Would £200 be reasonable for a cooked arrival meal for six?

[zael]

We recently stayed at a holiday cottage. We were arriving late and the owner said the housekeeper is a great cook, so could leave a prepared meal for us. Never done this before.

There were 6 adults. We got left 6 large home made cornish pasties, some vegetables, some potatoes, 6 beers, and a home made victoria sponge. It was yummy.

How much do you think the housekeeper charged us for this?

£200

How much would you expect to have paid?

I’d say £25 a head

I would have asked the price upfront!! £200 sounds very expensive though.

£120 max. And that's assuming very generous portions. All home made will have taken a couple of hours and food isn't cheap, but even so! Very odd not to have been given menu and cost in advance though.

Yes, £25 a head sounds not unreasonable. £200 is a bit steep, although I can't believe you didn't check the price in advance!

As well as it being homemade you will be paying for the convenience factor.

Agree £25 pp sounds reasonable
£33 each for a pasty, some veg, a slice of cake and one beer seems a lot. I’d probably have got a price before agreeing to it though.

£200 is a bit steep. I'd have expected £100 to be more like it.

6x pasties at £5 each = £30
6x beers at £3 each = £18
Enough veg and spuds for 6 = £10
One home-made Victoria Sponge = £10
Total = £68 plus time to make & deliver = £100

They definitely saw you coming.
Not asking for a price was madness and probably upped the cost as a result.

That sounds steep but I wouldn’t have agreed without a price.

It's a little steep but it's freshly home cooked food. Probably similar or better than a local pub or mid range restaurant?

I'd be more inclined to charge less but if it's the housekeepers time plus ingredients, energy, going and buying the stuff etc I guess they think they can push it up a bit. But it's not like it sounds super fancy or abundant.

They certainly should've been upfront about the cost and possibly given a choice of food or at least stated- it's pasties, pots, veg and a beer each plus a sponge. And say the price.

Then you could've decided if a supermarket run would've been better value.

I would think wonderful and good value and how lovely to arrive and not have to think about food and prep

You’re not just paying for the food

your paying for the convenience of turning up and having a lovely spread for 6 laid out

For SIX adults, are you mad? 😱

I'd say about £25 per head OP.

ETA: Ignore me @Dontbeatwat. I misread your post, sorry 😊

I’d think £25-30 pp. (I’d also hate every single component of that meal.)

I would not like the food but if they’d have made a homemade curry or something with sides and beers (more than 6 though!) then I’d have paid £25. But a pastie and a few potatoes no way!

This is a great idea. I think it was on you to query price at the point you said yes. Thereafter they could kind of charge what they like! I reckon £25ph so £150 would be right for that. It’s a great little add on for the housekeeper and grand idea for everyone! I wish more would offer this kind of thing. Full on home made lasagna, salad, red wine all prepared for arrival after a long journey I’d pay well for!

Our family of 6 defo wouldn’t have liked this meal especially my husband and myself - kids might of eaten it (hopefully they told you first) No nice fish or meat or even a nice vegi traybake meal etc. It’s just really basic cooking.

I would expected a bottle of wine too for £200 (even if it was a £10 bottle from the supermarket).

However if you enjoyed it saved the hassle of a restaurant which would have been more cash.

We paid around £550 for a choice of 2 main courses (beef bourguignon or chicken casserole with vegetables and mashed potatoes or homemade bread) and desserts for 20 at a holiday cottage.
There was loads of food, enough for leftovers for some people the next day.

You think £32 is fair for the time to make and bake pasties and a cake, that’s a good couple of hours, plus time to pack and deliver? That feels very cheap to me. I’d have been happy to pay £150-175, £200 feels a bit expensive but tbh by the time I’ve travelled I’m happy for hot food made by someone else.

It’s not wildly over what I’d expect. Sounds lovely (and very convenient!).

Good value? We must live in very very different worlds, I provided food for 12 recently and no way did it even cost £100

And alcohol and the time cost of preparing food etc? You pay a premium for that.

OP you can't complain about the cost if you didn't check it first!

I was expecting much better ingerdents for that.

I assume your labour was free in this scenario. The housekeeper’s was not.

My mum makes home made pasties (a family favourite) and complains every time about how long they take.

Idve said anywhere between 25-40 per head. As PP says youre paying for the convenience and service.

I would say if it’s all home made I would expect to pay about £30 per head. So not to far off £200