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Hotel Cafe – Los Angeles (LA)

7 upcoming concerts

1623 1/2 N. Cahuenga Blvd. 90028 Hollywood, CA, US (323) 461-2040 www.hotelcafe.com

Upcoming concerts See all

• Monday 22 July 2024

Aysanabee and Raye Zaragoza

Hotel Cafe , Hollywood, CA, US 1623 1/2 N. Cahuenga Blvd.

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• Saturday 27 July 2024

Aiden James

• Sunday 28 July 2024

Melissa Gordon

• Friday 16 August 2024

Mary Lambert and Jenny Zigrino

• Friday 04 October 2024

Edwin Raphael

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All the events happening at Hotel Cafe 2024-2025

Discover all 7 upcoming concerts scheduled in 2024-2025 at Hotel Cafe.

Hotel Cafe hosts concerts for a wide range of genres from artists such as Aysanabee , Raye Zaragoza , and Aiden James , having previously welcomed the likes of Lisa Crawley , RitaRita , and Eli Pafumi .

Browse the list of upcoming concerts, and if you can’t find your favourite artist, track them and let Songkick tell you when they are next in your area.

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Past concerts See all

• Tuesday 16 July 2024

Lisa Crawley

• Monday 15 July 2024

RitaRita and Eli Pafumi

• Friday 12 July 2024

Harpers (US) and The Blank Tapes

See all past concerts (4976)

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The Hotel Cafe Tour

Best known for serving up mellow singer-songwriters, the Hotel Cafe tour continues to mine that well-worn niche in its third outing.

By Matthew Kivel

Matthew Kivel

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Best known for serving up mellow singer-songwriters, the Hotel Cafe tour continues to mine that well-worn niche in its third outing. Operating in a loose and unassuming manner befitting an open-mic night, performers ambled onstage and ran through abbreviated sets, often accompanied by a four-piece backing band. Most of the singers relied heavily on ballads and down-tempo material, establishing a sleepy, after-hours ambiance that seemed to pervade even the most upbeat efforts.

Known primarily for his song “Blue Eyes,” from the “Garden State” soundtrack, Cary Brothers drew the largest crowd of the evening. He took the band through a brisk set of emotion-driven pop that remained frustratingly narrow in its musical approach. Multi-instrumentalist Brad Gordon was underutilized during Brothers’ set, but for most of the evening, Gordon acted as a Jon Brion-esque jack of all trades — garnishing the understated tunes with tasteful bits of trumpet, accordion, keyboard and clarinet.

Popular on Variety

For all the dour and depressed confessionals performed through the night, Ingrid Michaelson delighted the audience with an unexpected foray into standup comedy. Taking aim at herself and the stereotypes of the singer-songwriter genre, Michaelson prefaced many of her songs with hilarious, off-the-cuff banter. One of her finest moments came during a song introduction in which she sarcastically cited Sarah McLachlan, Georgia O’Keeffe and women’s liberation as the catalysts for her writing.

Other notable acts included Jim Bianco, whose boozy, Tom Waits-derived vocal style allowed the band to open up and explore jazz-based textures and rhythms, and Greg Laswell.

The 30-city tour stops Thursday in Austin, Texas, at SXSW and continues through the South before hitting New York’s Fillmore @ Irving Plaza on March 24 and returning home on April 12 for a finale at the Music Box.

Hotel Cafe; 120 capacity;$20 top

• Production: Presented by Cary Brothers and the Hotel Cafe. Reviewed March 9, 2008.
• Cast: Performers: Ingrid Michaelson, Cary Brothers, Jason Kanakis, Jonathan Flaugher, Marco Meneghin, Brad Gordon, Greg Laswell, Jim Bianco, Jessie Baylin, Kevin Devine, Allie Moss, Meiko, Kate Havnevik, Priscilla Ahn, Buddy, Holly Conlan.

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• The Hotel Cafe

The Hotel Cafe: A Musicians’ Clubhouse

by Marissa R. Moss November 5, 2014, 10:57 am 1 Comment

Videos by American Songwriter

Marko Shafer simply calls it “the café.” Adele, Damien Rice, Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles call it a place where they got their start. For the rest of us, it’s the Hotel Café, a box of a building on the northern side of Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, painted red and shaded by a lone palm tree whose roots have seen their share of cigarette butts.

