Why Russian guesthouse prices for World Cup aren't exploitative

As a stranger in a strange land, it’s good to have a friend on your side. Such as Donal A, Joko S and Rodica E.

Had I been tempted to visit the Osteria da Luca in Venice, their TripAdvisor reviews would have sent me swiftly in a different direction: “€16 euro for a large beer and then they steal another €3 service charge from you on way out,” reported Donal. “For regular sea bass and prawn menu they charged us €300,” grumbled Joko; “Worst place in the world,” concluded Rodica.

The restaurant in the San Marco district has been in the public eye this week, after four Japanese students were charged €1,143 for a meal of steak, fried fish and mineral water. The restaurant has reportedly been fined €20,000, though not for overcharging: rather, it failed to provide the students with a proper receipt. (In a bid to dodge tax-dodging, Italian hostelries are required to give every customer an itemised bill, and the guest is obliged to take it.)

Tourists are routinely ripped off across the world, so you might just say “buyer beware”: if you fail to check prices properly, surely you are lawful prey?

While almost every other restaurant in Italy is content to provide delicious food at reasonable prices, “Rip Off Central” (as another TripAdvisor reviewer, Melany D, calls it) extracts absurd sums for mediocre meals. The insidious business model exploits foreign tourists’ ignorance of the way that Italian menus work. Restaurant staff steer diners to order fresh fish or steak. The menu price might appear to be €8, but the small print says that’s just for 100g of the uncooked item. The cost of the dish might be €40, €50, €60… add in an overpriced drink, cover charge and 15 per cent service charge and you are quickly in €100 territory. It appears that apart from the receipt oversight, the Osteria da Luca operates within the rules. In which case the rules need beefing up.

Equal outrage seems to have been triggered by my revelation that a Russian guesthouse is seeking to cash in on England’s World Cup match against Belgium by charging more than £1,000 per person per night. The Meridian Guesthouse in Kaliningrad, which usually charges £17 for a room for three, has multiplied its normal rate 184-fold. But there’s a line between exploitation and opportunism, and this is on the right side of that frontier.

An opportunistic proprietor is seeking to make the most of a the once-in-a-lifetime occasion when the Russian exclave actually has too few rooms. But no one is being tricked: the price of £3,125 is available for the world to click at Booking.com, with the helpful note that city tax of £0.12 is included.

Ignore the ridiculous message “Jackpot! This is the cheapest price you’ve seen in Kaliningrad for your dates!”, search a bit more, and you can find a tent pitched in a field outside the city for £63. Still too much? Then take advantage of geography. Establish base camp in the fine Polish city of Gdansk, just 100 miles away. Rent a car or negotiate for a taxi, and drive across the Russian frontier into this strange land for the 7pm kick off. (Just remember Kaliningrad’s artificial time zone, two hours ahead of Poland in summer.)

This timeshift works to your advantage after the match; with luck you’ll be back in Gdansk in time for a late dinner. Should you get caught in congestion at the frontier, with thousands of other fans from both England and Belgium making the same manoeuvre, no problem: just across the border in Braniewo, the Venezia restaurant serves a Pizza Venezia about the same diameter as the centre spot for less than £7. With no hidden charges.