The four month old Trump hotel in Washington D.C. is building a great price wall to keep out plebeians and people without expense accounts.
The Benjamin Bar & Lounge (they have a $100 drink called “The Benjamin”) in the hotel’s lobby bar has raised its cocktail prices for a third time, the Washingtonian reports. The cheapest cocktail on the menu now rings in at $24 (before tip).
The cheapest cocktail used to be $16 before moving up to $20 a month later. The final upsell adds up to a 33 percent price hike on the original cost of doing business over a cocktail there. Maybe you still want to support the man, but just don’t have the cash to do it. You can always get the every man’s drink, right? A trusty cheap Bud Light? Well, only if you’re fine with paying $8 for a single bottle, which more than a six pack at the store.
You might think the prices would scare people off, but there are plenty of foreign diplomats pledging to stay there. Besides, there’s going to be a huge number of thirsty people flooding into D.C. for the inauguration on January 20. And look at the plus side: At least the martinis don’t come in wine glasses with ice like they do at the Trump Hotel in New York City.
America has already come so far from the innocent days of 2013, when the Washington Post wrote an astonished-sounding story about the “Most Expensive Non-Champagne Cocktail” in D.C. It was the Manhattan at The Rye Bar at Georgetown’s Capella Hotel. The price? An unbelievable $22.
Trump is a teetotaler, and judging by the pictures, these drinks aren’t expensive out of respect for the craft of cocktail making. If you’re on a budget at the Trump Hotel, you’re probably best off staying as sober as the future leader of the free world.