Like many of the best venues, the Hotel Café is a living, breathing organism. While some places are simply that – a place to land, a bare platform – others take on a life of their own, a personality or point of view. Sometimes, even, they spur a movement – The Gaslight in the ’60s heyday of New York City; the Crocodile in grungy Seattle; the Bluebird in country-focused Nashville. In 2000, when co-owner Shafer opened the then-coffee shop with fellow screenwriter Max Mamikunian, there were no expectations.

“I think the success of the place had a lot to do with my business partner and I being so young when we opened,” he says. “We treated the Café more as a musician’s clubhouse for friends rather than a business. Nothing was forced. We didn’t pay for ads, didn’t hire outside promoters, and we moved the entrance to the back side of the building, which allowed it to grow more organically.”

It had been ages since Los Angeles had a foothold in the singer-songwriter scene – beyond maybe Jonathan Wilson’s mythical homestead, but that was limited to those lucky enough, like Jenny Lewis and Conor Oberst, to be invited in. Silverlake hadn’t yet reached its peak as a thriving artistic pulse, and other venues like the Troubadour were sonically appropriate but too big for smaller, burgeoning artists armed with little more than a guitar or a voice.

Locals like Bareilles took notice, using the stage to exercise new material, and traveling acts – like Mumford & Sons, for one – stopped in for sets as they toured on the front end of an ever-growing Americana insurgence. A young Katy Perry tested out her stage skills in the early days of “I Kissed A Girl” there, way before she replaced her six-string with whip-cream squirting brassieres.

“Hotel Café was a school for a lot of us,” says Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit. “Seeing acts in an intimate environment where you could make out the lyric is kind of a rarity in Los Angeles.”

Soon, a songwriting scene began to form – but Shafer, ever modest, doesn’t like to take credit. In fact, he doesn’t like a lot of the flashy trappings of a club owner – the Café’s web presence is still basic at that, and neither he nor Mamikunian make it a mission to speak with press or have their faces plastered in glossies alongside the artists they helped make famous.

“I don’t think Hotel Cafe necessarily paved the way for songwriters,” Shafer says. “When we opened, there just weren’t many venues in LA for singer-songwriters to play. As word spread that there was a new place in town, the pool of artists that wanted to play the room began growing. It took some time, but they eventually found us. Inevitably, when so much talent ends up in one place, people start to take notice. Industry starts to take notice, and eventually acts started to ‘break’ out of the room.”

And “break” they did: the Hotel Café began to blossom into more than just a place, as two compilation CDs, a themed tour and an expansion came next. In true Los Angeles fashion, music supervisions routinely paid visits amidst the candles and red curtains to look for the next big thing – Adele among them, when she played an early show at the front end of her career. They still do.

Meiko, whose songs were plucked from the stages of the Café to the soundtrack of Grey’s Anatomy , credits the venue with helping her to hone her live performance skills and giving her – and others like her – a place to snag that ever-important sync.

“Over the years,” she says, “the venue has become the place for film and TV music supervisors to discover up-and-coming talent whose music they license for projects they’re working on. Being able to perform in front of those types of tastemakers in a super-friendly, low-pressure atmosphere has been a huge benefit to my career as a songwriter and performer.”

On any given week, the Café will host rising acts like Caroline Rose as well as established names like Rhett Miller or Rachael Yamagata, seeking refuge at the intimate venue as an antidote to less storied rooms. It’s the rare place where an artist doesn’t necessarily have to boast a built-in fan base to draw a crowd – patrons trust the musical palate of the bookers, regardless of any previous familiarity.

“The Hotel Café is a tastemaker in the best sense,” says Yamagata. “By insisting on unique and important music they’ve drawn artists to them and music lovers alike. They were instrumental for my own career.”

Soon, the Café will expand into a second room, allowing the venue to host both acoustic one-man-or-woman acts and larger bands, as Shafer has watched the trend gravitate. But, “no matter what happens in music, shifting trends or wherever the new sound ends up – which we will book as well – the Hotel Cafe will always be a home for singer-songwriters,” he says, adding: “I’ve always said, without the artist, songwriters and musicians, the Hotel Cafe is just a room.”

This article appears in our November/December 2014 issue. Subscribe  here . 

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This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here .

Concert Review: Hotel Cafe Tour @ Henry Fonda Theater, 4/12/08

39 days • 12 musicians • 1 bus

Though this may sound like the setup for “The Real World: Singer-Songwriter Edition,” it’s actually the description of the Hotel Cafe Tour—a traveling showcase of some of the best musical talent in the country, most of whom are LA residents and regulars at the Hotel Cafe on Cahuenga.

