Travel Blogger Match-up Part Five
Michael Taylor flies to Bangkok to take part in the first ever Bloggers Matchup.. While staying at the Rembrandt Hotel Bangkok, the results of the Club Sandwich Index are released.
Cities in Europe dominate the Hotels.com Club Sandwich Index (CSI), which measures the average price charged by hotels for a club sandwiche at hotel restaurants in key cities around the world.
The three most expensive cities are Geneva, Switzerland; Paris, France and Oslo, Norway.
Europe Tops the List
Seven of the top 10 cities this year are in Europe. Three are in the Asia Pacific, with Tokyo, Japan, coming in seventh; Sydney, Australia, eighth; and Hong Kong 10.
Bangkok, Thailand, where I’m currently spending two weeks, is a relatively inexpensive 23rd.
I take advantage of the news to order a club sandwich for lunch at the the Rembrandt Hotel Bangkok, where I’ve been spending the last five days and nights.
My host, the hotel’s affable General Manager, Eric Hallen, decides to order the same thing, which we enjoy at a table just steps from the hotel’s outdoor swimming pool. We wash them down with fresh coconut juice.
Neither one of us has had a club sandwich for years. We are both pleasantly surprised with what the waiter places in front of us a few moments later.
Here’s how the cities stack up …
1. Geneva, Switzerland
2. Paris, France
3. Oslo, Norway
4. Stockholm, Sweden
5.Copenhagen, Denmark
6. Rome, Italy
7. Tokyo, Japan
8. London, England
9. Sydney, Australia
10. Hong Kong
As Eric points out, prices vary greatly from hotel to hotel.
“At the Rembrandt, it runs about US$11,” he says.
“At one of the top hotels it could go for twice that. But you could also get one for about US$8.”