Bogotá Offers Best Value To Travelers Among Global Cities, According to Hotels.com “Club Sandwich Index”
The Hotels.com Club Sandwich Index (CSI) continues to compare the dining costs of hotels worldwide with its annual price barometer, the Club Sandwich Index. This year, the elevated report by Hotels.com – the CSI 2.0 – added three more hotel dining items to make the index a more comprehensive indicator for travelers to understand the costs associated with a full day of dining in hotels worldwide.
The improved CSI report incorporates the prices of four popular dining options available to hotel guests throughout the day:
- A club sandwich for dinner
- A hamburger combo, consisting of a burger, fries and soda for lunch
- A cup of coffee
- A glass of “house” red wine for post-dinner drinks
The average prices are calculated from real prices (including taxes and fees) paid by guests for all four items in 30 hotels across 5, 4 and 3 star categories in the capital or an important tourist city of the 28 countries surveyed.
Bogota offers best value while Geneva’s prices top the list
Based on findings from the CSI 2.0, Geneva, Switzerland, is not only the most expensive city for a club sandwich, but also for enjoying a full-day hotel dining experience (CAD$107.64). On the other end of the spectrum, Bogota, Columbia is home to the least expensive dining options with an average price of CAD$37.33. As most travelers to Colombia know, meals of the same quality can be had for much less by the traveler simply by venturing outside of the hotel.
While hungry travelers can get the most bang for their peso in Bogota, other South American cities like Rio de Janeiro (CAD$42.44) and Buenos Aires (CAD$50.00) gave the Colombian capital a run for its money with their affordable dining costs.
Average prices of hotel menu items and total dining costs based on city (2015)
Average price per Items, including taxes and fees (Canadian Dollars) | ||||||
Ranking | City | Burger combo |
Cup of coffee |
Glass of house red wine |
Club sandwich |
Total cost |
1 | Switzerland – Geneva | $46.92 | $7.68 | $15.06 | $37.97 | $107.63 |
2 | France – Paris | $36.78 | $7.19 | $15.90 | $30.28 | $90.15 |
3 | Hong Kong | $37.95 | $9.17 | $15.27 | $26.18 | $88.57 |
4 | Norway – Oslo | $38.71 | $5.95 | $15.29 | $24.98 | $84.93 |
5 | UK – London | $31.95 | $7.57 | $14.31 | $27.41 | $81.24 |
6 | South Korea – Seoul | $27.17 | $12.07 | $16.89 | $24.95 | $81.08 |
7 | Sweden – Stockholm | $29.17 | $4.97 | $14.11 | $28.35 | $76.60 |
8 | Japan – Tokyo | $27.98 | $10.55 | $13.69 | $23.24 | $75.46 |
9 | Singapore | $29.16 | $7.52 | $17.34 | $21.13 | $75.15 |
10 | USA – New York | $30.12 | $6.68 | $15.28 | $21.96 | $74.04 |
11 | China – Beijing | $29.40 | $9.53 | $15.46 | $19.23 | $73.62 |
12 | Finland – Helsinki | $25.21 | $5.06 | $10.19 | $24.88 | $65.34 |
13 | Denmark – Copenhagen | $25.20 | $6.11 | $12.75 | $21.27 | $65.33 |
14 | Australia – Sydney | $28.77 | $4.87 | $9.35 | $20.32 | $63.31 |
15 | Italy – Rome | $27.42 | $4.18 | $11.11 | $18.04 | $60.75 |
16 | Netherlands – Amsterdam | $27.27 | $4.82 | $7.37 | $18.87 | $58.33 |
17 | Taiwan – Taipei | $23.09 | $8.49 | $11.19 | $14.49 | $57.26 |
18 | Ireland – Dublin | $23.97 | $4.07 | $9.00 | $17.09 | $54.13 |
19 | Russia – Moscow | $19.06 | $5.16 | $12.19 | $17.04 | $53.45 |
20 | India – New Delhi | $18.40 | $4.80 | $15.65 | $13.97 | $52.82 |
21 | Germany – Berlin | $20.57 | $4.53 | $8.21 | $18.66 | $51.97 |
22 | Canada – Toronto | $18.17 | $4.38 | $10.85 | $18.19 | $51.59 |
23 | Argentina – Buenos Aires | $21.79 | $4.38 | $8.58 | $15.26 | $50.01 |
24 | Thailand – Bangkok | $17.06 | $5.45 | $13.03 | $13.53 | $49.07 |
25 | Spain – Madrid | $22.46 | $4.13 | $5.62 | $15.87 | $48.08 |
26 | Brazil – Rio de Janeiro | $16.46 | $2.54 | $10.75 | $12.69 | $42.44 |
27 | Mexico – Mexico City | $16.56 | $3.07 | $8.13 | $12.13 | $39.89 |
28 | Colombia – Bogota | $14.60 | $1.95 | $7.77 | $13.02 | $37.34 |
The prices quoted included taxes
Additional CSI 2.0 highlights:
- Geneva (CAD$37.97) and Paris (CAD$30.28) retained their positions in first and second place respectively as destinations where travellers paid the most for a club sandwich, despite experiencing a fall in their average prices from 2014 to 2015.
- Within North America, Toronto offered the best value for hungry travelers compared to New York City. Savings of more than $20 dollars ($74.02 vs. $51.58) for the full menu could be found and club sandwiches were an average of $3 less.
- Rome decreased by 32%, dropping 9 places from 2014, with an average price of CAD$18.04
India increased by 28%, jumping up 4 places from 2014, but remained one of the most affordable places to enjoy a club sandwich.