Price Of Whisky In Britain’ Puzzles Americans

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 89, 1 September 1948, Page 5

Price Of Whisky In Britain’ Puzzles Americans

Foreign visitors r, to London, including many Americans on a dol-lar-spending holiday, are puzzled by big differences in prices charged for drinks by West End hotels. T-he Americans, in particular, protest that the price of whisky in London is far too high. They are used to buying the . best brands of Scotch at home for half as much. In a tour of West End hotel bars a reporter found a wide variety of charges for drinks. At the Savoy, the Berkeley and Olaridge’s a double Scotch costs 7s. At the Dorchester it is 6s, and at Grosvenor House < and the s ßitz ss. At the Waldorf the price was ss'6d. For a double gin in the Savoy group the charge was the same as for their whisky. At the Dorchester it was 5s 6d, at Grosvenor House 4s 6d, and at the Ritz ss, while the Waldorf price was 4s. A further complication is that different measures are used. ■' At one hotel bar the attendant is expected to get 20 measures out of a bottle of whisky or gin, but at another, a stone’s" throw away, the barman is required to squeeze 32 measures.