How to Tell Your Resort You Don't Drink — And Make Sure They Actually Listen

The single most important thing you can do is communicate your preferences at the time of booking, not when you check in. When you arrive at a resort, the front desk team is managing dozens of check-ins. They're friendly, but they're busy — and "no alcohol please" in that moment is unlikely to travel very far beyond the desk.

When it's communicated at booking — especially through a travel agent who has a direct relationship with the concierge team — it goes into your reservation notes, the minibar team gets briefed, and the right people know before you land. That's the difference between a room with alcohol waiting in the minibar and one that's been thoughtfully prepared for you.

Most resorts have a pre-arrival concierge team whose entire job is to make sure your stay goes perfectly. This is the team you want to hear from you — not guest services, not the front desk, but the concierge. Email them 2–3 weeks before your arrival date with a warm, simple note.

You don't need to explain yourself. You don't need to give a reason. You're just a guest communicating a preference, and resorts receive requests like this constantly. Here's the kind of language that works well:

That's it. Warm, clear, no oversharing. Most concierge teams will respond enthusiastically and confirm exactly what they'll have ready for you.

Almost every resort has some version of a welcome drink — a tray of cocktails or champagne that greets you on arrival. This is the moment sober travelers worry about most. The reality is that it lasts about five seconds and has a very easy resolution.

If your preferences have been communicated in advance, many resorts will already have a sparkling water or juice ready for you alongside the cocktails — you just take it and move on. If the welcome drink is offered and nobody briefed the greeter, any of these work perfectly:

No explanation needed. No apology needed. Resort staff are trained to accommodate preferences graciously and this interaction is genuinely routine for them. Most guests around you won't notice or care.

If you're in a butler suite or a higher room category, you'll have a dedicated contact for your stay. This is the person to tell directly on arrival — and they will take care of everything else from there. A simple conversation when you first meet them is all it takes.

A good butler will immediately make note, remove any alcohol from your minibar, and often go out of their way to find you interesting non-alcoholic options you wouldn't have discovered on your own. This is one of the reasons butler suite categories are so well suited to sober travelers.

The dining experience is where sober travelers sometimes feel most visible — especially when sommelier comes around for wine pairings or the menu is built around cocktail suggestions. The reality is that this is also the easiest moment to navigate.

At the resorts we recommend, servers are trained to respond to this warmly and knowledgeably. At the best properties, this question will prompt genuine enthusiasm — staff who are proud of their zero-proof program love the chance to show it off.

Occasionally, despite all preparation, something slips through. You arrive to a minibar full of alcohol. A server offers you a drink that was supposed to be flagged. A welcome cocktail appears when you were expecting a juice. These things happen — resorts are large operations and not every briefing reaches every person.

If you've booked through Bliss, call or message us immediately. We will contact the resort on your behalf and advocate for you directly — that's part of what we're here for. If you've booked independently, a calm word with your butler or the guest relations manager will almost always resolve the situation quickly and graciously.

The important thing to know is that you are completely within your rights to have your preferences respected, and any resort worth staying at will make it right without hesitation.