Hotel · welcome · VIP bottle
The VIP welcome bottle in the room: what wine, what price, what card
The loyal guest opens the door and the bottle is there, with three handwritten lines. The gesture costs between €15 and €40 and is remembered longer than an upgrade. Provided you choose a wine to drink tonight, not a wine to keep, and know what it adds up to each month.
Three levels, by segment
Wine merchant prices, incl. VAT, per 75 cl bottle. Volume pricing applies from a case of six.
3-star hotel, regular guest
A Bordeaux Supérieur or a Côtes de Bordeaux of three to five years, a dry white Entre-deux-Mers for summer. Clean, supple, ready to drink with no decanter and no patience.
4 stars, key account, long stay
A cru bourgeois from the Médoc or a Saint-Émilion satellite, five to eight years old. The appellation's name means something to a foreign guest, and the bottle stands comparison with what they drink at home.
5 stars, VIP, apology gesture
A second wine from a great château or a mature classified growth. Or, for a guest whose date of birth you know, the wine from their year: it is the only hotel gift they will talk about at dinner.
What it costs per month
The VIP bottle is not a standalone item: it is a number of eligible stays multiplied by a price. The table gives the order of magnitude for a hotel welcoming ten, thirty or sixty VIP guests a month.
| VIPs per month | At €18 | At €25 | At €35 | Stock to hold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | €180 | €250 | €350 | Two cases of six, restocked monthly |
| 30 | €540 | €750 | €1,050 | Five cases, one monthly order |
| 60 | €1,080 | €1,500 | €2,100 | Ten cases, delivery every three weeks |
Excluding cards and glasses. The stock is kept upright in a storeroom below 20 °C, never in the pantry next to the dishwasher.
The card is half the gesture
A bottle left without a word is an object. With three handwritten lines naming the guest, the wine and the reason for the gesture, it is a kind thought. Write the appellation and the year, not the price. If the guest comes back, change the wine: the second time, the same bottle says nobody noticed.
Add two wine glasses, a corkscrew if the bottle doesn't have a screw cap, and a line on the room service menu to say the same wine is available. The VIP bottle is also the best advertising for the hotel's wine list: it is tasted by the guests who spend the most. To widen the idea to other occasions, the what wine to give page sorts gifts by budget and recipient.
How it works
You tell us your segment, the number of VIPs per month and the budget per bottle. Transvins, a Bordeaux wine merchant (négociant) since 1986, suggests two or three wines per level, with the vintages available and prices excl. and incl. VAT, within 48 working hours. Then the order is renewed by email, at the pace of your bookings, with no volume commitment. The hotel's other uses, minibar, bar, room service and banqueting, are covered on the wine for hotels page.
Reply within 48 working hours. No commitment.
Which wine should you choose for a welcome bottle in the room?
A Bordeaux ready to drink that same evening: a supple red of three to eight years, or a dry white if the season or the guest suggests it. The guest has neither a decanter nor a cellar in their room. A tannic wine for laying down left on a bedside table is a failed gift, however expensive.
Should it be champagne rather than wine?
Champagne is the reflex, and that is exactly why it makes less of an impression. For the same price, a ten-year-old cru bourgeois with a card explaining it stays in the memory. Keep champagne for wedding anniversaries and explicit requests; it is available, in bottles or halves.
Is wine from the guest's birth year realistic?
For a guest whose record includes the date, yes, with some notice: Transvins holds old vintages in stock, but not every year and not in every quantity. Ask for it a week before arrival. For weak years, the vintage page suggests a nearby year that has held up better.
Can you have a label or card in the hotel's name?
The handwritten card is yours, and that is what makes it credible. A personalised label in the hotel's name can be done on request, with a minimum and a lead time to be stated on the quote. For ten bottles a month, the card is enough; for two hundred, the question arises.