You might think that with so many creative people packed into such a small space, drama would naturally follow. Surprisingly, nothing could be further from the truth. Not only do the singers all get along, but they also seem to genuinely support each other. But it’s not all serious—this group knows how to have a good time, and LAist got a backstage perspective of the Hotel Cafe Tour during one of their last North America tour stops at the Henry Fonda Theater on April 12.

The backstage area was a hive of activity, and there was usually a group hanging out and having fun in the lounge area. At one point, Cary Brothers accidentally got a stain on his shirt, and Jesca Hoop was more than happy to fix the situation by drawing a tiny cartoon over it. A few minutes after that, Joshua Radin noticed a skateboard propped up against a chair, and even though he hadn’t skateboarded since he was in his early teens, he attempted an ollie to see how much air he could get (and it was pretty impressive, considering).

The show began at 9 p.m. and lasted well past midnight. Given the number of performers, the Hotel Cafe Tour did a great job of mixing things up—each artist performed for 10-20 minutes each, with some returning later in the show for a second set. Thanks to a talented backup band (Jason Kanakis on guitar, Jonny Flaugher on bass, Brad Gordon on keyboards/trumpet and Marco Meneghin on drums) the show continued without interruption.

Following are a few highlights from the evening: Greg Laswell got the night off to a great start with songs from his last full-length album, Through Toledo and his new EP, How the Day Sounds . Laswell was followed by Priscilla Ahn , who took the stage with a guitar, harmonica and even a kazoo, which she used on “The Boob Song” and really got the audience cheering.

William Fitzsimmons took the stage next, and showcased his humor in between some rather entrancing songs. Then he invited surprise guest Joshua Radin up on the stage to sing a cover of “Cecelia” by Simon & Garfunkel.

Meiko followed, in the first of two sets. During the night, she had to contend with a rogue mic stand, but handled the situation with humor. Although her song “Reasons to Love You” was an audience favorite, another highlight was her sampling of TLC’s “No Scrubs” as she closed out one of her sets.

Jim Bianco also played twice on Saturday night, and really got the crowd going with a high-energy performance that included him playing one of his bandmate’s guitars with his teeth and a random eruption of confetti. One memorable moment was he performed his sultry song “I’ve Got a Thing for You” while bathed in red light. His second set brought together most of his tourmates—and they ventured out into the packed crowd to perform his new song, “Sing.”

Jessie Baylin’s sets consisted of songs from her upcoming CD, Firesight . Highlights included an old favorite, “Contradicting Words” and a “The Glitter,” a song about her early experiences in Los Angeles.

At this point, it would probably be good to mention something that the audience wasn’t able to see. Rather than heading back to the dressing rooms after their own performances, the other artists would position themselves off to the side of the stage, behind the curtain, to support their friends. At various times you could see people dancing, mouthing lyrics and clapping for whomever was singing.

Ingrid Michaelson’s two sets showed off both her musical ability and her sense of humor. Near the beginning of her first set, she heard a harmonica in the audience and ended up extending one of her songs to give the audience member a chance to play a (surprisingly good) solo.

Songs like “Die Alone” and “The Way I Am” were as great as expected, but her cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” was definitely another highlight. Just as she was beginning the song, however, one of her fellow songwriters yelled out “Look what I can do!” (in an imitation of Michael McDonald’s “Stuart” character from MadTV). This caused Michaelson to start giggling and she had to start again. Another fun moment was when Michaelson invited the gals from the tour (along with her backup singer Allie Moss ) to sing her song “The Chain” in a round because, as she said, "there just aren’t enough rounds nowadays."

Cary Brothers has a voice that can really fill a room and songs like “Who You Are” showcased his range. He also involved some of friends during his two sets, such as Radin’s turn on the electric guitar during “Ride," Michaelson joining him on vocals for a cover of the Thompson Twins’ “If You Were Here," and the whole group joining him for “Blue Eyes.”

Jesca Hoop was up next with songs from her album, Kismet (plus some new material if I’m not mistaken). During her set, one of her fellow artists exclaimed backstage, “It is just amazing how good she is!”

After some of the artists sang a second round, the three and a half hour show concluded with most of them coming together for a sweet rendition of “The Rainbow Connection.”

After the show, LAist caught up with Cary Brothers for a short follow up to his earlier interview :

LAist: What are you going to miss most now that the North American tour is coming to a close?

"The camaraderie of the tour is what I will miss most. I love playing solo shows, but there’s something wonderful about the feeling that everyone has to play together like a team to make the whole night work. It’s more of a challenge, and when it does work, there’s something even more satisfying about that than a typical gig.”

