Christmas lunch costs crazy!!

[Selok]

I know the businesses are trying to get back on their feet and hospitality had been hit the hardest but..I have been looking at Christmas lunch/dinner menus around where we live- prices are crazy like £150 per head is the cheapest I found so far. I was also looking for a two night stay somewhere close by including Xmas lunch - cost about £2,500 for two people - cheaper to go to Iceland, including flights, room only accommodation for 4 nights for 3 people is like £1,100 cheapest. How is this possible

We have altered our day's and have done for many years.

Christmas day is buffet food pre prepared from M&S, tesco Christmas food etc . Eat when want too. Much nicer and more relaxed. DC who are over excited don't have to sit and behave for a formal lunch.

Boxing day... usually knackered after the excitement of Christmas day. Toby Carvery pre-booked for their normal menu... not 3 courses as couldn't fit it in.

.

Sounds about right for Christmas Day. We went out for christams day pre covid and it was over £100 per head back then. I've just checked our local (nice) pub and it is £95.

After the last 2 Christmases, I don't blame businesses for trying to cash in. If I had to eat out at Christmas, I'd be pushing for a different day between 23rd and 29th and spending the difference on gifts.

only the 2 of us unless DD comes up & then we try & get her booked in as well. Just couldn’t be bothered with all the fuss, we don’t bother with Christmas fuss it’s just a day like all the others. We have both worked In hospitality for many years so we know what it’s like, we never got paid extra it was considered part & parcel so just accepted it, now we just enjoy ourselves

I wouldn’t bank on that. I only went out for Christmas dinner once (last year) and it was exactly like this. It’s why I wouldn’t do it again- I quite like cooking Christmas dinner

@Selok

Oh it's due to the great British closedown! I hate it and if possible we go away to Germany. There it's like a normal day. The trains and buses run. Restaurants and hotels are open as normal and the people go out and walk up mountains [and so on]

We often go out and walk up mountains on Christmas Day (in the UK). Lots of people do. We generally cook and eat our main Christmas meal on Christmas eve and take leftover turkey and stuffing sandwiches and cake and cheese to eat while we're out.

I used to work Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve in a bar and it was triple pay! I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. People deserve to be paid properly for it.

In fairness they can charge whatever they like, and people can decide whether to go or not. Nobody is entitled to a service at a price that is not attractive to the provider.

Yes, this. One would hope that the staff will be paid extra, or maybe get extra time off in lieu; but it's also supply and demand. A holiday cottage in August will cost three or four times as much as the same cottage would cost in February.

From the restaurant's pov, they are pricing high based on how much enough customers to fill all their tables will pay, not based on what some of the 'surplus' customers might have thought reasonable.

We are paying £40 a head...a Mediterranean restaurant we go to each year. No price increase from last 2 years

If it is too much, then no one would go.
It is to cover for the very expensive staff costs, and also people expect a better kind of Xmas lunch.

Oh it's due to the great British closedown! I hate it and if possible we go away to Germany. There it's like a normal day. The trains and buses run. Restaurants and hotels are open as normal and the people go out and walk up mountains [and so on]

It's personal choice, though. Many millions of people in the UK value Christmas Day - including those who work on the trains and buses - as special and want it to be different, without having to work unnecessarily. Fair enough if other countries/cultures don't want to treat it like a special day, but that doesn't make the British wrong just because the majority of us do want it to be special.

Nobody is stopping you from going out for a walk in the countryside, climbing a mountain, sitting at home in silence or scrubbing your wheelie bin sparkling clean with an old toothbrush - it's just anything that requires other people to work and give up their (to many) very special holiday against their will.

It is to cover for the very expensive staff costs, and also people expect a better kind of Xmas lunch.

That's a very good point, actually. A lot of the same people who don't see why they should pay a significantly higher price than on any other day will also expect it to be perfect and super special, on account of the fact that it's Christmas Day - and would likely be much less forgiving (and more quicker to leave bad reviews) if they believe that the restaurant has 'spoiled' their Christmas Day in any (minor) way.

*quicker - not 'more quicker' !

There is always some price gouging going on. With prices going up generally, some places will be seeing how much they can get away with charging. But this can backfire, of course.

TBH £150 each does seem an awful lot! None of the pubs near us are showing their prices! I get that their staff need adequate payment ,however they are in danger of pricing themselves out of the market. We are lucky that a friend is a chef and likes doing Christmas Dinner. Maybe try M and S for some pre prep veg and Christmas pud,treats and snacks . Also a Turkey Crown is quite easy to prep if not too many of you!

There is always some price gouging going on. With prices going up generally, some places will be seeing how much they can get away with charging.

But one person's 'price gouging' is just another person's 'running a business'. Nobody complains when places do 2-for-1 specials on a Tuesday afternoon, when far fewer people are available/wanting to eat out, so why shouldn't their prices also reflect the market at times when they're in much greater demand?

But one person's 'price gouging' is just another person's 'running a business'

Well, the market will decide. If they find themselves low on bookings then maybe they should have charged a bit less.

They shouldn’t open in my opinion.

Way overpriced in your opinion.

If you do not want to pay this, pop to Tesco, and cook it at home.

It is a simple solution, the price is the price. The why's are irrelevant.

Typical MN response!

DD works in a hotel. Last year all staff had to work a 4-hour shift on Christmas Day for no extra pay. I was absolutely disgusted at how poorly they treat their staff while charging so much for what is essentially a roast dinner.

Well, the market will decide. If they find themselves low on bookings then maybe they should have charged a bit less.

I completely agree. If they can fill all their tables at their price, they're pretty much vindicated; if they end up half-empty, they might want to rethink their business strategies.

On the other hand, maybe some places prefer being half-full, but with the people there paying double; yes, it's not a relaxing Christmas for the staff, but a slower, relatively less stressful pace might be baked in to their calculations when setting Christmas Day prices?!

Finally found nice medium price pub /Restaurant in our area( SC) .charging £65.00 PP for Christmas lunch .

This

Of I work Christmas Day in my office I get £250 plus double time