Today's SpecialRandom Ping-o-RamaOne Year Ago Today...Search Me!Last 5 PingsThe Netflix Thief
Saturday, July 19 2008 Political Sketches Get Dated Friday, July 18 2008 Annoying camera techniques Thursday, July 17 2008 An Open Letter to People Standing in Line for an iPhone Wednesday, July 16 2008 Today's odd spam tactic Tuesday, July 15 2008 Pingegories |
Friday, April 27, 2007
My friend Paco recently wrote an entry about the exorbitant food charges at hotels. We all know the mini-bar is expensive, but seeing how a 50 cent soda goes for $3.13 from the mini-bar and a glass of orange juice costs you $10 (!) via room service really makes me wonder how anyone can justify these costs. I mean, really, even if you're working for a big corporation and expensing everything, how can you not feel guilty about that?
My favorite bit comes during his description of his dinner at the in-house restaurant, though: I decide to order a salad that says something about greens over “crisp, shaved potatoes.” I get some greens (spinach, arugula, etc.) with a nice vinaigrette, and Lays potato chips sprinkled in. I swear I am not making this up. There was no difference between these potato chips and Lays (or any similar brand) of basic potato chips. For $9.00 I get spinach and potato chips with oil and vinegar. My wife used to waitress at a Holiday Inn restaurant and they actually had really good food (we had our rehearsal dinner there before our wedding). The one Paco went to sounds like the dozens of other crappy hotel restaurants we've all seen in Anytown, USA. But, really, potato chips on a salad? Yikes. At least they didn't cut corners by using oil and vinegar chips. Comments
From: Paul
(URL)
That's so fubar.
There's a bottle of Fiji water in my hotel room - a 32 ouncer - that I believe costs $5 or so. But I can go to Target and get a 6-pack of .5 liter bottles for about the same price. Also, welcome to Hotel Week on the Ping!
From: Dave
When I went on a cruise this past Jaunary, they also had a bottle of wanter and cans of soda in the room. It was $5 for the water and $2 per soda. I didnt use either one. I went and got FREE Iced Tea and Coffee and regular water from the fountain drink machine.
From: Terry M.
In Mexico you can get dinner through room service at a downtown 4 star hotel for less than $20 for two people including drinks and tip, and the food is literally ten times better than 99% of the Mexican restuarants in the United States.
Last year my Mexican girlfriend & I stayed at a fancy hotel in San Diego (barely 10 miles, if that, from the border) and they charged us $60 plus tip for a crappy American breakfast. It was on the tab of the big corporation I work for, so I didn't care. But south of the border the best breakfast you can get (better than anything available in the United States) costs $3 only if you decide to splurge. My conclusion: the United States sucks The mini-bar is a scam but good for the first night or two you stay in a particular country/city, until you find the seediest convenience stores to stock up on cheapest local beer by the case. And as long as the company is picking up the tab.
From: Merle
(URL)
Terry: the mini-bar isn't a good deal even if it's on the corporate dime, because whatever money of theirs is spent can't go towards raises or bonuses. Better to walk around the block and find a convenience store. I've yet to stay in a hotel where I couldn't find one that very first evening.
And remember not to buy that $10 sign.
From: jk
My brother and family are visiting PSU this weekend and in their hotel room are two bottles of Aquafina water, relatively small, for $4 a piece! How thirsty would you have to be to drink them? What with running water and glasses in the bathroom and all...
The cool Holiday Inn Express that I mentioned before had a FREE bottle of water in the room and some free snacks...nice. © 2008 The Daily Ping, all rights reserved. We are not responsible for the content of any comments on our site. We are also not responsible, in general, so it's all good. |
Recent Comments
07.19.2008 08:15PM
07.19.2008 06:54PM
07.19.2008 06:01PM
07.19.2008 01:22PM
07.19.2008 01:50AM