Originally Posted by USirritated

Of course cereals and waffles do not cost a lot in SFO, or anywhere else. But if that hotel experiences 60-75% Gold and Plat traffic on the weekends, and decided to offer breakfast coupons, then that hotel's restaurant gross would drop more than 50% (most, but not all, of the restaurant traffic at most hotels is for breakfast, which is why 60-75% using coupons would not drop the gross in exactly the same percentage).

If you think in terms of a movie theater, where 20¢ in syrup turns into a $4.00 large cup of soda sold, breakfast at hotels is similar, $1-2 of wholesale food turns into a $19.95 breakfast buffet sold. The very high gross margin on breakfast, coupled with the VERY high Gold and Plat traffic, would probably turn that restaurant from a profitable cost center into an unprofitable cost center, certainly for the weekends, and possibly for the whole week.