By Tanya Mohn, msnbc.com contributor
Most people have heard the adage ?there?s no such thing as a free lunch.? But apparently it is not true for breakfast ? at some hotels at least.
Vijay Dandapani is president of Apple Core Hotels, a company that owns five New York City hotels, all of which serve free breakfast and have for more than a decade.
?The mid '90s, like today, was a time of economic contraction,? he said. ?[Free breakfast] built tremendous customer goodwill as not only did it save guests money, but it helped start the day off on the right note.?
What started out as a simple complimentary cup of coffee and a doughnut has transformed into a kind of one-upmanship, said Chris Quilty, director of hotel operations for Hersha Hospitality Management, which owns and operates about 80 properties nationwide, representing all the major U.S. brands. About 70 of them offer free breakfast.
There's anecdotal evidence to suggest that it's not just paying guests who enjoy this perk; it's not uncommon, say hotel experts and staff, to see people walk in from the street and serve themselves at the buffet.
?If you are savvy and need something to eat, it?s an easy thing to do,? said Bobby Bowers, senior vice president of operations for STR, a hotel research company.
STR does not track how many non-guests take advantage of free breakfasts, but ?I don?t doubt that it occurs,? Bowers said. ?I would say it?s probably more of a problem now because economic times are tough.? But nine out of 10 times staff won?t say anything unless the person is a regular offender or ?looks tough and dirty,? he said.
The concept of free hotel breakfasts began in the early 1980s. Research at the time showed that many people did not want to pay for a full service breakfast, wanted something fast and convenient, and ?it was a good way for the brand to offer added value,? Bowers said.
About 55 percent of hotels offer complimentary breakfast, according to the most recent data available from the 2010 Lodging Survey from the American Hotel & Lodging Association. The survey was conducted by STR.
?The Breakfast Wars,? have escalated in the last 5 years, Quilty said. Hotels now offer everything from custom omelets and fresh oatmeal to make-your-own waffles. Some offer special items every day, said Quilty, who has seen everyone from savvy travelers to cab drivers drop in at Hersha Hospitality properties for a quick free cup of coffee and a bite.
?I?ve seen people pull up in their cars, get out, wearing blazers and carrying briefcases, walk into the hotel, say ?Hi,? sit down and eat breakfast, read their newspaper, walk out and say, ?Have a nice day,? Quilty said. ?If you can carry yourself like you belong, no one will ever question you. If a person seems out of place, often we will ask them to leave.? Staff will also remind them that the free breakfast is for guests. But Quilty said he generally didn?t mind if they grabbed a coffee as they could be former customers or future ones.
In addition, it is tough to determine who is a guest and who is not. At the company?s Hampton Inn & Suites property in Hershey, Pa., in the middle of summer there are sometimes 400 guests. ?Our complimentary breakfast is like Grand Central Station for three hours every morning,? Quilty said. ?You can?t monitor that. We don?t have the staff to do that.?
Quilty does not believe the buffet freeloading is widespread, nor is it the result of a bad economy. ?It may occur more in cities than other places,? he said. But is there a large influx of people utilizing free breakfasts as a soup kitchen? I haven?t seen or heard that.?
?Like wedding crashers, freeloaders are few and far between,? said Joseph A. McInerney, president and chief executive of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, a hotel industry trade group. ?It?s not a big deal. We don?t even track it,? he said. ?The cost to track it would be much more than the savings.? Costs to the hotels from people eating free food are ?miniscule,? said McInerney.
Not all experts concur that the problem is minor.
Bjorn Hanson, divisional dean of the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University, said buffets set up outside of hotel meeting rooms are even more of a draw than breakfast buffets.
There is often limited security as the buffets are in public areas. ?Some hotels are very strict about this and look for name badges,? Hanson said. "If people do not have them, hotel staff will often ask people to present them or ask that they go back to the hotel room and get them. ?This is an increasing problem for hotels,? he said.
Dandapani, of Apple Core Hotels, said that an equally important concern was the impact that non-guests can have, ?including sometimes denying seating to the guests.?
In that case, Dandapani will remove the individuals ?as discreetly as possible ... but almost never mid-way through the meal.?? The hotel staff ?let them finish what they are eating.?
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Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/05/9223207-freeloading-at-the-hotel-breakfast-buffet
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