Bottle service killing the scene?

[bigpoppanils]

interesting article....

Bottle Boobs Buy $300 Vodka

by Sheelah Kolhatkar

In the early hours of a recent Sunday morning, the plebeian masses outside Marquee were growing restless. Women teetering in heels pleaded with the gatekeepers while their menfolk placed frantic cell-phone calls. Most aspirants were turned away from the recently opened boîte; the place was already throbbing and packed to the rafters, threatening to explode and spray sweaty prepsters all over West Chelsea. The only hope for many outside was to wave a credit card and utter the only password that comes close to guaranteeing passage into Manhattan’s inner nightlife sanctum these days: "Bottle service!"

The time-honored New York City tradition of velvet-rope profiling based on looks, coolness and connections has given way to a cruder calculus: In the ultimate triumph of money over beauty, the willingness to drop hundreds on a bottle of Absolut has become the major criterion for admittance to the city’s desirable nightspots, especially for those who would otherwise be rejected for the old reasons. Like Vegas high rollers, cretinous bores with a little space left on their MasterCards rule the night—until that bottle of Grey Goose goes empty.

On a recent evening at the West 28th Street mega-club Crobar, Anthony, John and Joey, three boys from Philly with tight T-shirts and necks like tree trunks, were presiding over their bottle like kings.

"This is our fifth one tonight!" said Anthony, observing the bevy of women swirling around them as a waitress arrived to top off their drinks. "We’re having a great time!"

Crobar has dedicated vast sections of floor space to roped-off tables where ordering by the bottle is the only option. For around $300 and up, a group gets a tray with a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka (retail price: $27.85), a bucket of ice and carafes of mixers. There’s just enough room for them to dance on the chairs and live like Page Six subjects for a few sweet hours. How much they must spend to reserve this bit of heaven depends on many factors: the number of people in the group, the ratio of men to women (with the deadly all-guy combo likely to pay more) and the prominence of the table, although the average is around $100 worth of bottle consumption per person. The deal might be struck in advance on the phone or, more likely, with the bouncer in line outside the club. After a brief negotiation, the customer hands over a credit card and is escorted inside.

"The money in clubs is outrageous," said Tamara Lynn, a comely Crobar cocktail waitress. "It’s the greatest hustle ever. It’s all about a little black dress, some high heels and bringing bottles to the table."

The table-comment card that Crobar employees fill out after each table settles its tab says everything about the mercenary nature of the bottle-service enterprise. In addition to writing in the customer’s name, the number of people, the brand of liquor ordered and the check amount, waitstaff evaluate the group on "Easy to Sell?" ("YES/NO"), "Group Appearance" ("Great/Good/Bad") and "Rating" (1-10). The information is stored in a database, so the club can keep track of whom to coddle and invite back and whom to give the cold shoulder.

"That’s really used as a tool for aiding customer service," said Dirk van Stockum, a co-owner of Crobar who was also a partner in the Manhattan nightclubs Life, Float and Spa. "Like what specific requests did that person have, was there a particular music they liked, what were they drinking? So if they do become repeat clientele, we’ll know their habits. … It’s similar to how a casino does things. It gives us an opportunity to touch the customer."

He said that the "Guest Appearance" question was "just to determine basically how many people are with them and what the makeup is—for example, if it was five girls and six guys." As for "Easy to Sell," he thought "that probably was, basically, were they ordering more than the minimum?"

While the practice of providing table reservations and pricey bottles of liquor to high rollers and the bridge-and-tunnel crowd has been an increasing source of revenue for clubs and lounges for years, the branding and monitoring of the bottle buyers as cash cows, rating them on looks and gullibility, is a new nadir, some say. The bottle-buying has reached a saturation point, impacting nightlife more profoundly than the smoking ban.

Casting an eye over the crowd at a typical hot spot—especially on a weekend, when clubs make most of their money—often reveals a homogenized sea of white middle-managers with gold cards and bad taste in music. And some D.J.’s and musicians lament about only being able to play the cheesiest plain-vanilla music to avoid offending the Top 40 clientele.

"It’s symptomatic of the demise of the idea of a scene, because with bottle service anyone can get in, and that defeats the whole purpose," said Noah Kerner, who used to D.J. for Jennifer Lopez and is now a partner in a marketing company. "There’s certainly no inherent connection between cool and rich. There might even be an inverse relationship. So the less space there’s going to be for fun people who have good energy, people who make a room."

