Tunis offers the best value for British travellers this year when it comes to the common incidental costs while staying in a hotel, according to a cost comparison report released today by TripAdvisor.

The results are taken from the second annual TripAdvisor TripIndex Room Service report, which compares the cost of room service items in 48 popular destinations around the world. The study takes into account the cost of a club sandwich ordered through room service, the dry cleaning of one shirt and from the mini bar: a bottle of water, peanuts, a mini bottle of vodka and a can of cola.

The combined cost of these room service items will set you back £11.03 in Tunis – almost five times less than at the costliest destination, Helsinki, where the price totals £53.25. South Africa’s Cape Town follows closely as the second best value destination for room service at £13.74, while another Scandinavian city, Oslo, is revealed as the second most expensive at £52.44.

“The room rate alone doesn’t give an accurate picture of what the full cost of staying at a hotel can be, especially when you see the wide range of prices for everyday room service items between destinations around the world. A quarter of British travellers have ordered room service in the last 12 months when staying in a hotel* and with this in mind, TripIndex Room Service gives travellers a useful snapshot of where their money will stretch the furthest when it comes to the cost of these items,” commented TripAdvisor spokesperson, James Kay.

Shell out in Scandinavia, see savings in Africa

This year’s results show that if you’re heading north-east of the UK, you’re likely to pay a lot more as four Scandinavian cities make it into the world’s top ten most expensive destinations.

Europe as a whole dominates the most expensive list laying claim to six of the top ten. Helsinki in Finland and Oslo in Norway take first and second place respectively while Zurich, Stockholm and Paris are placed fourth, fifth and sixth. Seoul is the only non-European city to be named in the top five most expensive destinations.

Travellers looking to bag a bargain should head south to Africa where three of the continent’s destinations feature in the top five places offering the best value – Tunis in Tunisia, Cape Town in South Africa and Marrakech in Morocco. In Europe, the least expensive city destination for room service is Budapest, where a full set of basket items will cost over a third of the price of the equivalent items’ cost in Helsinki.

London not as pricey as once perceived

London is often considered one of the world’s most expensive destinations, but when it comes to the common costs incurred once checked-in to a hotel, the capital actually provides better value than many rival European cities. This year, the capital city is ranked 13th place in the priciest list – making it a cheaper option than New York, Paris or Tokyo. On average, London is more than two times cheaper than the most expensive destination, Helsinki, for each TripIndex Room Service item. In London, a club sandwich is £11.90, bottle of water £0.42, peanuts are £4.67, a can of coke £2.85, mini bottle of vodka £5.82 and to dry clean a shirt is £6.00. All together the basket of items costs £31.66 in London

Jakarta best value for room service and room rates combined

While Tunis is revealed as the number one destination for best value room service, when you consider the cost of room service and room rate combined, at £111.87, the North African destination drops down to eighteenth place in the league table. With a total combined cost of £71.02, Jakarta, Indonesia replaces Tunis as number one destination for value overall.

In the most expensive list, it seems that pricey room service and pricey hotel room rates go hand-in-hand as eight of the costliest destinations remain in the top 10. This time however, New York City replaces Helsinki as the most expensive with a total cost of £258.35 compared with Helsinki’s £173.25, taking it down to eighth place in the league table.

TripIndex Room Service at a glance

From the least expensive to the most expensive (green and orange indicate least and most expensive destinations for each item respectively):