Champagne vending machine pops up in a Philly hotel lobby
Plunk in a golden token at the Ritz-Carlton, and out comes a wee bottle of Moët & Chandon Imperial Brut or Imperial Rosé.
Vending machines dispense soda and snacks.
Why not champagne? Cheers.
Philadelphia’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel, on Broad Street across from City Hall, last week installed a machine in its grand lobby that dispenses chilled, gold-foil-wrapped 187ml bottles of Moët & Chandon Imperial Brut and Imperial Rosé.
Each Champagne “split,” which comes with a sipper, is enough for two glasses of bubbly. The price is $25 a bottle, about double what the Champagne costs at Pennsylvania retail. A special mechanism allows the bottles to descend slowly without shaking.
The machine, known as a Moët Mini-matic and installed in a few Ritz-Carltons around the country, does not work on cash or credit card.
Customers must buy a golden token at Aqimero, the hotel’s bar-restaurant, which is open from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. The machine operates only when Aqimero is open, so forget any notions of champagne problems at 4 a.m.
Self-service alcohol is slowly making its way into the scene. Bru, a bar on Chestnut Street near Juniper, has a self-service beer wall, as do the weeks-old Vince’s Pizzeria in Wrightstown, Bucks County, and the new sportsbook at Bally’s in Atlantic City.