$100 for breakfast in bed! Cost of hotel room service skyrockets

It may be the most important meal of the day, but breakfast is also becoming one of the most expensive for travellers staying in Australia's top hotels.

Holiday-makers wanting to dine in their room face paying more than $40 for a bowl of berries or forking out more than $35 for a simple serve of eggs, bacon and sausages on toast at different hotels around the country.

Operators are cashing in on the cost of convenience with Australia's growing appetite for breakfast being exploited with a hefty price tag.

A survey by News Corp of five-star hotels in different states showed the cost of a basic brekkie ranged from only just affordable to outright daylight robbery.

For example, a couple ordering breakfast in bed at the Sheraton Mirage on the Gold Coast can expect to pay up to $100 for the luxury.

A continental breakfast of juice, fruits, muesli, pastries or toast, and coffee or tea will cost you $36, while a full American breakfast of juice, fruit, pastries, two eggs, tomato, potato, bacon, sausages and coffee is $43 - plus $15 per person for delivery to your room, rounding out the total to $109.

One industry insider says the demand for fine dining has forced hotels to provide room service at the same quality of their up-market restaurants, albeit for a premium price.

But consumer watchdog Choice says the prices being charged are hard to swallow.

"When it comes to room service, most consumers know they are the main course," said Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey.

"While dining in is convenient, hotels make sure you pay a lot for the privilege."

Accommodation Association of Australia chief executive Richard Munro said the hotel industry had changed dramatically over the decades and long gone were the days when operators made money from guests making phone calls from their rooms or dabbling on the overpriced minibar.

He said modern hotels had been forced to diversify and more tourists "travelling on their bellies" meant they expected top-quality meals if they were going to eat in their room.

The price was often set at a premium but "most people are happy" to pay, Mr Munro said.

"If you want to stay in a high-end property ... you'll probably end up paying for that," he said.

Mr Munro said the pressure was on hotels to serve up top quality food or risk losing customers - and most had or were reinventing their menus.

"I guess the consumers will be the judge of (its quality) and if it's not right they won't come back," he said.

"We're an ultra-competitive industry and operators know that.

"You can't get away with serving up overpriced, bland food."

What you pay if you cook it yourself

A total grocery buy at Woolworth's:

• Moccona pack of 10 cappuccino mixes - $2.64
• Milk 1L - $1.25
• Nutri-Grain 500g - $5
• SPC Baked Beans or Spaghetti 4x 220g - $3
• Nudie juice 2L - $5
• Ski yoghurt 4x 125g - $2.99
• Mangoes $3.48 each, apples $0.52 each, blueberries $3.68/125g, kiwifruit $0.41 each, strawberries $3.48/250g, bananas $0.36 each, oranges $0.75 each
• Bacon rashers 650g - $10.39
• Farm Pride caged eggs 6-pack - $2.99

TOTAL: $45.94

What you pay at hotels

Sheraton Mirage, Gold Coast

• Continental breakfast of juice, fruits, muesli, pastries or toast, and coffee or tea ... $36
• Full American breakfast of juice, fruit, pastries, two eggs, tomato, potato, bacon, sausages and coffee ... $43
• Delivery surcharge ... $15 per person

Intercontinental, Sydney

• Continental breakfast plus eggs, bacon, sausage, mushroom, hash brown, tomato and pesto ... $47
• Healthy choice breakfast of fresh juice, cereal, fruit or yoghurt parfait, two eggs on toast or an egg white omelet ... $47
• Two eggs with bacon, sausage, cooked ham, tomatoes or mushrooms ... $26
• Muesli special ... $17

Henry Jones, Hobart

• Cereal with milk ... $8
• Eggs Benedict ... $17
• Delivery surcharge ... $8

Pan Pacific, Perth

• Fruit platter ... $12
• Toast basket ... $13
• Australian breakfast of two eggs, toast, hash browns, sausages, mushrooms, tomato and drink ... $28
• Delivery surcharge ... $5

Park Hyatt, Melbourne

• Australian breakfast of juice, bakery basket, cereal, beverage and a main breakfast meal ... $45
• Healthy breakfast of juice, cereal, egg white omelet, seasonal fruits and tea or coffee ... $42
• Two eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, hash brown and tomatoes ... $22

Hilton Hotel, Adelaide

• Hilton Breakfast, includes the continental plus one hot dish and one deli item ... $37
• Breakfast to go, includes juice, cereal bar, croissant, pastry and a piece of fruit ... $18
• Eggs benedict ... $23

Source: The Daily Telegraph, 15 November 2013