Well, I think the title says it all: in hotels which offer minibar/other extra services for a fee, is it possible to have a room, where there is no risk of accidentally using/eating something for which you have to pay for? (Or even worse: risk that the hotel mistakenly thinks you've used such services and charges you for them?) I.e. ask them to remove all the extras in advance?
On one hand, I wouldn't be too surprised if the answer were "of course not, since this is a standard service, and it would be complicated to make such exceptions (besides that, it brings extra revenue for the hotel, so they don't even have the incentive to do that)".
On the other hand, there are probably many people like me, who don't want to consume anything, and would therefore prefer to avoid accidentally being charged. So I think this is a reasonable request.
Also, I did some googling, and didn't find anything about this. What I found, however, is that it is supposedly quite easy to trick the system:
You never have to pay for using the minibar. Minibar charges are, without question, the most disputed charges on any bill. Why? Because it's done by people. The traditional minibar, before they invented the sensored variety, is checked (maybe) once a day by a slow-moving gentleman or lady pushing a cartful of snacks. Keystroke errors, delays in restocking, double stocking, and hundreds of other missteps make minibar charges the most voided item. Even before guests can manage to get through half of the "I never had these items" sentence, I have already removed the charges.
So if this is true, I'd expect it even generates a loss. Which would be a further incentive just to offer rooms without minibar/extra services (btw., I read in the same source, that there is a similar trick for extra services too). (But as I said, my intention is not to scam the hotel and get free stuff, it is only to avoid any dispute/misunderstanding -- and of course the added benefit would be having an empty fridge, which I can fill up with the cheap stuff I buy at the local supermarket :D)
Backstory: On a recent trip, at checkout I was charged some items from the minibar which I did not consume. I found the above sentence (Even before guests can manage to get through half of the "I never had these items" sentence, I have already removed the charges.) to be 100% correct. However, next time I'm travelling, I would prefer just not having this extra stuff to begin with.
Also, I don't want to make this question specific to any country, I'm interested to the answers event if they vary by location.