How much would you pay for this meal?

[Movinghouseatlast]

I run a holiday cottage business and I offer a bit meal awaiting their arrival for them to serve themselves. I don't do it to make a profit, more as a USP to get bookings as I think people might appreciate it after a long drive. However, I spend a bit of time cooking and shopping (and stressing!) so want some profit for that.

It is beef in red wine stew or lamb shanks in red wine or pie (steak, chicken or vegan mushroom) with mash and minted pea puree. Followed by chocolate brownie with salted caramel sauce and clotted cream. It is all homemade, local organic/ free range meat etc.

How much would you pay?

I'm registered with the council to cook food and have all the certificates.

Thanks!

£15 a head?

At least £10 a head, so £50 for a family of 4. Throw in a bottle of wine, some juice, coffee, tea and some "morning" goods and I'd make a ton.

Sorry I'd make it a ton. Yes £15 a head adults maybe less for dcs under 10...

I presume you would have an option on whether to choose to purchase or not at the time of the booking?

Tbh I wouldn't pay and decline the offer as I either want to buy things myself or go out to eat instead.

15pp if a couple, introduce discounts for families.
Maybe check what the nearest pub charge for a 2-course meal and add a few £ to that.

I think it would really depend on what is available locally. If say there is a really good pub 100 metres up the road that serves this kind of food then it needs to be competitively priced for people to order it.

If you are in the middle of nowhere and there is only a corner shop nearby then it obviously has a much higher value in terms of convenience.

If I went there with my dh and 2 young kids I would probably only be willing to spend 50 in total for a meal that I was going to eat in the cottage. Similar to getting a takeaway but obviously a bit more as it does sound delicious.

Those options are not really the kind of thing we would eat, so I would decline.

Are you in an area that has supermarket online delivery? This is essential criteria for me booking self catered accommodation.

We had a fairly similar pub meal a few days ago, which was £12 ish for mains and £6 for puddings, so maybe £15-20 a head.

BUT - I’m veggie and I wouldn’t be impressed with mushroom pie as the only veggie choice. I’d feel rather short changed. There is a great Bootstrap recipe for chestnut and mushroom which is a bit more of a “treat”. I also like to check out the local pubs when I am holiday, and try some local ales with my meal.

If you accept children in your holiday let, then you need a kids meal too.

The meal sounds delicious! I’d pay £15 for that, around what a pub would charge.

£10 a head max

I came on to say £15pp and can see PP have suggested similar. £14.95 sounds better to consumers. I have done this when arriving at an air b&b abroad after a full day of travel and it was great for a group of us. As long as it's optional.

Lots of places in France offer this option as table d'hote on arrival. I think it's a great idea and would happily pay £15 per head to save the faff of either cooking, or going out again after a long drive. My experiences have mostly been great as well (although one dodgy one involving duck oesophagus wasn't...... )

Difficult. In terms of cost of quality ingredients and your time spent preparing the food, it’s probably worth at least £10-15 per person. But realistically, however delicious it is, most families are not going to pay upwards of £60 for a single meal. Most people would go to a restaurant for that sort of money.

What do the ingredients cost you? You should at least recoup those. Anything higher and I just don’t think you’d have a lot of takers, it’s just a nice extra.

I think its a nice idea. I guess £15/person?

On a more basic level when our kids were really young we rented a villa abroad and the owners/company had left
Bread
Pasta
Pasta sauce
Cereal
Milk
Tea
Coffee
Wine.
That was amazing for us as we arrived late, could make a meal without having to find where the supermarket was and have breakfast the next day. It probably cost €20 if that and was great.
I would always like the option of a welcome pack or meal if you've arrived late.

£15pp

Also worth noting - when you start charging for something, people start including it in your ratings. At the moment, you might get 5 star ratings because people are impressed and delighted with the “bonus” home cooked meal on arrival. But if you’re charging them £15 a head for it and they don’t like it / find fault with it you risk getting lower ratings for the overall holiday experience.

That gets very expensive as a family with children though-there are 5 of us so if it’s £15 a head, that’s a fortune for one meal for us. We (and I’d imagine lots of other families) stay in self-catering as it’s cheaper. £75 for one meal (without a glass of wine!) in a house would be out of the question. If it was just DH and I, or another couple, that’s different. £30 for all of us would be equivalent to a fish and chip dinner (which my kids love) so if it was much more than that, I’d decline. I’d rather pay for the ‘crock pot’ rather than by head as the kids don’t eat much either.

Most people would go to a restaurant for that sort of money.

I would much rather do this. No clearing up afterwards as well!

If you only cater for one family at a time, could you offer one set dish, with pudding and charge for that whole dish. People can then pig out if they want to or save some for the next day. This would also be really appealing to families with 2 or 3 young children
You could charge £40 for the family / couple and still make a small profit. I know that when my children were young and picky I really begrudged paying by the head for them when them nibbled on something only

To answer some questions

It is optional- it's a service I offer.

It is a cottage for couples only.

We have lots of pubs nearby, the idea is not to replace them but if people arrive late and knackered and can't be bothered to go out I thought it would be nice.

We offer to unpack a supermarket delivery for them.

We leave a make yourself breakfast for their first morning already. It's included in the price, but if they want it again it's extra. Again, it's a selling point to book. I also leave a 'surprise' cream tea for when they arrive.

In my head, people leave work on a Friday night and drive 3 or 4 hours and don't have to think about shopping or organizing anything until the next day. They arrive tired and there is a meal in the oven waiting for them. But it sounds from the responses that this isn't what is wanted!

Lots of people arrive with no food with them at all, which surprises me! They ask where the nearest shop is as soon as they arrive, when this information is sent to them a week before.

So how much have you been charging op?

I’m mainly veggie and wouldn’t eat lamb or beef and not that keen on pie either so would prefer another veggie option. The dessert sounds really rich And sweet too.
I wouldn’t want to pay more than £15 pp.

It sounds like a nice idea but in my honest opinion if there are lots of pubs nearby then it would be much easier to go to the pub have a wider choice of meals and then have someone wash it all up for you afterwards.

I think it's a lovely idea.

However it's not something I personally would take you up on I don't think. Can't really explain why either.

A selection of bread, cheese, pate, ham and olives and other local deli type stuff I would snap your hand off though. For that, I would expect to pay cost plus extra for your time, so an extra £5-£10.