Saturday, July 27, 2024

Well sly water

Matthew Steeples examines London venues charging the most for mineral water

 

A 500ml bottle of San Pellegrino will set you back just 63p in Tesco. At The Wellesley in Knightbridge, however, a customer, Edward Heaton, was left somewhat shocked when he got a bill of £75 for three bottles on 17th July.

 

A bill for three bottles of San Pellegrino came to an astonishing £75 at The Wellesley in London
A bill for three bottles of San Pellegrino came to an astonishing £75 at The Wellesley in London
The bill presented to Edward Heaton left him "totally bemused"
The bill presented to Edward Heaton left him “totally bemused”

Property buying agent Heaton, who was attending a business meeting, was “bemused” by this and asked if it was correct. He was told that after 4pm, the hotel has a minimum spend of £25 per person so alongside £5.50 per bottle of water, the bill included £50.17 for the minimum spend and a service charge of £8.33.

 

Having emailed and tweeted the hotel to share his astonishment at this “rip off” and the fact he “wasn’t told of [the] charge or shown a menu”, the management responded on Twitter. They failed to show any shock about what happened and simply said:

 

“Thank you for letting us know. We will make sure our policy at the Crystal Bar is dazzlingly clear to all in the future”.

 

After ITV London took up the story, a statement was issued by The Wellesley. It read:

 

“Guests are made aware of this policy on arrival and the rates are printed on the menus distributed on the terraces”.

 

“The minimum spend of £25 per person is comparable to similar venues across London. Mr Heaton did not raise concern at the time of his visit but did send an email of complaint the following week”.

 

“In response, The Wellesley’s management team replied on the same day to offer its sincere apologies to Mr Heaton for an experience he deemed less than satisfactory and we would like to take this opportunity to apologise again”.

 

Mr Heaton clearly won’t make the same mistake again and quipped: “For £75, we probably could have had a nice glass of wine each”. He has since tweeted: “Avoid The Wellesley” and remarked:

 

@wellesleylondon Still no apology though and no refund. I will let others decide what that says about your attitude to customers”.

 

Meanwhile, nearby at the V&A in South Kensington visitors were also complaining about the cost of bottled water in the museum’s courtyard garden. Of the comparatively reasonable £1.60 per bottle charged for a 500ml bottle, Jane Simpson from Yorkshire told The Steeple Times:

 

“It’s outrageous that a museum would charge so much for water when visitors are from all walks of life. Having said that, I just looked at the sandwiches: £8 for a ham and cheese baguette. I thought it was April Fools’ Day”.

 

Both Heaton and Simpson would be even more astonished if they visited Claridge’s in Mayfair. In 2007, the hotel introduced a “waters of the world” menu that included 420 Volcanic, a water sourced through 200m of volcanic rock. It is priced at £21 for 42cl – the equivalent of £50 a litre.

 

Del Boy – who famously bottled Peckham Springs (tap) water in an episode of Only Fools and Horses in 1992 – would have certainly been in awe. If ever a case were needed for “London tap”, we’ve certainly found it now.

 

 

Subscribe to our free once daily email newsletter here:

     

    The Steeple Times
    The Steeple Times
    We research and background check our articles. If you believe we have made and error in some detail please get in touch, we seek always to write the truth and stand against a press owned by a self selected few. Please help us, we will accept all your likes, subscriptions and anonymous suport. The Editor and his team at the Steeple Times.

    1 COMMENT

    1. Having just returned from holiday in Portugal, the Conrad Hotel’s Gusto restaurant by Heinz Beck offers a menu of 12 different waters, stating their PH rating, and unbelievably, what they taste like! The most expensive is from Figi which is 22 euros with the cheapest being 7. Why is the Figi water so expensive I asked our waiter? He responded by saying it was so clear you could see through it!

    Comments are closed.

    £1 per week Supports The Steeple Times

    Help journalism to remain honest & independent. You can make a difference to the world today.

    3,573FansLike
    2,068FollowersFollow
    16,731FollowersFollow
    4,962SubscribersSubscribe

    Subscribe For DAILY NEWS

    Please subscribe, like and share this unique site, it helps us tremendously. The Steeple Times in return will send you an email at noon each and everyday, that we sincerely hope you will enjoy & look forward to seeing in your inbox.

    AD
    Advertisement

    Trending Now

    Who Did Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell Sex Traffic Their Victims To? Unsealing of Epstein Documents, New Book About Maxwell

    As 200 pages of transcripts about the 2006 investigation into paedophile Jeffrey Epstein are unsealed, a new book – released Thursday – examines “who is permitted to speak” about sexual abuse by an abuse victim present at mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 trial; One key question still remains tellingly unanswered: “Who did these two monsters actually sex traffic their victims to?”

    Bonking Bone Bombards Bonny Broadstairs – Disgraced Sex Fiend Tory Peter Bone’s Lover To Stand In East Thanet

    Matthew Steeples suggests the General Election is going “bonkers in Broadstairs” after the Tories replace “bionic man” Craig Mackinlay with the lover of the disgraced sex fiend Tory Peter Bone as their candidate in East Thanet; elsewhere, petulant ‘popstar’ Holly Valance may throw her hat in for Reform in Basildon and Billericay.

    Margaret Burke

    Former Neo-Nazi supporting HMP Holloway jailbird turned one-time Labour Party councillor Margaret Burke happily hung around with hypocrites Diane Abbott, Jeremy Corbyn and Caroline Flint; will she get a ‘photo op’ with the drippy dope Sir Keir Starmer during General Election 2024?

    Amor Towles

    “Dry witted” investment banker turned bestselling modern-day F. Scott Fitzgerald-esque author Amor Towles is a civilised gent who has “led a life straight from one of his novels.”

    Most Popular Articles

    The Phil & Matt Show

    Phillip Schofield filmed smoking shisha with his alleged ex-lover Matt McGreevy (and pictured in bed thereafter); another image shows the pair together in photograph...

    Was Mucky Minx Meghan Markle A ‘Yacht Girl’ For ‘Randy Andy’?

    As author Kirby Sommers suggests that the then Meghan Markle likely spent time with Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein before she met Prince Harry, we again highlight the mucky, murkiness and mendacious manner of this alleged “yacht girl.”

    SchofieldLite

    ‘Politicalite’ suggest Phillip Schofield orchestrated his ‘mass coming out’ after a former ‘This Morning’ runner had gone to the press about a supposed relationship...

    Meddling Meghan Markle Expose – Attwood, Hopkins & Steeples

    Expose interview with Matthew Steeples by Shaun Attwood and Jennifer Hopkins about the former Meghan Markle watched over 73,000 times in 16 hours since it aired; Steeples condemns hapless Prince Harry and his meddling menace wife.