What a Club Sandwich Can Tell You About Travel

Jeanne Marie Hoffman June 18, 2013 Restaurant Reviews 4 Comments

What can a club sandwich tell you about travel?Â Apparently, a lot.

Hotels.com investigated the cost of a club sandwich in many cities to name one the most expensive.

What’s city’s the most expensive?Â Geneva.

Â Alison Couper from Hotels.com said: â€œThe Club Sandwich, available on hotel menus across the globe, is the perfect spending barometer, helping tourists factor into their travel plans the everyday cost of simple items such as food and drink.Â The price changes when comparing 2013 to 2012 hide a complex story of factors from changes in the local price of basic food items through to currency fluctuations.Â The beauty of the CSI is that we are able to offer travelers a simple price comparison to show how far their money may stretch in each country.â€

New York City didn’t break the top 10, which didn’t surprise me. While NYC gets a reputation for being really expensive, most of that expense lies in the midtown area, and you can find great buys in other areas.

New York City, the only U.S. destination to make the global list*, anchored the middle with an average of $17.51, up $1.57 from its 2012 average of $16.93. Prices in NYC ranged from a hefty $27 at the 5-star renowned St. Regis New York to a more modest $7.95 at a 3-star property elsewhere in Midtown.

It’s interesting how much food can tell us.Â The Economist uses the price of a big mac to determine purchasing power of a country.

I usually order chicken tenders and a cosmo from room service at hotels.Â I wonder if I can start my own price of room service index…

h/t Huffington Post

Would you pay $30 for a club sandwich?Â Or ANY sandwich?

4 comments

Tiff
June 18, 2013 at 3:34 pm

I think Rome’s ranking is a bit unfair. As a family of four there were many options that allowed us to eat economically while we were there. I thought it was easier to find those options in Rome than in New York. Maybe it’s just the club sandwich that is ridiculously expensive.

Keri Anderson
June 18, 2013 at 4:05 pm

Does this really show purchasing power or just the relatively inelastic demand for familiar foods from US tourists traveling abroad? I spend alot of time in Asia and I love that room service offers amazing local foods for only $8 (dishes I pay $12+ for in the US). My friends less enthusiastic about ethnic foods are less lucky — the same menu lists club sandwiches and burgers at $18+.

- Jeanne Marie Hoffman
  June 18, 2013 at 4:58 pm
  
  That’s a really good question. Do people eat club sandwiches in Paris or bread and cheese? All I know is, I DID pay $25 for a club sandwich in Paris a few years back!
  
  - Tiff
    June 18, 2013 at 5:48 pm
    
    Paris I can see; I have no arguments with the top five. But I recall having sticker shock in Paris since we had just been to places like Rome and Athens were we could eat fairly economically. I just don’t see Rome as seven places above New York.