TripAdvisor
price-compares popular hotel amenities in 46 of the world’s key destinations
When planning a trip away, either for
business or pleasure, we always know the cost of the hotel room itself, but
what about the costs we often incur in the hotel? We at TripAdvisor have comparing
the cost of popular items from hotels around the world to give travellers a useful snapshot of where their money will
stretch the furthest.
TripAdvisor’s
TripIndex Room Service is tracked against the British pound and is based on the
combined cost of a club sandwich ordered on room service, a bottle of water,
peanuts, mini bottle of vodka and a can of coke from the mini bar and the dry
cleaning of one shirt. All costs are
taken from top TripAdvisor rated 4 star hotels in each featured destination.
The most affordable destination for British
travellers, when it comes to TripIndex Room
Service, is South Africa’s Cape Town with a total TripIndex Room Service cost of
£12.61, while Egypt’s Sharm el Sheikh takes second place with £15.27. At more
than four times the cost of Cape Town, Moscow in Russia topped the list as the
costliest with a TripIndex value of £53.05, closely followed by Paris which
totals £44.17.
Affordable
Africa and Asia
Africa
offers British travellers the best value for money when it comes to those
all-important room service costs, the continent lays claim to three of the ten
cheapest destinations including the best value overall, Cape Town. Sharm el Sheikh follows closely behind in second
place and Marrakech in Morocco is ninth. And, while it might be more
expensive to get there, it seems Asia offers great value for money when you
arrive at the hotel, claiming three of the ten cheapest destinations: Mumbai in
India, Jakarta in Indonesia and Taipei in Taiwan rank third, eighth, and tenth
respectively in the list.
Hotel
amenities comparatively costly in Europe
Europe
dominates the most expensive list with seven of the top ten destinations, and Northern Europe leads the way in the costly
stakes laying claim to three of them. Moscow in Russia takes first place
while Paris (France), Stockholm (Sweden), Oslo (Norway), Zurich
(Switzerland) and Helsinki (Finland) come second, third, fourth, fifth and
sixth place respectively with Brussels (Belgium) coming in tenth.
London outside the
ten most expensive destinations
London is often
perceived as one of the world’s most expensive destinations, but when it comes to the common costs incurred
once checked-in to a hotel, TripAdvisor’s TripIndex Room Service reveals that
London is ranked in 11th place. On average, London is almost one and a half
times cheaper than the most expensive destination (Moscow) for each TripIndex
Room Service item. A club sandwich is £11.00, bottle of water £2.80, peanuts
are £4.00, a can of coke £2.65, mini bottle of vodka £7.25 and to dry clean a
shirt is £6.66.
Similar items,
vastly different prices across destinations
TripIndex Room Service shows significant cost differences between cities
for all items.
·
Club
sandwich – The most expensive destination for this common hotel food order, is
Zurich, Switzerland, where the average cost is £18.67 – over five times that of
the cheapest in the list, £3.53 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
·
Bottle
of water – Oslo, Norway has the highest cost for a bottle of water at £5.23. In
both Hong Kong, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia all the hotels contacted
provided bottled water free of charge.
·
Peanuts
– At £7.96, Moscow, Russia is the most costly for peanuts taken from the
mini-bar. The snack is over seven times cheaper in hotels in Puerto Vallarta,
Mexico at £1.02.
·
Can
of coke – A can of coke from the hotel mini-bar is most expensive in Oslo,
Norway at £5.06 – over four times that of the cheapest in the list, £1.20 in
Cape Town, South Africa.
·
Mini
bottle of vodka – The most expensive destination for a mini bottle of vodka
from a mini-bar is Stockholm, Sweden at £11.54; nearly six times that of the
cheapest in the list, £2.03 in Cape Town, South Africa. Moscow is the second
most expensive destination at £11.04, perhaps surprising considering Vodka is
Russia’s national drink.
·
Dry
cleaning of one shirt – Moscow, Russia has the highest cost to dry clean a
shirt in a hotel at £11.30 – over six times that of Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt the
cheapest on the list at £1.81.
“For
those willing to shell out a bit more on flights, it seems there is money to be
saved in Asia or Africa. For Brits looking to stay a little closer to home in
Europe, there is a price to pay and that price is on average more than four
times as expensive,” continued Emma Shaw.
