This is the funniest quote and reply I’ve read in a while.
I wonder how the “bottle service” model took hold. The more obvious thing would just be to charge for what it is people are really buying - entrance to the club, a table, maybe access to some VIP area within the club. It seems like it would be easier just to call a spade a spade. But somehow the fiction of paying $500 for a $30 bottle of Champagne or $20 bottle of vodka as a surrogate for all that caught on. I guess there’s no real harm as long as everyone understands the transaction, but it’s kind of a curiosity.
Just a thought but you don’t tip when charged $100 to sit at a certain seat/table, or on your $40 cover charge. But roll that into a bottle of wine and the service that goes with it then sure, tip away. Whatever % you are going to do it is going to add up to a lot more on bottle service then on just the price of wine and food.
Rauno E (NZ):David - If you’re intelligent enough to know your personality can’t do the trick, then yes, it might be the smart approach…
What is this - the 80s?!?It’s just a certain small segment of our society and the way they do things, the way they hook up, the way they spend their money. It’s definitely not for me, and I imagine not for most of us here on WB, but then I’m sure plenty of other people think we are idiots for buying $200 bottles of wine to store for 20 years at 55 degrees and then sip at an offline with other dudes we met on the internet and typing up florid tasting notes.
I wonder how the “bottle service” model took hold. The more obvious thing would just be to charge for what it is people are really buying - entrance to the club, a table, maybe access to some VIP area within the club. It seems like it would be easier just to call a spade a spade. But somehow the fiction of paying $500 for a $30 bottle of Champagne or $20 bottle of vodka as a surrogate for all that caught on. I guess there’s no real harm as long as everyone understands the transaction, but it’s kind of a curiosity.
I’ve gotten bottle service a couple times when I’ve gone with my wife and friends. So obviously I’m not doing it right.
In all seriousness. It’s just for fun. It’s tough for 6-8 guys to get into a hot club without a line and don’t look like creepers standing around. Anytime I’m with just my guy friends and they want to go to a club we will do bottle service.
As a guy you’ll have to pay $50 a person to get in with a line. Then pay $20 a drink. Easily end up spending $150 a person and you don’t have a place to hang out. Pay 2x that. Don’t wait in line. Have a great space to hang out. If I’m going to a club I know I’d rather pay the up charge.
DavidZ:
I’m not a big club guy (though if you ever have the chance to go on someone else’s dime, you should! It’s fun!)
That being said, the people paying these prices have plenty of “brains”. To quote one of my friends (who’s about as smart a guy as I’ve ever met, and who was a big club guy in his late 20s):
"I go to a club with three of my friends on Saturday night. We split a $800 bill. (This was ~ 10 years ago.). With that kind of bottle service, we generally find someone to take home.
You take your girlfriend out on a date. You spend $200 on dinner and a nice bottle of wine. You take her home.
We both spent $200 to have fun and get laid. Who’s the stupid one?"
Yeah I hear you. After the demise of my last relationship I did that very same math…you come out cheaper dealing with a woman on a cash basis for certain. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Charlie Sheen after being sentenced and questioned by the judge why a man like him would pay for sex - " I don’t pay them for sex , I pay them to leave."
No. They aren’t hookers. It’s just girls out with friends. Plenty of educated young women go. My friend met his wife there. She’s was an engineer at a major chip manufacturer.
A friend of mine met a girl he dated for two years. She was/is a financial analyst.
Smart/dumb/rich/poor girls at clubs want free drinks and a place to hang out. All it is is an ice breaker.
so do you have to tip 20% on top of the bottle price too? what the appropriate amount of grat for this?
Chris Seiber:I wonder how the “bottle service” model took hold. The more obvious thing would just be to charge for what it is people are really buying - entrance to the club, a table, maybe access to some VIP area within the club. It seems like it would be easier just to call a spade a spade. But somehow the fiction of paying $500 for a $30 bottle of Champagne or $20 bottle of vodka as a surrogate for all that caught on. I guess there’s no real harm as long as everyone understands the transaction, but it’s kind of a curiosity.
Just a thought but you don’t tip when charged $100 to sit at a certain seat/table, or on your $40 cover charge. But roll that into a bottle of wine and the service that goes with it then sure, tip away. Whatever % you are going to do it is going to add up to a lot more on bottle service then on just the price of wine and food.
I think you just cracked the code. Bravo.
so do you have to tip 20% on top of the bottle price too? what the appropriate amount of grat for this?
Vegas is 28% tax tip mandatory. Every city is different. LA is similar.
No. They aren’t hookers. It’s just girls out with friends. Plenty of educated young women go. My friend met his wife there. She’s was an engineer at a major chip manufacturer.
A friend of mine met a girl he dated for two years. She was/is a financial analyst.
Smart/dumb/rich/poor girls at clubs want free drinks and a place to hang out. All it is is an ice breaker.
+1 this. I worked the door at some high-end places in the early 00s. Some of the craziest night characters were strait-laced pillars of society by daylight.
Alan Rath: Chris Seiber:I’m sure plenty of other people think we are idiots for buying $200 bottles of wine to store for 20 years at 55 degrees and then sip at an offline with other dudes we met on the internet and typing up florid tasting notes.
You just took away my will to live.
This is the funniest quote and reply I’ve read in a while.
+1