The art of selecting the magic combination of young artists and musicians, models and celebrities, black and white, perfected at places like Studio 54 and the Mudd Club, is long gone. Now the goons at the door—who used to pride themselves on their intuition—are more likely to sell to the highest bidder in line.

When Mark Mathewson opened Table 50, a lounge on Bleecker Street, a few weeks ago, he was confronted with a struggling economy and new venues opening (and folding) every week.

"The half-life of most popular lounges in Manhattan is, you’re lucky if you get six months to a year. And given all kinds of variables, you kind of have to make your money as fast as possible," Mr. Mathewson said. "The sad backlash is, bottle service has been picked up by everyone and their brother."

"I’ve heard numbers," said Mr. Mathewson. "If you do the math …. Say 400 people come in: That’s a lot of people. If they each buy two drinks at $10 a pop, that’s a busy bar. Those same 400 people could do $40,000 now buying bottles. And there’s a lot of drunk people and a lot of waste. No one finishes them."

Clubgoers have been trained to fork over the money; in exchange, they jump the line out front, bring in their friends and mix their own drinks. They sit in a prominent spot, visible as big spenders to everyone else in the bar. They get drunk out of their minds.

The other perk, especially for men, is that they can invite women into their own mini-V.I.P. lair and ply them with Red Bull and vodkas. Some waitstaff described situations where men who were reluctant to order up became more cooperative once the waitress brought a few girls over.

"When they have a $300 minimum, it’s our job to make them spend that," said Ms. Lynn.

"You have one of two scenarios," said Mr. Mathewson. "Either people can afford it—then they can relax and not have to deal with the door and they can get their five friends in. Or you’re dealing with people who really want to come in and are putting it on their credit card, but they otherwise couldn’t afford it. You get the wealthy types and the desperate types."

For this reason, it’s standard practice at Crobar and other clubs to take credit cards and a driver’s license from people before they’re allowed inside. Once the party has been cleared for entry, a runner escorts them past the hordes inside to the maître d’, who seats them. The ID is photocopied and kept for the evening, just in case there’s any buyer’s remorse; sometimes the patron signs a separate release form verifying that he was of sound (and sober) mind.

"If they don’t finish what they ordered, or they decide they don’t want as much as they committed to before coming in, I have to charge their credit card anyway, and we tell them that we’ll save their bottle for them," said Ms. Lynn.

Walter Kim, who owns Rehab, Light and Jet East and is about to open Quo in West Chelsea (where 75 percent of the 8,000 square feet will be devoted to bottle service), said the measures were painful but necessary.

He’s not alone. "This is a business, and those tables are real estate, and we have break-evens to consider," said nightlife impresario and Bungalow 8 owner Amy Sacco. "The economy has changed drastically. Everybody’s doing bottle service because it works …. There are some places that will take anyone with a wallet who wants to buy bottles. It happens at a lot of places, but I don’t blame them."

The big drawback, in Mr. Kim’s opinion, is that the experience has been cheapened by exploitative club owners.

"Buying a bottle was supposed to be a very elite thing when it first started, and not everybody did it," Mr. Kim said. "But so many venues opened up that now people get harassed to buy a bottle …. If I’m spending $400 on a bottle, I want presentation, I want a beautiful girl to pour it."

"I think it looks good," said Mr. van Stockum. "When you walk into a place and see that there are bottles on every table, you can assume you’re in a higher-class business."

On a recent night, three men in navy blazers and two women in pastels stood around their table adjacent to the dance floor. They stared as a waitress with long blond hair held their credit card in her teeth as she wriggled to the ground to open their magnum of Grey Goose.

As one of the guys, Bernie, started mixing their drinks, a blond woman in tight jeans swayed and fell onto the floor, almost knocking their glasses down.

"I’m so drunk!" she said, giggling and hoisting herself back to her feet.

http://www.nyobserver.com/pages/story.asp?ID=8981

RIP Arc

[housedog]

Yea right RIP ARC. The last real club in NYC that was a dance Club. Bottle Service is ruining the scene. You cant just go to a club to dance, you have to go and tell them you will by a bottle to get in. On top of that the make over 300% profit on a bottle, WHO in the right mind would pay for that?

