PETALING JAYA, June 19 — Hotels are doing a roaring business with their Ramadan buffets although prices have risen.

The wide variety of food and desserts is the main draw for most people who choose to break their fast in hotels.

Royal Chulan Hotel public relations manager Farah Halim said the hotel’s buffet prices had risen by RM10 to RM138 a person.

“Clearly, it’s not the same people coming everyday, but the fact is, people are still eating out,” she said.

Farah said the hotel had increased its buffet prices to cope with the rising prices of goods.

“But we will confine ourselves to reasonable prices. There is no point in charging so much to the point people are put off,” she said.

A spokesman for Hotel Istana in Kuala Lumpur said there was still a positive demand for goods and services among business people.

“Our business in the first week of Ramadan was quite slow, but generally people start coming out to eat in the second and third week of Ramadan,” he said.

He said the buffet prices for the first and fourth week of Ramadan would be RM140 a person but they would be increased to RM160 in the second and third week.

“Prices are increased when we put up additional items for our buffet. Usually we see more people during our Ramadan buffet compared to the rest of the year.”

At Oriental Crystal Kajang Hotel, however, buffet prices have been lowered to attract more customers.

“A buffet here is priced at RM58 per person compared to RM83 last year,” a spokesman said.

“We monitored the prices and saw there was a demand for buka puasa buffet packages. We decided to lower our rates partly because more hotels have come up.”

On why people chose to break their fast in hotels, bank executive Damia Nadia Razali, 31, said for her, it was the variety of dishes.

“Going for a buffet is way easier than having to stop at the bazaar Ramadan, which is time consuming,” she said.

Although she did not break her fast in a hotel every day, having a buffet meal at a hotel was convenient as there were also facilities like prayer rooms.

Lecturer Marissa Rosli, 48, said it was more convenient to break fast at a hotel or restaurant because of her tight schedule.

“There are hotels where you can get a buffet package for RM40 a person,” she said.

Another lecturer, Mohd Ghadaffi Azmin, 34, however, said he would rather spend the money to buy food at the market.

“For RM50, you can buy items that will last at least two days,” he said.