Hungry Canadians should head for Halifax if they want to save.
A new study by hotels.com and hotels.ca looked at the price of a days’ worth of food at hotels around the world and came up with some fun findings.
In the past they looked at the cost of a club sandwich on the road, which I always enjoyed (the study, I mean, not the sandwich. Although a good club sandwich is a wonderful thing as long as you leave out the lettuce, mayo and tomato and skip the extra layer of bread). Now they’ve taken it further and figured out the cost of a burger, fries and soda for lunch, a cup of coffee, a club sandwich for dinner and a glass of house red wine. It’s a pretty standard set of meals for many North Americans on the road, I’d say.
Not surprisingly, the study found the most expensive of 28 world cities surveyed was Geneva, weighing in at a whopping $107.63 for the day’s intake. Next was Paris at $90.15, followed by London at $81.24.
The cheapest three cities were Rio de Janeiro ($42.44), Mexico City ($39.89) and Bogota ($37.34). The cost in New York City was figured at $74.04. It also was the only American city surveyed as the report looked only at the capital or a major tourist city in 28 countries.
The hotels.ca people also did a separate survey for Canada, which is great and most welcome. It’s probably no surprise that Toronto would win the gold medal for priciest hotel food. The survey found it would cost $51.59 for the burger/sandwich/coffee/wine combo, compared with $50.95 in Vancouver, $50.07 in Montreal, $46.87 in Calgary and just $42.98 in Halifax, which is a delightful city that also has cheaper hotels than many of its Canadian counterparts.
If you just want the club sandwich, here’s what hotels.ca found for Canada: Toronto $18.19, Vancouver $17.98, Montreal $17.05, Calgary $15.76 and Halifax $13.78. I bet the hotel delivery person would have a bigger smile in Halifax, too. Those people are some of the nicest in Canada.
I’m a bit surprised to see Toronto’s prices that much lower than New York City’s. But a lot of that is probably due to the exchange and Canada’s low dollar.
Either way, it’s food for thought….
