Luke

Hello, I am hoping to go to London in a few weeks time. I've never been in
that many hotels in my life, I'm looking at the website www.londontown.com
which is very useful, however, I can't quite figure out whether the Hotel
prices per night include breakfast or not? or does it depend on the hotel?
is there a general rule regarding hotel meals?

David Bennetts

"luke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Hello, I am hoping to go to London in a few weeks time. I've never been in
    > that many hotels in my life, I'm looking at the website www.londontown.com
    > which is very useful, however, I can't quite figure out whether the Hotel
    > prices per night include breakfast or not? or does it depend on the hotel?
    > is there a general rule regarding hotel meals?

May or may not include breakfast, London these days usually offers only a
continental variety. Some chains such as Travelinn, Travelodge don't
include breakfast, where there is a hefty additional charge.

I had a look at londontown website, be aware that prices quoted do not
include tax, which in Britain also amounts to a sizeable amount (17.5%).
Taking the example of Jury's Inn, only when you got to making a reservation
stage did it show there was no breakfast included. I'm not sure of the
British law on this for internet pricing, but for prices shown on brochures,
menus etc should all be inclusive of taxes, not have taxes as an amount
above the quoted price, as done in the USA and Canada.

Regards

David Bennetts

Mark Hewitt

"David Bennetts" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I had a look at londontown website, be aware that prices quoted do not
    > include tax, which in Britain also amounts to a sizeable amount (17.5%).
    > Taking the example of Jury's Inn, only when you got to making a
reservation
    > stage did it show there was no breakfast included. I'm not sure of the
    > British law on this for internet pricing, but for prices shown on
brochures,
    > menus etc should all be inclusive of taxes, not have taxes as an amount
    > above the quoted price, as done in the USA and Canada.

There are no special rules for internet pricing.

If you are in the UK and selling to UK customers you *must* include all
taxes in the quoted price.

I've had a quick look at that website, and they do seem to quote the price
excluding VAT and then have that as a seperate amount and don't give the
total. It would appear to me that they are acting illegally (however I'm not
a lawyer so that's an entirely subjective view on my part)

Tim

"Mark Hewitt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "David Bennetts" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > >
    > > I had a look at londontown website, be aware that prices quoted do not
    > > include tax, which in Britain also amounts to a sizeable amount (17.5%).
    > > Taking the example of Jury's Inn, only when you got to making a
    > reservation
    > > stage did it show there was no breakfast included. I'm not sure of the
    > > British law on this for internet pricing, but for prices shown on
    > brochures,
    > > menus etc should all be inclusive of taxes, not have taxes as an amount
    > > above the quoted price, as done in the USA and Canada.
    > There are no special rules for internet pricing.
    > If you are in the UK and selling to UK customers you *must* include all
    > taxes in the quoted price.
    > I've had a quick look at that website, and they do seem to quote the price
    > excluding VAT and then have that as a seperate amount and don't give the
    > total. It would appear to me that they are acting illegally (however I'm
not
    > a lawyer so that's an entirely subjective view on my part)

I agree, this is not allowed. A very sharp practice on the part of
the web site.

tim

David Bennetts

"Mark Hewitt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "David Bennetts" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > >
    > > I had a look at londontown website, be aware that prices quoted do not
    > > include tax, which in Britain also amounts to a sizeable amount (17.5%).
    > > Taking the example of Jury's Inn, only when you got to making a
    > reservation
    > > stage did it show there was no breakfast included. I'm not sure of the
    > > British law on this for internet pricing, but for prices shown on
    > brochures,
    > > menus etc should all be inclusive of taxes, not have taxes as an amount
    > > above the quoted price, as done in the USA and Canada.
    > There are no special rules for internet pricing.
    > If you are in the UK and selling to UK customers you *must* include all
    > taxes in the quoted price.
    > I've had a quick look at that website, and they do seem to quote the price
    > excluding VAT and then have that as a seperate amount and don't give the
    > total. It would appear to me that they are acting illegally (however I'm
not
    > a lawyer so that's an entirely subjective view on my part)
Thanks Mark

I guess the londowntown.com website do that as it's the practice of US-based
websites, eg expedia to show the taxes as an additional item, and they
possibly source a lot of their clientele from that market, so they follow
that practice. However if my understanding is correct it is not normal in
any of the EU countries to quote prices excluding tax. So if this
presumption is correct you could argue that londowntown are gaining an
unfair advantage when marketing to home and EU clients, but no advantage
when compared with US/Canadian booking services.

In Australia we basically follow the same practice as Britain in that the
quoted price always includes tax (GST) which is currently 10%. I always
feel stung when I travel to the USA and have to pay taxes (and often
gratuities) on top of their quoted price, perhaps Americans may realise one
day their non-conformist trading policies don't encourage tourism.
(As with their dogged determination to retain imperial measurements)

Regards

David Bennetts

Charles Hawtrey

"David Bennetts" <[email protected]> climbed onto an
orange crate and shouted:

    >In Australia we basically follow the same practice as Britain in that the
    >quoted price always includes tax (GST) which is currently 10%. I always
    >feel stung when I travel to the USA and have to pay taxes (and often
    >gratuities) on top of their quoted price, perhaps Americans may realise one
    >day their non-conformist trading policies don't encourage tourism.

