Personally, if I were to have been offered $25.00 a day for breakfast in the restaurant, I would have sprung for it because the restaurant really turned out a great breakfast and it was more expensive than $25.00, so it would have been a plus for me. Added to that the waiter was truly excellent and remembered that I like my Tea black, no sugar, no milk and my Wife takes her coffee black, plus he made recommendations off the menu on what he liked (none of this choices were the most expensive things on the menu, btw) and he smiled each time he heard that we liked his suggestions. A truly awesome guy and a gear head like myself, so we talked cars while the Wife read the paper. He has driven what some describe as the best driving road in the world (lucky duck) I hope to get to Romania one day myself and drive the Transfăgărășan.

A good friend of mine is Russian and there are cheaper places that offer great breakfasts it is true, but I really did not find the prices at the Marriott out of line for an upper end hotel.

The Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg is whole different story entirely, the restaurant there was a total rip-off imho as the food was not up to the prices that they were charging. Breakfast was running well in excess of $30.00 person and it was just meh, my Wife had to send back her omelet because it was burned on the bottom and I had to on another day send back an order of bacon that had not been heated at all, it was still cold from the refrigerator. Truthfully, the entire hotel was just meh, but the Wife wanted to stay there, so she was happy and a happy wife makes for a happy marriage.