HIGHER PRICES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27541, 8 November 1950, Page 6

HIGHER PRICES

Meals At Otago Hotels VARYING QUALITY , He had heard comment about the Increased prices which hotels were charging but, from a general viewpoint, the standard of meals in Central Otago hotels was uniformly high, said the secretary of the Otago Automobile Association, Mr P. F. Harre, to the Daily Times yesterday. Mr Harre; who has just returned from his annual tour of the association’s territory, was asked whether the Central hotels were giving a satisfactory service to travellers. “Publicans are still at the mercy of the labour situation,” he said. “ One day the meals and service in a particular hotel might be well known for their quality, but the next day the cook or some of the staff may have left with a consequent effect on the service. One woman running an hotel in Central . Otago cooks the meals, waits on the table, and has to clean 24 bedrooms with the help of one maid. Incidentally, this woman has four young children.” Another problem faced by these hotel owners, Mr Harre said, was the uncertainty of the public demands. A bus full of travellers might arrive unheralded, and consequently, an individual tourist arriving at the same time might think that the standard of the meals and service was not up io expectations. „ “ Perhaps 'it is the result of the Licensing Commission’s tour, but I, and others, have formed the opinion that licensees in Central Otago are now showing a greater appreciation of their obligations to the public on the catering and accommodation sides,” Mr Harre added. Other Opinions A Dunedin commercial traveller, who is familiar with most of the Central Otago hotels, said there was .no hard arid fast rule ’about the standards of meals. He had often sat down to a repast at an ungraded hotel which was superior in quality to the meals provided by a metropolitan four-star-hotel—and at a much lower cost. There were, no doubt, hotels which did not “toe the mark” concerning their obligations to the travelling public for the provision of adequate meals, he said, and the quality varied. Generally speaking, the hotels in Central Otago were of a high standard. Several of the smaller hotels would probably not take advantage of the increases which had been allowed in the charges for meals, he said. On the present prices, there would be a steady demand for casual meals, but if the price was raised the demand might fall away and the hotel would not be so popular. Specific Instances Another frequent visitor to Central Otago was more critical. “At a onestar or ungraded hotel,” he told the Daily Times,*“l had to pay 6s a head for a meal of two courses. No soup was offered to us, there was no menu and no choice, and the food was indifferent. At another hotel, presumably with more stars —why can’t it be obligatory to display the hotel’s grading and meal prices?—l paid £1 8s for dinner for myself, my wife and our young family. This was the Price Tribunal charge, I was told —7s a head. “ I was also informed,” he said, “ that there were frequent complaints about these charges, but the Licensed Victuallers’ Association had instructed that the legal charges should be levied —legalised exploitation! “ Hotelkeepers should be forced to realise that the privilege of endeavouring to ‘ get-rich quick ’ by selling liquor at all hours carries with it an obligation to cater reasonably and well to the traveller.” There were, he said, many hotels which made an honest attempt to give travellers a square deal—at a price; but others treated wayfarers as unwelcome guests unless they were prepared to spend time and money m the bar.