A big difference is that sales tax (VAT, GST, whatever) in most other
countries is imposed at a uniform rate nationwide, whereas all sales
taxes in the U.S. are imposed locally with rates varying wildly from
state to state and city to city. Perhaps in the modern era it would
be possible to maintain a database of sales tax rates for every town
across the nation and then add sales tax into the price -- not a bad
idea, but it probably won't happen anytime soon.

    >(As with their dogged determination to retain imperial measurements)

Should we ever meet, I'll buy you 568.2615 milliliters of beer.



--
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we.
They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country
and our people, and neither do we." - GW Bush, 5 August 2004

S Viemeister

David Bennetts wrote:

    > In Australia we basically follow the same practice as Britain in that the
    > quoted price always includes tax (GST) which is currently 10%. I always
    > feel stung when I travel to the USA and have to pay taxes (and often
    > gratuities) on top of their quoted price, perhaps Americans may realise one
    > day their non-conformist trading policies don't encourage tourism.
    > (As with their dogged determination to retain imperial measurements)
    >
Ahem - US standard measurements are not exactly the same as Imperial
measurements. Some are quite different.

barney

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (David Bennetts) wrote:

    >
    > "luke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Hello, I am hoping to go to London in a few weeks time. I've never
    > > been in
    > > that many hotels in my life, I'm looking at the website
    > > www.londontown.com
    > > which is very useful, however, I can't quite figure out whether the
    > > Hotel
    > > prices per night include breakfast or not? or does it depend on the
    > > hotel?
    > > is there a general rule regarding hotel meals?
    > >
    >
    > May or may not include breakfast

...and where it doesn't, you will usually get a better and much cheaper
breakfast in a cafe rather than in the hotel.

Jan

luke wrote:
    > Hello, I am hoping to go to London in a few weeks time. I've never
    > been in that many hotels in my life, I'm looking at the website
    > www.londontown.com which is very useful, however, I can't quite
    > figure out whether the Hotel prices per night include breakfast or
    > not? or does it depend on the hotel? is there a general rule
    > regarding hotel meals?


Try this site
http://www.activereservations.com/ho...rlondon/london
I think you'll find it a lot easier to follow than www.londontown.com

Yes I am a customer of theirs ( not a London hotel ). The hotel is
responsible for its own descriptions on this site so all information should
be accurate.


Jan

David Bennetts

"S Viemeister" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > David Bennetts wrote:
    > > In Australia we basically follow the same practice as Britain in that
the
    > > quoted price always includes tax (GST) which is currently 10%. I always
    > > feel stung when I travel to the USA and have to pay taxes (and often
    > > gratuities) on top of their quoted price, perhaps Americans may realise
one
    > > day their non-conformist trading policies don't encourage tourism.
    > > (As with their dogged determination to retain imperial measurements)
    > >
    > Ahem - US standard measurements are not exactly the same as Imperial
    > measurements. Some are quite different.

Perhaps I used the term loosely. Gas (or should I say petrol) is of course
by US gallon, somewhat less than an imperial.
But they've got the same inches, feet, yards, miles, and nautical miles as
Imperial. It's still an antiquated and un-necessarily complex measuring
system, if you for example want the area of a rectangle 5 miles, 530 feet,
seven and one quarter inches by 3 miles, 4320 feet, 4 and one eighth inches
how on earth do you put that in your calculator? Metrics by comparison is
so simple.

Also one of my pet hates is US currency notes - a complete lack of
imagination in having them all the same size and same dull colour, with
dreary antideluvian design, they're supposed to be a vibrant modern country,
why not design something more appropriate to the 21st century rather than
the 19th?

I won't mention their immigration forms, which look as though they were
printed on a 17th century printing press, with the form design done by the
janitor!


Regards

David Bennetts
Australia

David Bennetts

    > > >
    > >
    > > May or may not include breakfast
    > ...and where it doesn't, you will usually get a better and much cheaper
    > breakfast in a cafe rather than in the hotel.

Couldn't agree more.

Regards

David Bennetts

Owain

"David Bennetts" wrote
    | But they've got the same inches, feet, yards, miles, and nautical
    | miles as Imperial. It's still an antiquated and un-necessarily
    | complex measuring system, if you for example want the area of a
    | rectangle 5 miles, 530 feet, seven and one quarter inches by
    | 3 miles, 4320 feet, 4 and one eighth inches how on earth do you
    | put that in your calculator?

Calculator? The purpose of the Imperial system is to teach children
multiplication tables and mental arithmetic.

