CI Sailing - increase in prices

[brianhumber]

Spent the last two weeks in CI and adjacent French ports. Sailing and weather very good as usual.
However did notice the sharp increase in marina prices and cost of dining and wining in the UK islands over the last few years and they do not have the excuse of Euros either.
IMHO they are in danger of pricing themselves out of the market, I for one will think twice about going to Alderney and Jersey again, Dielette and Granville are far better. About the only reason for Guernsey visit would be for fuel and the fact its on a rumb for North Brittany coast for me.

 

[Robin]

We came to the same conclusion over the Bank Hol weekend. I have a very strong suspicion that some if not nearly all of the St Peter Port restaurants are fixing prices or at least setting minimums. I did a quick walking survey and a) the prices were higher than UK mainland, despite no VAT b) The staples like a plain fillet steak or grilled fillet of bass were all the same even in the 'lesser' restaurants. We already discovered last September that Saltwater restaurant in St Peter Port (a previous favourite) had jumped it's prices from May/June 2004 by up to 31%, obvious to us since I keep bills and stick them in our log but also since they omitted to change their website prices which showed the originals for months afterwards.

One of the biggest cons IMO is to quote prices for main courses that do not include any veggies, then charge exorbitant prices for them on top (Saltwater want £2.50 per veg per person!). So £15 for a main course then another £7.50 on top for a few sauteed spuds a bit of broccoli and a few courgettes or similar.

Brits vote with their feet mostly and our feet have decided to walk into French establishments and eat on board in the Islands.

 

[tcm]

do you not think that the whole of guernsey simply represents the british restaurant industry tho? Whereas french want to creat a restaurant that we earn them a living and a become a place to be, brits who staert a restaurant want a Bentley.

When was the last time in the UK that the remarks was made "i don't know how they do it for the money" or "i can't buy the ingredients for this price" or suchlike. In fact, in many areas, the prices are almost hard up against the very MOST you pay for the food, or in some instances (guernsey, its seems) slightly above that level...

 

[Robin]

We bought a local Guernsey line caught (not farmed) bass for £10.70 in St Peter Port, had them fillet it to give us 2 huge fillets equivalent to 4 of the size you would expect in the restaurant and to pay up to £19.95 each for in La Nautique et al, plus vegs, plus plus plus! They take just 5 minutes to grill/pan fry so not rocket science either! And our on board wine isn't £16 plus per bottle and another £4 for fizzy water!

 

[DepSol]

In defence of Guernsey

Yes you could be right, the problem is that there are so many people willing to pay these prices that if you were in a business that had the sort of land rental a SPP restaurant has then you have to up the anti to stay in business.

I have a second floor office in town between the two marinas and that is seep in rent but to go further up the road and go ground floor it was £28,000 per annum for the same space.

Now if you were to hire a car or catch th bus and go out of town then you could got to loads of fantastic restaurants serving the same food for less. Usual story you want it on your door step you are going to have to pay for it..... and most do!

In defence Christies do a superb 3 course Sunday Lunch for £11 per head. Again Beacette has a menu of £15 for 3 courses and if you had just walked a little further than normal to the end of the bus terminus you could have eaten al fresco or inside at La Perla which if I am not mistaken are still ding there fabulous 3 courser for a tenner.

Its all about knowing where to go and when. As always and I am sure any one who has come and asked...any one can give me a call and I will tell them what they need to do. I will even organise your hire car for you if you want and point out the places to visit.

One thing I do find strange is that alot of you come over to this Island and dont move much further than Marks and Spencers or La Nautique, although La Cruz is just as god and just as close for alot less. We have a lot to see and alot of nice walks and beaches and wonder why no one really explores. Even Sark and Herm arent explored as much as they could be.

Dont be afraid to ask, it could transform your holiday! I kow of one couple who had a lovely spins around Herm and sark at the top of a 10m tide and the view going through the gulliot pasage was amazing, another lot of freinds who ended up having Derrible all to themselves for the afternoon in hot sunshine and crystal clear waters....the list goes on.

There is alot more to do and see than the end of your boat and thats where you will usually find the better food for less money.

 

[alastair]

I agree with Dom.
The best places to go are not always the most expensive. Ask his advice for free (yes, Im a Scot) anchorages in beautiful surroundings, and see Herm, Sark and the rest of this fantastic area at its best.