What was your favorite memory from the tour? “Well, the homecoming show at the Fonda was my favorite show for sentimental reasons and because everyone really brought their ‘A’ game that night. As far as single moments, I loved everyone sitting backstage in Madison and watching Dan Wilson play his hit [with Semisonic] ‘Closing Time’ and explain, line by line, that it had nothing to do with being at a bar but was actually about the birth of his child. All of us fellow performers were turned into drop-jawed music fans for that one moment, and it also showed how great a songwriter that guy is. Friendship and love of music is what this tour is really about.”

The Hotel Cafe Tour ended its North American leg at the El Rey on the 13th before heading to Europe. For those who missed this year’s tour, there’s still hope—a number of the singer-songwriters are regulars at the Hotel Cafe and will have individual concerts in the coming months. To view a schedule, visit the Hotel Cafe website .

Keep checking this site for more information, as over the next few weeks, LAist will be featuring interviews with Jim Bianco, William Fitzsimmons, Jessie Baylin, Greg Laswell and more.

Photo essay coverage: Hotel Cafe Tour 2008 w/ Greg Laswell, Priscilla Ahn, William Fitzsimmons & Joshua Radin

Hotel Cafe Tour 2008 w/ Meiko, Jim Bianco & Jessie Baylin

Special thanks to the artists and management of the Hotel Cafe Tour as well as the Henry Fonda Theater staff.

Photos by Koga for LAist

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Last Night: The Hotel Cafe Tour At House Of Blues

The Hotel Cafe Tour House Of Blues October 16, 2008

Better Than: Staying at home, watching Grey’s and washing my hair, both of which I love and one of which is soundtracked by several of the Hotel Café girls' songs--but I’ll leave it up to you to guess which.

Ingrid Michaelson, the way she is. (Courtney Clenney)

Maybe you already know that the House of Blues is like an opera house with its exclusive balcony, vaulted ceilings, man-eating-flower wallpaper and theater curtains.

Good for you, but, before last night's Hotel Cafe show at the venue, I was a HOB virgin.

And, at least in terms of presentation, this was a weird show. Instead of having each artist come out, perform a set and move out of the way as the night progresses from unknown to headliner, this show was more like a showcase--each of the five artists on the bill performed two short sets throughout the evening as the ladies of the tour ( Laura Jansen , Meiko , Erin McCarley , Priscilla Ahn and Ingrid Michaelson ) shuffled on and off the stage to make way for one another's performances.

Opening the show was Jansen--but I walked in late the first time she played and completely missed her after the intermission, too, though. Damn you HOB for being non-smoking. No idea how she was.

But I did see the rest of the performers--including Meiko, whose set I was fairly excited about beforehand . Unfortunately, her three-song opening set wasn’t really working; she opened with an acoustic guitar song and it was...eh.

At this point in the show, it didn’t seem the crowd was really feeling her vibe. But, hey, it was early. By her second set, maybe the crowd had had a few, or maybe I had two, things were much better. The acoustic performance of her folksie iTunes hit “How Lucky We Are,” made me sing—out loud, actually. Her staccato vocals and soothing musical qualities, coupled with her shifty feet and funny lip movements, made for an endearing set.

Erin McCarley was up after Meiko the first time around. And, get this, apparently McCarley is from Garland! Her fam was in the audience, too--which could have been why this lady seemed to be the first to inspire the crowd out of it’s coma. I wasn’t too impressed with her tunes before the show, but I will say that, live, this gal knows how to get a crowd going--or as going as her slow and melodic songs could get them. I think I've been converted into a fan, too: Before too long, I was tapping my toes and swaying along…so were others, I promise! She had some twangy-ness in her sound and it was pretty awesome. Bonus: Her guitar strap had a ton of feathers on the back--I’m talking like Native American headdress here.

But Priscilla Ahn and her simultaneous guitar playing and harmonica blowing were a highlight of the evening for me (even though I'd come to this show for Michaelson--more on her later, though). Oh, and this girl is funny . Like LOL funny. Come to think of it the whole set kind of felt like a comedy musical show: She played a song about boobs, with a kazoo. It’s worth hearing . Later, Ahn toned things down a bit, getting into some swirly, pretty music, but, whether the song is a slow ballad or a satire, Ahn has the fullest and purest voice I’ve heard in a while. Definitely a fan.

