Irish woman accidentally orders £1,890 cocktail she thought cost £18.90 at London hotel
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An Irish woman who was staying at a five-star hotel in London said she accidentally ordered a £1,890 (€2,170) cocktail thinking it was £18.90 (€21.70).
Mum and businesswoman Lynsey Bennett was visiting the capital over New Years and had ordered the drink at the bar with her husband.
"I ordered a cocktail which was called 1890 and I thought that was the cost of it, £18.90 so the young chap bought a bottle of Cristal, popped it open, gold leaf, 30-year-old Cognac, gave me this huge book to sign and there we were, just thinking we were the bees knees," she said in a TikTok video that has gone viral.
When the bill was given to the couple however, her "furious" husband stormed out and left Mrs Bennett to deal with it. She did not name the hotel.
Mrs Bennett apologised and explained to the bartender she had no idea the cocktail was £1,890.
"It was a genuine mistake," she said, adding that she and the bartender began to panic. Thankfully the hotel manager was called over and was "so discreet and so wonderful" and told her not to worry about it.
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Mrs Bennett said she would have had "a heart attack" if she had been lumped with the eye-watering bill and "didn't even enjoy" the cocktail, which was whiskey-based.
"I don't like whiskey," she said in her video.
After the mix-up, she tried to avoid "the bar like the plague" despite having to walk past it every day to get back to her room.
Mrs Bennett was staying at the hotel for five nights however, so ended up back at the bar one night after getting "tipsy" over a meal with her sister, despite the earlier awkward encounter.
When she enquired with the manager about the incident, she asked about the bartender who served her the pricey drink. The manager joked that he "sacked him".
"After that, we actually sat with the manager and enjoyed drinks with him and his family and it turned out to be a really great new years," she said.
"But I will forever check the price of cocktails from now on."
More than 1,000 people have commented on the video, saying the cocktail was an "absurd" price, with person adding, "what on earth could they put in it to justify that price".