Alastair

 

[brianhumber]

Re: In defence of Guernsey

You make some good points and I agree if we had gone 'backstreet' or out of town better valve could be had. However its knowing where these are although my wife and I used and were impressed with the 50p bus service this year.
We did explore Sark and Herm ( my mate came off his bike on the loose gravel and ended up bandaged like a priate - doctor said most of his custom was bike fall offs!)
Derrible bay now has a buoy in the middle which is used by the cat ferry during the and takes up all the swinging room, we went next door and had a good day but even in mid week there were 6 yacht in here overnight.

 

[Robin]

Re: In defence of Guernsey

Hi Dom

You are right about prices close by, that principle is common to most harbours where prices drop and often quality improves with distance walked! There were as you say some goodish deals for 3 course or lunchtime specials but these too exist in other places, the problem comes when you want a special meal out in the evening.

We used to look forward to a stopover in St Peter Port on our way home from our regular annual cruise to South Brittany, mainly in order to eat out in either The Absolute End, Da Nellos or more recently at Saltwater. However between May and September last year Saltwater had bumped prices up by 31% so we tried La Nautique another night where we were wined and dined in 1.25 hrs and left £110 poorer for just 2 of us, that is fast food at £88 per hour! Da Nello offers a range of prices and usually good quality and Nello is a nice guy, but they have got a bit greedy IMO by chasing diners through so the tables get a second lot in every night. We have seen people being asked to move out to the bar for their coffees still carrying their wine from the meal, just to vacate the table for someone else. Beaucette we have tried for lunch years ago when we had a car and it was good but the evening menu prices were frightening then, maybe it is different now.

We tried the 'Captain's Table' trip to Herm over the recent Bank Hol week, £23.25 each including the ferry, which they itemised as £6 each on the bill, so £17 for the meal itself. The meal was OK but no way memorable, tiny starter followed by a carvery and choice of desert, our bill with wine, water, G & Ts and a tip was just under £90 for the two of us and again it was fast food. We caught the ferry out at 7.15pm, arrived in the resataurant at 8pm, were all done by 9pm and went for an hours walk after dinner to kill time before the return ferry. Different so interesting enough as a one off.

This sounds like we eat out all the time, we don't! However we do like to eat out occasionally on holiday and prefer to eat better rather than more frequently and prefer to pay a bit more for a memorable meal. However when prices approach and even break the £100 for 2 mark then the memorable bit becomes the bill rather than the grub unless the Chef was really really on form and especially so where the 17.5% contribution to HMG isn't an issue.

In future we will reserve our eat out funds for elsewhere and will DIY something special on board.

As a final knock whilst I'm in the mood, the St Peter Port water taxi guy like the rest of the island took the holiday off work, then wondered why everyone in the pool were using their own dinghies and he had no business on the Tuesday! Either there IS a water taxi or there isn't - one that appears occasionally and isn't there when needed is worse than useless.

Robin

 

[Sailfree]

Re: In defence of Guernsey

We were there last week and apparantly the water taxi is run by the local yacht club and it had an engine problem. Got towed away last Wednesday for repair.

Harbour master remarked that it was very quite this year - I hope one of them reads scuttlebut and they will know why! With increased berthing charges and eating out costs we will be breaking our future journey's to Brittany at Carteret in future.

 

[ashanta]

Go to Moore's Carvery (Library) for just over a Fiver.

Regards.

Peter.

 

[Robin]

Water Taxi

We have talked with the harbour staff many times when there and also on their boat show stands about the taxi. Apparently the concession has changed hands several times and not one of them (including I think the Sea Scouts or Sea Cadets or whatever) could make a go of it.

We were there for 3 days a year or so back and lazily didn't inflate our dinghy on the 1st 2 days, then when we had booked dinner the night before we were leaving and with a very early departure planned, the taxi man says he can take us ashore but not bring us back! He suggested we ask the Harbour patrol guys to take us back - yeah right! So best duds on, now inflate the dinghy, could have done that 2 days before and saved the money, then later have wet dinghy to put away in the dark after the meal ashore.

Another time another taxi man, us and several others called and called on VHF for the taxi with no reply, later when we saw him he said he was busy helping a mate antifoul his boat and insisted on programming his mobile number into ours, so now to use taxi involves 2 mobile to mobile 'international' phone calls as well as the taxi fare!

As I said before there either IS a taxi and it is ALWAYS on duty normal hours or there ISN'T, either is fine just so long as we know and can plan accordingly.