[ghhhhhost]

tons of people/agencies pay that on a nightly basis...im gona rent a 6' by 8' piece of real estate in manhattan..throw out a velvet rope..put 2 tables inside...get a mix CD of JayZ/Brittney/Beyonce and offer bottle service and im good to go..ill have the new Bungalow8

[ozcar100]

this blows. i went to avalon once and had no where to sit cause the rest of the place was roped off for bottle service:blown: :blown:

[slim4life]

You left out the waitress you get at crobar upstairs, plus no one hassles you for smoking

there is one blonde waitress

[fouroneone]

Originally posted by housedog

Yea right RIP ARC. The last real club in NYC that was a dance Club. Bottle Service is ruining the scene. You cant just go to a club to dance, you have to go and tell them you will by a bottle to get in. On top of that the make over 300% profit on a bottle, WHO in the right mind would pay for that?

Are you kidding?

If arc COULD sell liquor from the begining, it would have been bottle service and VIP EVERYWHERE inside that club.

[housedog]

Originally posted by fouroneone

Are you kidding?

If arc COULD sell liquor from the begining, it would have been bottle service and VIP EVERYWHERE inside that club.

But they didn't. The 5 years I went there they had no liquor. Towards the end they did but it wasnt bottle service, and hopefully were ever DT goes he continues with that tradition

[fouroneone]

Originally posted by housedog

But they didn't. The 5 years I went there they had no liquor. Towards the end they did but it wasnt bottle service, and hopefully were ever DT goes he continues with that tradition

Because they couldn't. Someone got shot in there in the 90's, and the city took away their liscense. The only time they got it back was just now when they PROMISED the city they were closing. Arc would have had $500 bottles of Absolut if they ever had a licsense.

So since they made no money off of liquor they had house dealers and let their cleaning guys and bouncers committ shakedowns insside the club

[italianp7]

ARC STILL MADE $ ... AND ALOT OF IT TOO BECAUSE OF THE FACT THEY DIDNT HAVE PRICKS AT THE DOORS AND THE VIBE AND CROWD WAS GOOD PEOPLE WOULD GO ALL NIGHT! HONESTLY WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO GO TO A CLUB WHERE THEY DECIDE WHO GETS IN... I MEAN COME ON YOUR GOING OUT TO PARTY THIS ISNT HIGH SCHOOL WHERE ONLY THE "COOL PEOPLE" GET IN

[lmg]

interesting article.

[bozer]

Bottle service is for retards. They didnt used to have that shit, I dont know why they do now. Lot61 = worst place on earth after I witnessed this "bottle service". Wow, I pay you a ton of money for some shitty alcohol I dont even want, just so I can sit down? die

[soj]

supply and demand. simple economics. as long as you guys keep buyin', they'll keep sellin'.

Let's look at it this way. You have these black socks in your drawer that ppl are willing to buy for $100 each. Not a pair, for EACH. Tell me when you'll stop selling your socks just to save the "scene".

If you answered correctly, you'll stop complaining about the bottle service and instead just simply never buy bottle service.

[deeperndeeper]

Who the fuck cares about bottle service anyway? I wouldnt even want to be in a club where all people that go there are either going to show off, or wishing they could show off. Whats killing the "scene" is that more people care bout their bottles than just dancin and havin a good time, oh well now we're all payin for it.

[aystar]

i understand why these clubs are doing this cause times are ruff

but it just sucks cause in these clubs half of the dance floor is blocked off for bottle service only and theres no room to dance

why would u book one of the best djs in the world and just have people come in who dont really care about the music but just to chill at a table and drink?

avalon closes their stage half the time to bottle service and the dance floor gets too packed

seems to me they only care about the $$

as of now avalon has the best djs comming in but the club it self is messed up with the door policy,dress code etc

i miss twilo, arc and whenever made events has a night at roxy

you would show up in jeans and sneakers and get in with no problem the crowd was not the best lookin crowd ill admit it

but everyone was danceing and enjoying the music and there was a great vibe

i wish made events would take over avalon and put their quality service into it with some more djs, better syestem and lighting etc...

[maximman]

I wouldn't even considering doing bottle service on a regular night, but on nights where you KNOW it's going to be insane, it's a good way to avoid the crush of the crowd. (i.e... Cox, Tiesto @ Avalon)

[jaybird8521]

supply and demand. simple economics. as long as you guys keep buyin', they'll keep sellin'.

