Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

London 'has world's most expensive hotels'

Matthew Beard
Thursday 10 July 2003 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Even without the charges for minibar and telephone, the London hotel is the most expensive in the world, a new survey reports. A night's stay in the capital is more than twice as expensive as a room in Sydney, Toronto or San Francisco and more than 25 times more expensive than Mexico City.

The survey compared average daily rates in hotels in cities across the world with the cost of a McDonald's Big Mac, using the Economist's Big Mac Index, which replaces the local cost of a basket of goods with that of the global hamburger.

The findings showed that a night's sleep in London would cost a traveller 110 times the price of the hamburger. Paris was the second most expensive at 84 times the cost of a Big Mac. At the lower end of the scale, Mexicans could stay at a hotel in their capital for the price of just four Big Macs.

Nick Marsh, the chief executive officer for Europe of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, which did the survey, said: "In light of the outbreak of Sars, war in Iraq and the ongoing threat of terrorism, it is likely that hotels will be increasingly reliant on domestic demand. [Our] global hotel affordability index provides a key measure as to the affordability of accommodation."

Hotels in the Asia Pacific region and the United States were deemed to be good value, tending to cost between 30 and 40 times the cost of a Big Mac. The most expensive after London and Paris were Milan, Rome, Prague, Barcelona and New York.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in