Last, but not least in the slightest, Ingrid Michaelson came out, and, in true form, was wearing a funky hat and glasses, joking about how everyone else might be skinny but she was the one with the boobs. A lot of boob talk going on last night.

A lot of chatter, too. After an audience member shouted at her to play one of her own songs, Michaelson joked, “I wrote ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow,’ you didn’t know that?” Then she belted out a ukulele acoustic cover of the song that made me believe she could fly over the damn rainbow.

Michaelson, like a couple others at last night’s show has the ability to make the audience believe they can see straight through to the artist’s soul. Also, she started her hit “The Way I Am,” by doing a rendition of “Ice, Ice Baby,” and then going into the theme song for Fresh Prince of Bel-Air . Somehow she brought it back to “The Way I Am,” (props to the band on that one, I guess).

Michaelson also proved to be as comedic as she is musically talented. She dubbed the Hotel Café tour this year as “The Hotel Vagina Tour.”

[ Editor's Note: In case, yknow, just by reading this review, you couldn't tell... ]

Overall, the only reason guys were needed last night was for text messaging the lyrics of the songs to…they love that, I think. -- Courtney Clenney

Critics Notebook: Personal Bias: I dig chick music (I’m pulling the ‘I can say this cuz I are one’ card).

Random Note: The mic-changer-outer-guy (we’ll just call him Jason because I could never quite figure out what his last name was) who also doubled as part of the band was really pretty lame with his clown-like antics while changing out mics and tech stuff in between performances. The circus music was not necessary. Plus, he had on a Motörhead shirt. How much do you think he was digging being on the “Hotel Vagina Tour?”

By The Way: I was pretty pissed there were only a handful of tables and chairs at the venue.C’mon, HOB! These gals are a kind of sit-and-ponder type show, not a stand up and head bang thing…How bout some more seats? My toes hurt.

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How to meet Hotel Cafe Tour

Many people would drop everything if they learned they could meet their childhood idol? Now you may be able to meet Hotel Cafe Tour in person at an event. Meeting Hotel Cafe Tour may be available as part of a meet and greet package where you may be able to meet Hotel Cafe Tour and take a photo and be the talk of the town with all your friends.

How much are Hotel Cafe Tour meet and greets?

Hotel Cafe Tour meet and greets are a special VIP ticket that is very, very limited. Not all shows or performers have meet and greets and the shows that do have Hotel Cafe Tour meet and greets may only have a few to be sold. Thus Hotel Cafe Tour meet and greet ticket prices may be between $1,000 - $5,000 per ticket due to the exclusivity and limited nature of the product. Check Hotel Cafe Tour meet and greet prices with the click of a button. Hotel Cafe Tour  Meet and greet prices rarely decrease in price like normal tickets due to their limited and exclusive nature.

Does  Hotel Cafe Tour  offer meet and greet tickets?

At times Hotel Cafe Tour may possibly offer meet and greet, backstage passes, VIP pass, meet and greet tickets, meet and greet passes, depending on the event.

What Type Of VIP Tickets does Hotel Cafe Tour offer?

Hotel Cafe Tour may offer VIP tickets, VIP Packages, hospitality packages, fan packages, front row seats, or other ticket packages to their live events.

How much is a Hotel Cafe Tour backstage pass?

A Hotel Cafe Tour backstage pass can cost between $755 and $3540 to see them live.

How To Buy Hotel Cafe Tour VIP tickets?

You can buy Hotel Cafe Tour VIP tickets for between $674 and $1344 to see them in concert.

Does Hotel Cafe Tour offer VIP packages?

Yes Hotel Cafe Tour offers VIP packages that are available to see them on tour and cost between $375 and $2414.

How Much Are Hotel Cafe Tour Ticket packages?

 Hotel Cafe Tour ticket packages can cost between $401 to $1533 to see them at a show.

How much are Hotel Cafe Tour Front row tickets?

You can buy Hotel Cafe Tour front row tickets to their concert for between $600 and $1086.

*Disclaimer* Meet and greet tickets are only meet and greets if they are specified in the ticket group, section, row or notes. Meet and greets are very rare and only a handful of performers offer them. They typically range between $1000-$5000 each if they are offered. There are many other VIP tickets or packages that can be found on this site. We also display regular tickets for many events. These regular tickets DO NOT include meet and greets or VIP.

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Money blog: Santander swearing ban receives mixed reaction

Welcome to the Money blog, your place for personal finance and consumer news and tips. Leave a comment with your thoughts below.