TripIndex Room Service at a glance
Cheapest:
| Destination | Club sandwich | Bottle of water | Peanuts | Can of coke | Mini bottle of vodka | Dry cleaning of one shirt | TOTAL | |
| 1 | Cape Town, South Africa | £4.11 | £1.20 | £1.55 | £1.20 | £2.03 | £2.52 | £12.61 |
| 2 | Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt | £4.29 | £1.02 | £1.95 | £1.43 | £4.77 | £1.81 | £15.27 |
| 3 | Mumbai, India | £4.75 | £1.35 | £1.74 | £1.49 | £4.90 | £2.04 | £16.27 |
| 4 | Istanbul, Turkey | £7.34 | £0.80 | £1.50 | £1.37 | £3.69 | £2.81 | £17.51 |
| 5 | Puerto Vallarta, Mexico | £6.32 | £1.91 | £1.02 | £1.73 | £5.13 | £1.96 | £18.07 |
| 6 | Budapest, Hungary | £4.64 | £1.67 | £1.67 | £1.49 | £4.74 | £4.04 | £18.25 |
| 7 | Sofia, Bulgaria | £3.53 | £1.28 | £3.28 | £1.67 | £3.35 | £5.29 | £18.40 |
| 8 | Jakarta, Indonesia | £6.02 | £2.27 | £1.58 | £2.22 | £3.29 | £3.06 | £18.44 |
| 9 | Marrakech, Morocco | £6.69 | £1.33 | £1.30 | £1.55 | £6.05 | £2.11 | £19.03 |
| 10 | Taipei, Taiwan | £6.59 | £1.21 | £2.52 | £1.25 | £3.66 | £4.18 | £19.41 |
Most Expensive:
| Destination | Club sandwich | Bottle of water | Peanuts | Can of coke | Mini bottle of vodka | Dry cleaning of one shirt | TOTAL | |
| 1 | Moscow, Russia | £13.95 | £4.24 | £7.96 | £4.56 | £11.04 | £11.30 | £53.05 |
| 2 | Paris, France | £13.81 | £4.32 | £4.89 | £4.53 | £8.63 | £7.99 | £44.17 |
| 3 | Stockholm, Sweden | £13.54 | £3.51 | £3.68 | £3.51 | £11.54 | £8.19 | £43.97 |
| 4 | Oslo, Norway | £11.15 | £5.23 | £4.71 | £5.06 | £8.41 | £8.59 | £43.15 |
| 5 | Zurich, Switzerland | £18.67 | £3.37 | £2.62 | £3.21 | £7.09 | £7.94 | £42.90 |
| 6 | Helsinki, Finland | £11.22 | £3.97 | £3.45 | £4.14 | £7.25 | £11.05 | £41.08 |
| 7 | Tokyo, Japan | £15.85 | £2.60 | £3.06 | £2.69 | £8.26 | £5.61 | £38.07 |
| 8 | Singapore | £11.73 | £2.43 | £3.54 | £4.04 | £8.70 | £7.08 | £37.52 |
| 9 | New York City, USA | £13.88 | £2.80 | £3.61 | £2.95 | £5.54 | £7.39 | £36.17 |
| 10 | Brussels, Belgium | £12.70 | £3.24 | £2.05 | £3.71 | £5.09 | £7.77 | £34.56 |
-Ends-
The international TripIndex destination
list comprises key destinations from 46 of the 50 countries which receive the
largest number of international visitor arrivals (data compiled by the
UNWTO).
TripIndex Room Service prices out the
following items in each destination to represent the cost of common incidental
items and services used in a hotel that travellers will incur during a stay:
Room service:
·
Club sandwich
Mini bar:
·
Bottle of water
·
Peanuts
·
Mini bottle of vodka
·
Can of coke
Dry cleaning:
·
One shirt
Prices shown specify the average cost (taken from a minimum of
three hotels), collected from the top ten rated four star hotels in each
featured destination. The top ten hotels were ranked according to TripAdvisor’s
Popularity Index. The Popularity Index is dynamic and can change at any
time. The list was accurate as of 21 January 2013.
Prices were taken in local currencies
between 21 January and 5 February 2013 and converted to relevant quoted
currencies, on 6 February 2013
Room service:
Room service prices specify the average cost of a club sandwich taken from a
minimum of three (where possible) hotels. Where a club sandwich was not
available, the nearest equivalent was used as an alternative
Mini bar: Mini bar prices
specify the average cost of a bottle of water, peanuts, can of coke and a mini
bottle of vodka. These prices were taken from a minimum of three (where
possible) hotels, or the maximum number available. Where peanuts were not
available, the nearest equivalent was used as an alternative. Where a mini
bottle of vodka was not available, the nearest equivalent was used as an
alternative. Sizes/volumes of items may vary, but are
the standard option as sold by each hotel used in the study.
*Please note – in
Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, all the hotels contacted provided complimentary bottles
of water.
Dry cleaning: Dry cleaning
prices specify the average cost to dry clean one shirt. These prices were taken
from a minimum of three (where possible) hotels.