Your example is unlikely. No-one would measure a distance of 5 miles to the
nearest eighth inch. And mixed units are simply converted down to the
smallest, using ready reckoner tables which were readily available. Then
convert back up again.

    | Metrics by comparison is so simple.

But so easy to make a pig's ear of when the decimal point slips. The
advantage of the Imperial system is the unit of measurement changes, keeping
the numbers small.

An area 2 ft x 2 ft is 4 sq ft. The same area in either millimetres or
metres is 600 x 600 or 0.6 x 0.6. Schools use the bastard unit of centimetre
because children can't cope with measuring to exact mm, or multiplying the
figures involved, and a metre rule would poke someone's eye out. Inches and
ft are nice and easy for children.

At least the Brits don't measure everything in cupsful.

Owain

Keith Willshaw

"Owain" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "David Bennetts" wrote
    > | But they've got the same inches, feet, yards, miles, and nautical
    > | miles as Imperial. It's still an antiquated and un-necessarily
    > | complex measuring system, if you for example want the area of a
    > | rectangle 5 miles, 530 feet, seven and one quarter inches by
    > | 3 miles, 4320 feet, 4 and one eighth inches how on earth do you
    > | put that in your calculator?
    > Calculator? The purpose of the Imperial system is to teach children
    > multiplication tables and mental arithmetic.
    > Your example is unlikely. No-one would measure a distance of 5 miles to
the
    > nearest eighth inch. And mixed units are simply converted down to the
    > smallest, using ready reckoner tables which were readily available. Then
    > convert back up again.
    > | Metrics by comparison is so simple.
    > But so easy to make a pig's ear of when the decimal point slips. The
    > advantage of the Imperial system is the unit of measurement changes,
keeping
    > the numbers small.
    > An area 2 ft x 2 ft is 4 sq ft. The same area in either millimetres or
    > metres is 600 x 600 or 0.6 x 0.6. Schools use the bastard unit of
centimetre
    > because children can't cope with measuring to exact mm, or multiplying the
    > figures involved, and a metre rule would poke someone's eye out. Inches
and
    > ft are nice and easy for children.
    > At least the Brits don't measure everything in cupsful.


Hmm I drive my 10 miles to a supermarket to buy
petrol in litres , a 1 litre bottle of soda
water, 1 pint of fresh milk, 500 ml of UHT
milk and 2 pints of beer and this makes sense !

Keith

nitram

On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 16:06:15 +0100, "Keith Willshaw"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >"Owain" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >news:[email protected]...
    >> "David Bennetts" wrote
    >> | But they've got the same inches, feet, yards, miles, and nautical
    >> | miles as Imperial. It's still an antiquated and un-necessarily
    >> | complex measuring system, if you for example want the area of a
    >> | rectangle 5 miles, 530 feet, seven and one quarter inches by
    >> | 3 miles, 4320 feet, 4 and one eighth inches how on earth do you
    >> | put that in your calculator?
    >> Calculator? The purpose of the Imperial system is to teach children
    >> multiplication tables and mental arithmetic.
    >> Your example is unlikely. No-one would measure a distance of 5 miles to
    >the
    >> nearest eighth inch. And mixed units are simply converted down to the
    >> smallest, using ready reckoner tables which were readily available. Then
    >> convert back up again.
    >> | Metrics by comparison is so simple.
    >> But so easy to make a pig's ear of when the decimal point slips. The
    >> advantage of the Imperial system is the unit of measurement changes,
    >keeping
    >> the numbers small.
    >> An area 2 ft x 2 ft is 4 sq ft. The same area in either millimetres or
    >> metres is 600 x 600 or 0.6 x 0.6. Schools use the bastard unit of
    >centimetre
    >> because children can't cope with measuring to exact mm, or multiplying the
    >> figures involved, and a metre rule would poke someone's eye out. Inches
    >and
    >> ft are nice and easy for children.
    >> At least the Brits don't measure everything in cupsful.
    >Hmm I drive my 10 miles to a supermarket to buy
    >petrol in litres , a 1 litre bottle of soda
    >water, 1 pint of fresh milk, 500 ml of UHT
    >milk and 2 pints of beer and this makes sense !

Not when car fuel consumption is still given in MPG, nor when
metrication started around 40 years ago :-)

Devil

On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 14:11:52 +0100, Owain wrote:


    > But so easy to make a pig's ear of when the decimal point slips. The
    > advantage of the Imperial system is the unit of measurement changes, keeping
    > the numbers small.
    >
    > An area 2 ft x 2 ft is 4 sq ft. The same area in either millimetres or
    > metres is 600 x 600 or 0.6 x 0.6. Schools use the bastard unit of centimetre
    > because children can't cope with measuring to exact mm, or multiplying the
    > figures involved, and a metre rule would poke someone's eye out. Inches and
    > ft are nice and easy for children.
    >
    > At least the Brits don't measure everything in cupsful.


Small test for you. If my reservoir has a capacity of 10 acre-feet, and I
didpose of a 100 gpm pump, how many years will it take to pump out all the
water from a full reservoir?