Thursday 18 July 2024 14:19, UK

• Earnings growth falls - and it could have wider consequences
• Popular commuter hotspot sees biggest house price fall in the country
• Santander swearing ban receives mixed reaction
• Sainsbury's increases meal deal price
• Pret scrapping five coffees a day subscription - but cuts some prices

Essential Money blog reads

• We tried UK's cheapest three-course dinner - here's what you get for £4/£5
• Best savings accounts right now
• Ed Conway analysis : No panic in Bank of England, but rate cut in two weeks now less likely
• Women in Business: 'I set up business with £200 and went on Dragons' Den - now it's worth £1.5m'
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By James Sillars , business reporter

There has been no second interest rate cut by the European Central Bank (ECB), as widely expected.

The body responsible for monetary policy in the euro area maintained its current guidance on the path ahead following its latest meeting.

As such, there were no hints about what the governing council might do at its next meeting in September.

The rates announcement said that domestic price pressures remained elevated, and inflation would remain above the ECB's 2% target well into next year.

Pret A Manger is scrapping its popular five coffees a day subscription deal - but is also cutting prices of a number of products. 

Under the current club offer, which has been running since 2020, customers pay £30 a month for the free drinks and a 20% discount on the rest of its menu. 

But, from 3 September, Club Pret members will pay £10 a month to receive 50% off on up to five barista-made drinks a day. 

The "simpler" scheme will initially launch at £5 a month for existing and new subscribers, but will increase on 31 March 2025. 

The change also means an end to the 20% discount, with the chain saying it "never really got comfortable" with dual pricing.

In a letter sent to customers,  Pret's managing director Clare Clough said: "Four years and over a quarter of a billion coffees later, we have decided that it's time to rethink how it works.

"We know this is a change. But with Club Pret subscription, our coffees, teas, coolers and iced drinks will continue to be the best offer on the high street, and at a much more accessible price than the £360 a year people have to pay for the current scheme.

"Given the majority of our customers are not Club Pret subscribers, our priority now is to focus on better value for everyone."

In March, the chain implemented a crackdown to prevent Club Pret subscribers from sharing free drinks.

Some customers were exploiting loopholes by sharing subscription benefits. 

Since then, club members have been required to use the app to redeem their complimentary drinks. 

Pret also announced that its signature 100% organic arabica filter coffee would drop from £1.80 to 99p, and its all butter croissant will also drop from £2.30 to £1.99.

For Savings Guide this week, Savings Champion co-founder Anna Bowes explains why savers should be excited by yesterday's inflation figures... 

Headline inflation as measured by the Consumer Prices Index remained at the government target of 2% for June.

It returning to these levels means prices are rising less quickly than they have been over the last couple of years. 

For savers, it means that, currently, over 90% of savings accounts are offering a rate that beats the rising current cost of living.

But savers should be aware there are still accounts out there paying less than 2%. 

The National Savings & Investments Investment Account is paying just 1% - when you could earn 5.2% in the Ulster Bank Loyalty Account. 

On a deposit of £10,000, that would mean that you'd earn just £100 rather than £520 with over 12 months. 

More importantly, with your cash earning less than inflation, it is failing to keep up with the rising cost of living, so the real value of your cash is being decimated.

There are currently more accounts than ever for savers to choose from, but don't let choice paralysis and inertia stop you from earning the interest you deserve.

Here are some of your other options...

Santander has announced it will "now stop any payments with profanities in the reference" for its business banking customers. 

Several high street banks do not allow swearing in the references already so Santander is not alone, but it has still raised a few eyebrows.

A Santander spokesperson told the Money team it had implemented the guidance to protect customers. 

"Sadly, we've seen an increase in the number of customers receiving abusive messages and threats via faster payment messages," they said. 

"This can include customers in abusive relationships or those that have put restraining orders in place to protect themselves, and go on to receive death threats and targeted abuse in payments being made to them. 

"We hope that this new guidance will help our most vulnerable customers and protect them from receiving abuse via payments."

You can let us know your thoughts on the changes in the comments section above - but here's what some business people told Newspage...

Graham Cox, director at Self-Employed Mortgage Hub, said: "When you consider the vile comments left on social media these days, it can't be much fun for Santander's staff constantly viewing profanities on banking transactions."

Stephen Perkins, managing director at Yellow Brick Mortgages, said Santander censoring and blocking payments seemed "a little heavy-handed".

