My friend said I'm "stingy" am I ? Aibu ?

[sarahlou55k]

Me and my friend are going to Manchester tomorrow.
We are going for 2 nights for shopping /food and drinks.
We love a cocktail and said we will have to have a couple of cocktails.

She messages me a hour ago telling me she's booked some fancy place with a skyline view ??
And she's paid for a cocktail tree
It's 8 pornstar martinis and it's £120
So it's £60 each

I told her that was expensive and she really should have asked first
She said "oh stop being stingy it will be fab"

So I've paid £60 for 4 pornstar martinis
£15 each !!
Please someone tell me they agree that £60 for 4 drinks is ridiculous?
I was thinking revolution /slug and lettuce 2 for £10 or 2for £12
Not £60 for 4

I'm annoyed
Aibu ?

Pornstar martinis are my fav (thank god )
Or a french martini
I hope they are nice for that price.

I don't actually mind revs etc for cheap and cheerful
I wouldn't have minded going to this place for 1 drink

It does have great views. 20 Stories terrace is better as it has outside space. But hey, it’s done now and if it can’t be undone just enjoy them!

I've been there and I thought it was worth it you'll have a brilliant time!

I think the issue is that it was booked without checking it was ok with you. I don’t think £15 for a cocktail is that bad (but I’m used to London prices!) especially at a swanky place with a view. I would just speak to your friend about discussing things before booking so you can both input and plan the trip.

Tbh £15 isn't much more expensive for a cocktail than anywhere else nice in Manchester. (Usually around £13-15) unless you were planning wetherspoons?

But she probably should have asked first.

(Sounds lovely by the way )

She was very unreasonable to spend your money without checking with you bit you have sent it her now so not a great deal you can do. You should have told her it's half of your budget for the weekend so no you won't be spending it on 4 drinks sorry

Well she should have asked you first but YABVU wanting to go to slug & lettuce or revolution in a city you’re visiting! I’m not surprised your friend doesn’t want to do that and wants to go to some of the cool places the city has.

I also think £120 for two dinners and drinks will be pretty tight in Manchester. £12-15 is not unusual for a cocktail in a nice bar.

I'd be really annoyed. Why didn't she ask first

I'd be annoyed because

1. she didn't ask
2. you're only getting one type of cocktail. I like to try new things!

I think is (slightly) irrelevant that is a lovely, more exclusive place and the cocktails will be nicer than slug and lettuce. While it's nice to have a treat and go to somewhere a bit more expensive, it should be ops choice to maybe have fewer of the more expensive drinks rather than feel obliged to have a set amount and then have to budget for the rest of the time.

Is it Cloud 23? If it is I would say it’s worth it the view is amazing and they do give you free vegetable crisps 😂 I don’t drink alcohol and I loved cloud 23 though I’ve not been for many years so may have gone downhill.

She should have checked with you first as that's the normal/nice thing to do. £15 for an especially well-made cocktail in a really nice location doesn't sound extortionate to me though. Even in a bog standard pub you'd pay £10-ish.

I wouldn't want 4 of the same cocktail though.

I think that's fairly standard for a decent cocktail. But if want a choice of 4 drinks and she should have checked with you before signing you and your money up to this.

It was very rude of her to spend your money without consulting you first and then even ruder for her to insult you over it. Hopefully you'll have an amazing time and it will have been worth it but I'd wonder just how good a friend she was and be very careful about going any where with her again.

@Classica

She should have checked with you first as that's the normal/nice thing to do. £15 for an especially well-made cocktail in a really nice location doesn't sound extortionate to me though. Even in a bog standard pub you'd pay £10-ish.

Which is why I'd only ever order 1 cocktail not 4 :p

I've been there for a friend's birthday, it's great, the views are good, and the cocktails are very nice, there's also a glass piece of floor that made me feel queasy. £10-£15 for a cocktail is standard London prices so I wouldn't think much about that, but I wouldn't want to decide in advance how many I want and wouldn't like that they're all the same. She should've asked you before booking. I don't like the 'cocktails' in slug and lettuce or vodka revolution much though, nor the venues. So it just seems like you have different preferences to each other

Of course she should have checked with you first - especially at that price.

You are paying for the venue, not the cocktails. They taste exactly like the ones at Las Iguanas (other end of Deansgate) except there you get 2 for a tenner.

Have a negroni and put some hairs on your chest!

You can have a starter, main and cocktail for £45 why didn’t she book that instead, that’s great value.

Honestly it is good you’ll have a great time.

£15 cocktail is pretty standard on posh places. I'd love that and splurge

When I was going on holiday with a friend. I was a student on a grant and she a senior civil servant. I told her the most I could afford was a 3 star hotel but was happy to go into a 4 star if she wanted to make up the difference. She did!

@sarahlou55k

It can't be cancelled as I asked. I just bank transferred the £60 It's just set the weekend off on a bad foot. I put aside £120 for drinks and 2 meals for both nights and half now has gone.

More fool you to have transferred the money. I'd have told her it wasn't something I could afford and she should have asked your opinion before booking it.

I'd be a bit annoyed that she'd booked without asking and can't cancel it...

But it's Pride in Manchester this weekend, prices will be hiked for that, and Cloud23 is great but expensive.

I was thinking revolution /slug and lettuce 2 for £10 or 2for £12

That sounds like a very different weekend to the one she's imagining. Are you on the same page with what you're doing? I don't mind Revs or the S&L; and I don't mind Cloud23, but they're drastically different. It might be worth having a chat about what you're doing, incase she thinks this is an all-out, no expense spared type trip; and you're thinking of cheap drinks and budgets.

Like I said, no judgement on either, but you'll both have better weekends if you're on the same page before you go.

Well if its now standard for cocktail pricing I'm glad I never go out. I thought £10 to £12 for a fancy cocktail but at cloud 23 I'd expect to pay bit more for the venue.

I used to love epernay but it got really down at heel. I also like Northern Quarter. Revolution de Cuba does great margaritas and surprisingly good/ reasonable cocktails. I wouldn't touch slug & lettuce.

Annoying to have to stay in one place all night but cloud 23 is a good place to do it and it's a drink you like. I'd refuse that because I hate pornstar martinis. It's also a lot of cocktails. Presumably 8 for a group of 4, not 2!!!!!