The offending item was this bottle of Canadian Iceberg glacier water.
A hotel in Northern Ireland has been criticised for introducing a new bottled water menu, with one particular product commanding a price tag of more than £26.
The luxury drinks list has been offered to guests at The Merchant Hotel in Belfast, and includes a £15.50 bottle of De l’Aubier maple sap water from Canada; still Italian Fuiggi water at £11.50; and a bottle of sparkling Borjomi from Georgia, priced at £13.95. But the most expensive offering by far was a £26.45 bottle of Iceberg Canadian Arctic ice shelf water from Newfoundland, which has set social media alight with outrage.
Some Twitter users have described the move as “morally wrong” and “daft”. The Iceberg-branded water beats the $25 that you would have to pay for a bottle of Bling H2O in Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago, and joins the ranks of such expensive hotel offerings as a Beverly Hills hotel’s $80 bag of chocolates and a €15 40g tube of Pringles at a hotel in Marseille.
The hotel, the only five-star accommodation in Belfast, will also offer guests a water sommelier service – dubbed the “water butler” – to help them choose the right drink. It was quick to defend its premium selection, pointing out that customers could still choose a “local Irish brand” or a glass of tap water for free, adding that it didn’t expect everybody to opt for the £26.45 bottle.
Merchant Hotel general manager Gavin Carroll said: “The ethos behind the new water menu is to allow our guests to have the chance and choice to curate their own bespoke food and beverage experience.
“Of course, we know these luxury waters won’t be to everyone’s taste and new menu will be offered as an additional option to our current water menu that includes local Irish brands and for those that don’t want to splash out on water, we can still offer a glass of ‘Belfast water’, free of charge.”
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