Let's look at it this way. You have these black socks in your drawer that ppl are willing to buy for $100 each. Not a pair, for EACH. Tell me when you'll stop selling your socks just to save the "scene".

If you answered correctly, you'll stop complaining about the bottle service and instead just simply never buy bottle service.

You have just raped the correct.

Unfortunately, it will never happen because guys are idiots. 90% of guys who go to clubs do so with the intention of impressing women in whichever way they think will work. (clothes, steroids, drugs, drinks, VIP area, etc...) So if they think dropping 1,500 will get them some attention and let them stand out from other guys, then it looks like a feasible option. And since it seems like everyone and their mom are dropping crazy loot for $35 bottles, why wouldn't Joe Blow Average do the same? He already dresses like everybody else... how could we not expect him to think the same way too?

I mean, how would you go about attracting women in that situation? Joe Blow ain't there for the music, probably can't dance, has no personality, and 45 dudes already walked past him with the same button-down.

But if he drops big money on a table, he instantly feels important and chicks will come over to help him finish all that liquor. (How many women actually go out with the intention of buying their own drinks all night long? Seriously. If I had a vagina, I'd do the same shit.)

Now I feel bad for Joe Blow, since at best, his hard earned money is only buying him a "pussy lottery ticket". A much better investment would be a visit to a brothel since REAL whores ensure legitimate transactions and not this "i'll talk to you until your money runs out" scam, but at least Joe feels good about himself for the time being and feels he is better than or at least equal to the multitude of douchebags around him. Now he can finally feel comfortable in his vertical stripes. Who the hell needs to dance? And Dogwood is spinning? Oh, I mean Digweed. Well, go tell the fucker to bust out some Ludacris.

Ok, rant over. Excellent article and I pessimistically foresee this shit getting worse and worse. But you can't blame the clubs. Money is money, and exploitation of the male ego/sex drive/stupidity is a great way to make a buck.

[chris817]

interesting article....

.

"If they don’t finish what they ordered, or they decide they don’t want as much as they committed to before coming in, I have to charge their credit card anyway, and we tell them that we’ll save their bottle for them," said Ms. Lynn.

Yeah I'm sure they will save the bottle for you next time

[makeakillin]

I don't really see the big problem with bottle service. In fact, from my point of view, its a deal...

If i'm going out and drinking at the bar, I'm going to buy at least 10 drinks. Especially if i'm out with a girl. 10 drinks at 10 bucks a pop, plus tips will come out to be about 110-120.

If i'm out with 5 other friends, why not have everyone pitch in 100-125 bucks and buy a bottle or two? You consume the same ammount if not more alcohol than opening a tab at the bar. You get the waitress which will pretty much bring over anything you request. You dont have to fight with people to get to the bar and order a drink. The best part is having the table which is yours for the night. Your own reserved seating for the entire evening. Not to mention that if the club has a cover charge, its waived if you take a table.

I admit, its a bit showy and Joe Blow has been known to flaunt it as if he's Donald Trump. Truth is Joe Blow is usually Joe Millionaire.

I know you've all had that crappy feeling of asking the bartender for the tab at the end of the night only to be scared and shocked at how ridiculously high it is. Why not know what youre paying before you start drinking and a throw in a 100-125 before you sit down?

[lasix]

i feel sorry for the 'joe blows' who need to buy bottle service to achieve 'status' - and I feel sorry for those who feel they need to drink 10 drinks in order to enjoy themselves when they go out.

haven't you ever heard of pre-gaming?

even if I was independently wealthy, or had a $10,000 limit on my credit card, I'd much rather spend my dough on something that will still be there tomorrow and the next day..

[bozer]

Unfortunately, it will never happen because guys are idiots. 90% of guys who go to clubs do so with the intention of impressing women in whichever way they think will work. (clothes, steroids, drugs, drinks, VIP area, etc...) So if they think dropping 1,500 will get them some attention and let them stand out from other guys, then it looks like a feasible option. And since it seems like everyone and their mom are dropping crazy loot for $35 bottles, why wouldn't Joe Blow Average do the same? He already dresses like everybody else... how could we not expect him to think the same way too?

I mean, how would you go about attracting women in that situation? Joe Blow ain't there for the music, probably can't dance, has no personality, and 45 dudes already walked past him with the same button-down.

