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General Hotel Discussion

I could be completely wrong but isn’t the eastern express a halal only food outlet?. If that’s the case could the be a possible reason they have kept it going or could there be another reason.
 
Did the size of the Mutiny Bay Eastern Express shrink when the new units opened in Dark Forest, or have they recently increased their footprint?

Only eaten there once at a Scarefest, was fine - but couldn't say it was any better than that.
 
If I recall correctly, the Mcdonalds was a "premium priced" site.
Lots of grumbles by the kids I took that everything was more expensive than the High St.
Eastern express every time now.
 
When the Burger King deal with Karali expired, Karali walked away. Merlin now had complete control of the on-park catering offer - with the exception of Eastern Express at Towers (how this survived is beyond me - I dread to think what rent they are paying on the unit).
I could be completely wrong but isn’t the eastern express a halal only food outlet?. If that’s the case could the be a possible reason they have kept it going or could there be another reason.

I think the reason that the majority (if not all) of the menu being halal is why Eastern Express has survived. Also I don't expect their rent is that high, maybe being a smaller local business got them a better deal? They also sell food made from very cheap ingredients (their sausages are very basic chip shop quality at best) so I think they probably have a high margin.

Did the size of the Mutiny Bay Eastern Express shrink when the new units opened in Dark Forest, or have they recently increased their footprint?

Only eaten there once at a Scarefest, was fine - but couldn't say it was any better than that.
I think they just agreed to take on the risk of the Dark Forest outlets, Alton Towers would be happy as they get the rent income without having to pay for staff and ingredients. Their Mutiny Bay outlet remains the same size. and yes the quality is very much "it'll do", their kebab stuff is OK, but I think my Burger Kitchen Burger was better.

If I recall correctly, the Mcdonalds was a "premium priced" site.
Lots of grumbles by the kids I took that everything was more expensive than the High St.
Eastern express every time now.
McDonalds was only a little more expensive than the high street, not as bad as Burger King (who are generally more expensive than McDs anyway. I remember it being along the line of (for a meal) £4 high street, £4.50 Tussauds parks then Burger King came in at £5.50. I find the Burger Kitchen at AT fine, its not the most amazing burger but its not bad and the pricing is in line with Burger King in stations & services.

I think the quality of a burger that needs to improve again is Rollercoaster Restaurant, I get that you are paying a premium for the location, but the food doesn't live up to a £12 let alone a price tag, just having better burger patties would make a difference.

But back on topic, do they even have enough tables in all the restaurants combined for every room to eat, based on two sittings (ie people roughly eating at 6pm or 8pm, I don't think you would get a third use of the table in?)?
I expect they are thinking some people will go to Rollercoaster Restaurant, but the camping sheds really should have had a dedicated restaurant/bar.
 
If I recall correctly, the Mcdonalds was a "premium priced" site.
Lots of grumbles by the kids I took that everything was more expensive than the High St.

The Towers McDonalds (which were not run by Towers) would have had to adhere to McDonalds pricing rules. Yes, the prices would have been a little higher than the High Street, but not much. I won't go into the in's & out's of the pricing rules, but McDonalds UK control heavily the prices franchisees can charge.

Basically they want to avoid high-overhead units, e.g. Central London / Motorways / Theme Parks etc being able to charge sky-high prices and give the general public the perception that "McDonalds is expensive" [which is what happened to Burger King, mainly due to the operators on the Motorways, where you can easily pay over £7 for a meal].
 
I like Eastern Express. It can be cheaper than other food outlets across the park and I've always enjoyed the food in there.

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Those prices are a bit crazy.

£4.80 for a 330ml can of cider!
£1.50 for a small tub of Pringles!

Even in London I think they would feel high.
I was just thinking how reasonable they are for food delivered to your room in a resort hotel! The tray charge alone in my 'normal' work hotel is £4.

At least they went all out on the design budget for the menu.
 
Food prices look reasonable to me for room service. As for drinks... we all know if you're staying on resort, you take your own booze with you anyway (or is that just me? :flushed:)
 
I was just thinking how reasonable they are for food delivered to your room in a resort hotel! The tray charge alone in my 'normal' work hotel is £4.

At least they went all out on the design budget for the menu.

Yeah I think the food prices aren't too bad and I imagine they have chosen not to add a tray/delivery charge as they are offering this due to Covid and many people would probably just go to the restaurant to avoid the delivery charge.

The food price also depends on the quality of the burger really, but the pizza cost is pretty good.

With the alcohol its more that they are charging a similar price to the bar charges for a pint, but only serving a 330ml can/bottle.
 
Deary me, that menu is depressing but not at all surprising. They could have at least tried to make it look more aesthetically pleasing. Burgers and pizzas all round, some things never change at Towers!
 
Deary me, that menu is depressing but not at all surprising. They could have at least tried to make it look more aesthetically pleasing. Burgers and pizzas all round, some things never change at Towers!
Well, at least it isn't as bad as the pathetic 'Fireworks Special' menu in Towers Street Bar & Grill one year that consisted of a job lot of jacket potatoes that they needed to get rid of very quickly!
 
Well, at least it isn't as bad as the pathetic 'Fireworks Special' menu in Towers Street Bar & Grill one year that consisted of a job lot of jacket potatoes that they needed to get rid of very quickly!

That. Was. Amazing.

Imagine literally advertising your end of year leftovers as a 'special menu'.
 
Those prices are a bit crazy.

£4.80 for a 330ml can of cider!
£1.50 for a small tub of Pringles!

Even in London I think they would feel high.
I think those prices are very reasonable for room service. I've stayed in hotels where having a can of coke from the minibar would cost you £4
 
I’m surprised that they’ve not looked at integrating table service and mobile ordering into the app to be honest.

I don’t know how easy it would be to do that but making the app a one stop place for everything about the result would surely work well?
 
I’m surprised that they’ve not looked at integrating table service and mobile ordering into the app to be honest.

I don’t know how easy it would be to do that but making the app a one stop place for everything about the result would surely work well?

Once an app is updated it then needs to go through Apple/Google review before it goes onto the App/Play store, it is much quicker to roll out a simple web page. But yes long-term it would be good to have it on the app too.
 
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