Tourist claims she accidentally ordered £1,890 cocktail in London hotel – which she thought was £18.90

A woman has claimed she was left red-faced after accidentally ordering a cocktail she thought was £18.90, only to discover it actually cost £1890.

Lynsey Bennett,  from Belfast, took to Tiktok to explain that her husband left her alone at the bar after getting the shocking bill – and claimed she almost got the bartender sacked.

The tourist, who runs her own tanning company, claims she was enjoying a break at a swanky five-star hotel in London,  when she and her husband headed to the bar for a drink.

It’s not clear where Lynsey was when she ordered the cocktail – called the 1890 – but a handful of cocktail bars in London, including the American Bar at The Savoy,  have drinks costing more than £1,000.

After explaining the mix-up, Lynsey says the bar waved her bill, leaving many people sceptical of her story.  

‘My husband and I were spending a few days in London just before New Year and we had been to the theatre and we had come out, had a nice meal, were a little bit tipsy and got back to our hotel,’ she said in a video. 

 ‘We walked into the bar in the hotel and the young guy behind the bar had just started. 

‘He was from Sorrento, we had been there in the summer so we were having a great chat.

‘I always drink champagne, I rarely drink cocktails and I thought do you know what, I’m gonna order something a little bit different, I’ll order a cocktail.

‘So, 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 were, just thinking we were the bees knees.

‘And then they presented the bill for £2,000 and I was like uh oh, I” can’t afford to pay that”.’

In the second video the businesswoman continued ‘When I discovered the cocktail I had ordered was £2,000, I showed my husband the receipt and he was furious at me so he left the bar and left me there on my own to deal with it.

‘I said to the young guy behind the bar, I’m so sorry, I had no idea this was £1890. 

‘It was set out on the menu where it said one eight, gap, nine zero so I presumed it was £18.90.

‘Looking back at the menu, the rest of the drinks were like £19.50 and it was 1950 so it was definitely my mistake but it was a genuine mistake.’

Lynsey continued ‘So I started to panic, he started to panic. He called his manager over. This was a five star hotel so the manager was so discreet and so wonderful.

‘He completely played it down, he was like look it’s fine, don’t worry about it. Go up to your room, enjoy the rest of your stay and we will sort this out.

‘This was the first of a five night stay at this hotel so the whole time we were there my nerves were absolutely wrecked. 

‘I kept thinking my God if they ask me to pay £2,000 for this cocktail which I didn’t even enjoy, because it was whisky based and I don’t like whisky, I m going to have an absolute heart attack.’

She decided to ‘avoid the bar like the plague’ even though she had to walk past it every night to get to her room.

Lynsey added ‘Then on New Year’s night my sister came over and we went out for the meal and then came back to the hotel and again we were tipsy and we though oh to hell with it, let’s go into the bar.

‘We went into the bar and saw the manager and he put his arms out to me and was like “oh this is the girl that made us open the Cristal and I had to drink the Cristal” and I said “I am so terribly sorry, it was a genuine mistake.”‘

She proceeded to ask the manager how the guy from behind the bar was doing,  because he was so nervous about what happened.

Lynsey told viewers ‘He says “well, I sacked him”. So I burst into tears, I was so terribly upset. I was like look, it’s not worth the guys job, I will pay the £2,000 I’m so sorry it wasn’t his fault.

‘He said to me calm down drama queen, we didn’t sack him but we had given him training as this has happened before and he was told whoever orders that cocktail to make sure they know its £1,890.

She concluded ‘So after that we actually at with the manager and enjoyed drinks with him and his family and it turned out to be a really great New Years but I will forever check the price of cocktails from now on.’

However, some commenters weren’t convinced of her story.

‘This can’t possibly be true,’ said one.

‘Who orders a whiskey based cocktail if they don’t like whiskey?’ said another.

‘I can’t believe one cocktail can cost that much,’ added another.