prncess674

I have a car this week and decided to stop and buy a bottle of wine. Usually I order a glass of wine with my room service tray but it is generally overpriced and inferior quality. Since I have a car I stopped at a liquor star on the way back to the hotel and bottle a half way decent bottle of wine. This will give me a glass or two of wine during my three night trip. Am I alone in doing this? yes, I have a healthy expense account but I hate being ripped off for an inferior product.

HigherFlyer

By all means, BYOB. I NEVER drink hotel booze, unless I'm sitting in a hotel bar. Especially if I'm meeting clients in the hotel. A bottle of something special always makes a better impression than well drinks from room service, even if you drink it from a hotel coffee cup.

jasons2e

I do. I do.

cordelli

You are not alone. Depending on where i am and the purpose of the trip, my first stop is usually a grocery or liquor store for food and drink. I hate paying seventy two dollars for a 12 ounce can of pepsi from a machine (who carries all those bills with them?) when a 2 liter bottle of coke is eighty cents from the local store or gas station food mart.

Same thing with the wine, you can most always get a decent bottle for the cost of two tiny glasses of it from the hotel.

Teacher49

Wine, sure! Who knows my taste better than me?

Scotch? They're not going to have my favourite single malt in the mini-bar.

michswiss

But normally only on stays of 4 days or more. Otherwise, I feel as if I'm wasting what's remaining when I check out. I'll buy something I like on the way through duty-free (either a bottle of wine or a single malt) and have a little each evening.

Athena53

Heck, no, you're not alone.

My husband and I are in London right now in a VERY nice hotel (Reward stay) and on the way to the hotel we picked up a bottle of gin at Safeway for him. I had a supply of a very nice Australian wine I bought in Wales a couple of days ago for GBP 4.50. There was a bottle of something in the mini-bar for GBP 8.25; about 1/4 the size and probably not very good quality. Out of curiosity we checked the minibar here and a can of tomato juice and a mini-bottle of vodka add up to GPB 7.50.

No need to waste the leftovers- they go very nicely into plastic water bottles. Mine looks just like grape juice.

magexpect

I love a Tanqueray while reading the papers before going to bed. I always bring my own. The same for the tonic as the hotel usually does not have the one I like.

Nuitari

I always bring my own too, even in hostels

BillMorrow

When traveling by car, we usually take a bottle of wine with us. We also bring two wine glasses (cushioned by socks in a cardboard mailer tube). When travelling to Europe, we almost always pick up a bottle of Rye at a duty free shop. In Europe, Rye can be very hard to find and significantly more expensive.

ajinlondon

that's v . cheap- we sell vodka and mixer for £8.00 in my bar. better not tell to many people otherwise you might get guests

MatthewClement

The delightful Holiday Inn Express I'm staying in (don't ask -- not exactly spoiled for choice down here) sells Chateau Sh*t at the bar in quarter bottles. This exquisite vintage comes with a screwtop at is priced reasonably at £3.30 per bottle (equiv of £13.20 per 750ml).

As delightful as their 'house wine' is, I prefer to bring my own bottle. Cheaper and nicer. Unlike theirs, mine can't be mistaken for paint stripper.

Aviatrix

Not just wine - fruit juice too. I can get a liter carton from a supermarket for the price the hotel charges for a tiny little bottle.

Next question - do people put their own drinks in the hotel minibar to keep them cool? I usually do... but it nearly got me into trouble at the Montreal Sheraton last year. They have some fully automated system of checking the contents of the minibar by way of some kind of sensors. Each time I moved one of their bottles to make room for my own the sensor thought I had taken a bottle, and I ended up with a huge minibar bill at the end of my stay. I challenged it, and they recredited the whole charge instantly, without even taking the trouble to check the minibar - I got the impression that this is quite a regular occurrence.

stut

Well, I don't drink, but... I always try and have some decent soft drinks with me. Some proper orange juice (not this from-concentrate Minute Maid cack) and some Irn Bru (Scotland's other national drink...) Generally, you get left with Coke/Fanta (which I loathe) or overpriced water.

I'm seeing an increasing trend of hotels putting in minibars with an empty section labelled 'your space'. Good stuff, this.

chobby100

By all means! During a recent trip to Hawaii with myself, ms. chobby100 and another couple, as we valeted our rental car at a swanky resort the bell boy asked if we were starting a night club in our rooms. He winked and meant no disrespect and said we were smart. We had amazing views from our lanais and thought we would take advantage of it.