But if he drops big money on a table, he instantly feels important and chicks will come over to help him finish all that liquor. (How many women actually go out with the intention of buying their own drinks all night long? Seriously. If I had a vagina, I'd do the same shit.)

Now I feel bad for Joe Blow, since at best, his hard earned money is only buying him a "pussy lottery ticket". A much better investment would be a visit to a brothel since REAL whores ensure legitimate transactions and not this "i'll talk to you until your money runs out" scam, but at least Joe feels good about himself for the time being and feels he is better than or at least equal to the multitude of douchebags around him. Now he can finally feel comfortable in his vertical stripes. Who the hell needs to dance? And Dogwood is spinning? Oh, I mean Digweed. Well, go tell the fucker to bust out some Ludacris.

Ok, rant over. Excellent article and I pessimistically foresee this shit getting worse and worse. But you can't blame the clubs. Money is money, and exploitation of the male ego/sex drive/stupidity is a great way to make a buck.

Couldn't have said it better myself. The only thing more pathetic then the guys who fall into this, are the whores who hang out with them just for free drinks. Die, all of you

[jaybird8521]

i feel sorry for the 'joe blows' who need to buy bottle service to achieve 'status' - and I feel sorry for those who feel they need to drink 10 drinks in order to enjoy themselves when they go out.

haven't you ever heard of pre-gaming?

even if I was independently wealthy, or had a $10,000 limit on my credit card, I'd much rather spend my dough on something that will still be there tomorrow and the next day..

Good points. Maybe I just don't get the whole "frat boy" mentality when it comes to drinking gallons of imported vodka because I'm a personal trainer and kind of a health nut. Maybe I'm just a pussy since I never drink and with my lowered tolerance, I can get smashed if I chug a goose on the rocks. But regardless, bottle service is fucking expensive and unless you are a lucky, loaded bastard who could care less about squandering his money, it's just not a feasible option for the rampant party-fiend. And while I agree with makeakillin, I have to point out that you are still getting raped whether you are screaming in pain or smiling and encouraging your assailant with a reach-around.

I go out at least 3 times a week, and if I was a drinker, I would barely have enough money to pay my rent. (100 a night would come to 300 a week to be able to have a good time. That starts to get a little ridiculous.)

I'm assuming that most people who buy bottles are not super wealthy and can't afford to do it every weekend. Maybe I'm totally wrong, but if I'm not, then the whole premise begins to attract the occasional partygoer who most likely cares little about the music or the scene. Couple that with the fact that hip-hop is required to help bring in the bucks and you have a major deterioration of the vibe.

Maybe this is all just residual anger over the fact that the hotties at Spirit seem to flock to the hip-hop room and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm about to give up on trance/house/techno and force myself to learn all the lyrics to the latest Usher album. To chill with hotties, it seems I must conform.

If anyone spots a dude this weekend wearing an "I love Louie Devito" t-shirt, please come and say hello. I'll be slobbering drunk in my $900 4X6 plush cubicle. Who's better than me?

[makeakillin]

You guys really dont understand my point?

Where are you going in New York that you arent spending $100-150 a night?

[montebrogan]

Nice post. Very informative. Its a shame what NYC has been reduced to.

[jaybird8521]

You guys really dont understand my point?

Where are you going in New York that you arent spending $100-150 a night?

Dude, for me, $35 is an expensive night out. The best was the time I partied at Avalon from 11:30 till 6 on nine bucks. (including tolls, water and energy bars) Come out with me and I'll show you the ropes.

Then again, half the secret lies in the fact that I no longer drink alchohol. I don't know about everybody else, but when I drink, I'm ready to go home by 2:30. Shit just knocks the life out of me.

But I got you. If you're gonna be throwin down that kind of cash anyway, you might as well have a nice place to chill and a hottie waitress to keep you company.

[lasix]

You guys really dont understand my point?

Where are you going in New York that you arent spending $100-150 a night?

just like somebody else mentioned, I too go out 3 to 4 nights a week.. to hear music (what a concept, i know) -- so spending 100 to 150 a night is not an option -- well..not on my measly paycheck at least! I could flash my credit card around to get into these places, but generally the people that frequent them are flaky and only care about the label on the clothes they're wearing. not my scene, so I simply stay away from it.