingly replacing mainstream candy, chips, beverages and other mini-bar treats with locally made indulgences.

The 400-room Omni Berkshire hotel, for example, recently decided to replace Pringles in its guest-room mini-bars with chips made on Long Island, the hotel's chief, Peter Strebel, told me. His team has also been meeting with chocolate producers from Long Island and Brooklyn.

"We're going to replace M&Ms with a local chocolate provider," he said.

The go-local trend has been in place at boutique hotels for years, but it's starting to take hold among mainstream chains such as Omni, Hyatt and others - especially in New York.

"The world is moving towards more local and organic," Strebel told me.