There's two camps when it comes to bottle service "never in a million years" and "as much as I can afford it I'll do it!" Here's most of the complaints I hear...
On the against side the arguments are:
"complete waste of money"
"it's only for rich people who want to look cool"
"I don't want to be away from the action"
and the arguments for:
"it saves money"
"looking cool is fun!"
"It's the only way to guarantee a place to sit"
but always one response when there is a bottle to be shared.
"YAY DRINKS!"
So who's right and who's wrong? More importantly how can you maximize having more "yay drinks!" moments? It just takes a little analysis and a tiny bit of math to figure out this conundrum. Which is also why people stay bias for one side or against since planning out how to have fun is counter intuitive!
I ask everyone first why are they considering getting a bottle. Does the occasion and people involve benefit from getting a bottle? Is it economically feasible? For example if it's for someones birthday would that group of people be able to finish a whole bottle and would the birthday person would want to get everyone into the bottle area? Find these answers before going on to the next step of research.
Every club is different with their bottle service rules and prices. It's always a good idea to ask for a bottle price sheet. Prices usually vary depending on who's promoting that night, sales, alcohol sponsors, special guests or performances. One day things can be 3x the usual price or 2 for 1! Also sometimes gratuity is added even though you pour your own drinks! Then ask for what comes included. The industry standard is to provide two mixers, ice, and a few energy drinks. These are usually refillable.
The rules for how many people can share a bottle are also different for each venue. There are several different combinations of limiters you can have. I'll list some of the common ones starting with the most restrictive . The area with your bottle may be in a separate area of the club with limited access to only designated people. You're charge extra for anyone extra who hangs out in your vip area or table. You're given a vip area or table that's too small to accommodate all your friends but you're allowed to have any combination of people come in and out. Lastly is simply just the bottle and a table.
SO... time to work some math. If you have a free for all situation or are able to bring people to the table then just divide the bottle price of the bottle by the acceptable amount people are willing to pay each. If you're limited to say 5 people to a bottle divide bottle price by 5. So lets say $300/5 = $60. Now, compare that to the average bar tab you have at the end of the night. If you spend more or around the amount you should think about getting a bottle more often.
If you want more people to chip in you can defeat most limitations in this manner. Just make sure you have a friend who is competent enough to serve drinks. The last thing you want is a guy as pictured above! I would ask my friends to put in $20 for 4 drinks or more depending on how much I can hook it up. If you can't get extra cups for your table have your friend buy a drink at the bar, finish it, then use that cup to serve them. This dramatically lowers cost per person and everyone pays less than they would at the bar.
One last point so that I can silence the haters who say I'm just blowing my money. The number 1 thing you're buying is time. Here's a reasonable example if you're buying 4 drinks in one night at 15 minutes wait time a drink a bottle will save you a whole hour of your night. When prime club time is 11pm-1am that hour can make or break your night.
To sum it up (cause this got a whole lot longer than I planned)
1. PLAN AHEAD! If only I can drill this in the head of every friend!
2. Do some research. Bottle prices and VIP/Table Rules.
3. Figure out if it's worth it.
Have fun out there!
RSS Feed