"While it's great that Santander cares about decency, this move feels a bit like your overly strict aunt scolding you for harmless jokes. We really don't need Big Brother banking," said Ranald Mitchell, director at Charwin Mortgages.

And Hannah Bashford, director at Model Financial Solutions, said: "Santander's proposal to filter profanities in the business banking app is unnecessary and may have the unintended consequence of blocking business for some the Britain's rudest named villages. 

"Does that mean all holidays to Sandy Balls are cancelled?"

Sainsbury's has increased the cost of its lunchtime meal deal by 25p from £3.50 to £3.75. 

It is the first price hike for the deal in three years. 

Here's some of the reaction we've seen on X...

For £3.75, customers can get a main, which includes a range of sandwiches, salads and wraps, a snack and a drink. 

A Sainsbury's spokesperson told the Money blog that the supermarket wants to make "good food affordable and accessible to everyone". 

"We continue to offer one of the best value meal deals around, with millions of delicious possible combinations which could mean customers save more than half off the usual price - whether they're grabbing a hot bacon roll, a fruit pot and a coffee for breakfast, or a lunchtime sarnie with crisps and a smoothie," they said. 

How do other meal deals compare? 

The price hike now makes a Sainsbury's meal deal one of most expensive supermarket deals in the country. 

It comes behind Waitrose , which charges £5 for the main, snack and drink combo. 

Tesco comes in third place ,  charging £3.90 to customers without a Clubcard. However, this price falls to £3.40 for those who are part of the loyalty scheme - one of the cheapest deals. 

A Morrisons  meal deal costs £3.50, which is the same as Co-op . 

Asda doesn't offer a fixed price for its meal deal. Instead, it operates a 3 for 2 system, which gives customers the cheapest item for free. 

Let us know which you think is the best value in the comments section

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire , business reporter

The pound has held on to much of the high it gained on the back of higher-than-expected inflation data yesterday.

Sterling remains close to the year high against the dollar and nearly a two-year high against the euro recorded yesterday afternoon. 

£1 buys $1.299 and €1.188. 

These exchange rates are good for any Britons travelling to the US and to any of the 20 countries using the euro - their pound will now go further than it has done in the past 12 months for dollars and 23 months for euro. 

There could be a broader benefit to consumers if the rate remains good for sterling - the cost of importing goods bought with dollars and euro could be less.

One key purchase bought in dollars in oil - which is up from Wednesday to $85.16 for a barrel of Brent crude oil. 

Share prices of the major London Stock Exchange indexes are up - the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 rose 0.77% and the FTSE 250 was up 0.76%. 

People in the commuter city of St Albans have seen the biggest house price falls in England so far this year, according to a property platform.

Almost half of homes in the Hertfordshire city have seen their value drop in the last six months - the average drop has been £4,500, Zoopla says. 

The area has the highest house prices in the East of England, making it one of the least affordable places to be outside of London. 

Potential buyers have struggled to get on the property ladder due to soaring mortgage rates, which has caused sellers to drop their asking prices, Zoopla said. 

The fall in values also reflected the end of a property boom in the city, which came during the pandemic as hybrid workers looked for houses with more outdoor space. 

The only area that saw more homes lose value between January and June was Dumfries in Scotland - 54% of homes lost £2,100 in value.

This is despite the rest of the country seeing signs of recovery in the property market. 

Half of the country's 30 million homes increased in price, with properties typically up by £2,400.

Some 10 million properties are estimated to have increased in value by £5,000 or more in the past six months.

Towns and cities in northern England were particularly likely to have experienced gains over the first half of 2024.

Homeowners in Oldham, Wakefield and Durham were most likely to have seen the value of their homes increase.

Owners of terraced homes were seeing more gains than owners of other property types.

UK average regular earnings growth fell from 6% to 5.7% in the three months to May - its slowest pace for two years.

This figure is still way above inflation (which is 2%).

When you factor in inflation, real wages for the average Briton climbed 3.2%.

All this is important because wage growth is inflationary - and the Bank of England wants to see evidence it is slowing before lowering interest rates.

Business presenter Ian King says today's data represents a "modest fall" but cautions that these are still "pretty punchy numbers".

He suggests that, factoring in yesterday's services inflation coming in higher than expected, the overall data picture may "push the MPC towards sitting on their hands again next month [on 1 August]".

That would mean the base rate staying at 5.25% until mid-September at least.

In very simple terms, the Bank is concerned that lowering interest rates too soon could see inflation rise again - as there would likely be more spending in the economy and when that happens, prices tend to go up.

