The Ritz-Carlton, Naples
The Moët & Chandon vending machine in Naples, Florida.
- The Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida recently unveiled a champagne vending machine in its hotel lobby.
- Guests purchase a $25 gold coin at reception, which is inserted to dispense one of two Moët & Chandon varieties. The historic brand is a part of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH.
- The machines, stocked exclusively with Moët & Chandon, are growing in popularity. Currently, other locations include hotels in New Orleans, Baltimore, and Las Vegas, along with temporary installments at several bars.
- Champagne vending machines are one of many ways in which hotels are reinventing the way they serve guests drinks.
Forget the hotel bar: The latest in luxury is the Champagne vending machine.
According to a recent report from Robb Report, the Naples Ritz-Carlton is the latest hotel to feature the luxury amenity. The vending machines are stocked exclusively with Moët & Chandon Champagne, a major house of luxury goods brand LVMH. Machines offer two types in 200 mL bottles - Imperial Brut and Imperial Rosé - and are dispensed with a complimentary flute.
The vending machine requires a $25 gold coin - emblazoned with the Moët & Chandon logo - to dispense the drink of choice. Guests visit the front desk for a coin, where they are required to show identification, but the perk comes at a premium.
For price comparison, a non-vending-machine-dispensed 200 mL bottle of the same Champagne retails for around $17 to $22, while similarly sized bottles (187 mL) can be found across the US for as little as $11.
The Naples location is the second Ritz-Carlton to unveil the luxury service: The Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans debuted a machine last year. The machines are permanently installed at several other hotel locations, including the Sagamore Pendry Baltimore and The Mandarin Oriental Hotel - now called the Waldorf Astoria - in Las Vegas.
High-profile events have also featured the vending machines - which hold 320 bottles - as a luxury rental, such as the Golden Globes. Just this month, Business Insider's Hillary Hoffower observed a Moët & Chandon vending machine at the glamorous Shops at Hudson Yards opening.
Though the machines are fairly new to the United States, they first appeared at a Selfridge's Christmas display in 2013, with special bottles adorned with Swarovski crystals. Since then, they have slowly appeared elsewhere, including celebrity posts on social media. In addition to hotels, the vending machines have appeared temporarily at bars, including Arnaud's French 75 in New Orleans, Mama Lion in Los Angeles, and All Bar One in London.
Champagne vending machines are just one of the many ways high-end hotels are reinventing how their guests are served drinks. As Business Insider's Lina Batarags previously reported, "Offering expanded drink options to guests at their own convenience is just one of many ways hotels work to provide services that make them feel comfortable and noticed."
Those expanded offerings come in the shape of the Landmark Mandarin Oriental's "Cabinet of Delights," which puts boutique wines on tap and a mixologist booth right in the guest's suite; the Darcy Washington DC's "cocktail butler," who, as reported by Bloomberg, comes to a guest's room and spends up to 30 minutes mixing up craft cocktails; or the many high-end hotels that offer drink trolleys in the hallways and expanded in-room minibars.