We noticed alot more places adding the "service charge" to our bill on our last trip. I try not to let it bug me and just leave the extra in cash to get the total up to 20% if the service was good. I figure it isn't their fault that the establishment has chosen this tactic. I will say that travel has gotten insane for us. I paid 6K in airfare into STT our last trip! I still remember the days of airfare around $200. I live 1.5 hrs out of NYC in a town popular with city folk and so I am very used to city prices. While I have always thought that food prices were astronomical, last trip I wasn't so shocked. Our own prices have skyrocketed so much that the BVI no longer felt that far above what I have gotten used to paying since covid. I run a small business (food establishment) and last year my food supply prices doubled. This year they are way up again. So I get the struggle and can't imagine how difficult it is for small business owners in the BVI who need to ship everything in. So for me, it isn't the food prices that irritate me, it's the cost to get there that needs to be addressed.