On wages, there was a discrepancy between the public (6.4%) and private sector (5.6%).

Meanwhile, the rate of UK unemployment remained unchanged at 4.4%.

King also noted the inactivity rate had fallen from 22.3% to 22.1%.

By  Jenness Mitchell , Scotland reporter

"Because of the price you think it's going to be crap, but it's not," says Star Bar patron Christine Hill, 58.

The Star Bar is located in Glasgow's southside on Eglinton Street, where words like this are as good as any five star review.

The pub has plenty of those, to be fair - and its legendary three courses offer has been running for decades, attracting as many customers as staff can manage every day.

Paul Marletta, who runs the pub alongside sister and business partner Giovanna Marletta, inherited the bar 39 years ago when it was just £1 for a three-course lunch.

These days it's £4, for which you get a starter, main and dessert - or you can pay an extra £1 to upgrade your main to premium range dishes such as breaded fish and chips, mince/potatoes/vegetables, or ashet pie.

Mr Marletta, 65, told Sky News: "We've got a lot of faithful customers. A lot of them come in here seven days a week for their lunch.

"There's different variations of busy, but we're never quiet. We don't really advertise because we don't have to advertise. We're as busy as we can get."

The lunch deal is featured on small promos on the outside, with new customers often surprised after taking a chance on the meal deal.

Mr Marletta said: "Many think, 'If it's that cheap, it's probably crap', but they leave having loved the meal.

"And they always come back, and that's why we don't have to advertise because our product speaks for itself. There's nothing in here that I wouldn't eat myself."

Mr Marletta said the bar's success lay in the suppliers that provide quality goods at affordable prices, which he then passes on to his customers while maintaining a profit margin.

He singled out his small group of hard-working staff, explaining that if more people worked at the bar he'd have to put up prices.

He described manager Andrea Purdie as his "right-hand" woman.

Mr Marletta said: "The customers all know Andrea, who's a personality in here. Me, not so much. I'm the grumpy one. My staff have got a good vibe."

During our visit, former taxi driver John Burke told us he would often see the promo while driving past during work and vowed to visit the bar on his retirement.

Since the turn of the year, Mr Burke, 66, travels from North Glasgow every week to enjoy a pint and lunch.

Customer Christine Hill, 58, has enjoyed the traditional lounge's hospitality for the last 40 years.

She said: "Because of the price you think it's going to be crap, but it's not."

Of course, we couldn't visit without trying the famous three courses ourselves - so what was it like?

First up came a hearty broth, piping hot and perfectly seasoned. This is the bowl before I cleared it...

I chose the fish and chips, upgrading to the £5 menu, not knowing what to expect, but the fish tasted fresher than you get in most places and was flaky, and the breadcrumbs were crunchy. You get chunky chips, mushy peas and salad too - which again I cleared and if I was looking for a light lunch I would have been done. But what kind of life is that?

I'm not really a fan of Italian fruit sorbet palate cleansers, and was relieved when a nostalgic bowl of jelly and ice cream slid onto my table next.

It's pretty remarkable they can knock this out for £5 - other pubs in the city would get away with charging at least £5 for the soup alone and at least double for the fish and chips.

Kudos to chef Ally Alexander - but it wasn't just about the food. A visit to The Star Bar is an experience in its own right, from the warm welcome and friendly pub chat to the affectionate hug goodbye.

They really don't need reviews, but if they did, they'd get five stars from me.

*Probably... but do tell us in the comments section if you know of cheaper

A pet food made with lab-grown chicken has been approved for sale in the UK. 

Meatly has become the first company ever to secure approval to sell its cultivated meat products in Europe.  

The UK-based business described it as a "huge leap forward for the cultivated meat industry". 

It plans to launch the first product samples later this year, it said, before turning its focus to reducing costs. 

It added it had already "secured brand partnerships and production of its products with leading pet food brands". 

Alongside the approval requirements, it said it had carried out testing to show the lab-grown chicken was "free from bacteria and viruses". 

It has also conducted tests to prove "the final chicken product is safe, nutritious, and free from genetically modified organisms, antibiotics, harmful pathogens, heavy metals, and other impurities". 

Meatly CEO's Owen Ensor said: "Today marks a significant milestone for the European cultivated meat industry.

"We are proving that there is a safe and low-capital way to rapidly bring cultivated meat to market.

"Pet parents are crying out for a better way to feed their cats and dogs meat - we're so excited to meet this demand." 

Would you give lab-grown meat to your dog? Let us know in the comments section

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