hotscot

Been travelling a lot over the US West and Southwest. Mainly Hamptons.

I've noticed people in the morning that don't actually stay at the hotel, but they nip in for the free breakfast, from their campers in the car park, and to freshen up in the restroom, as no-one checks. And they 'collect' food items.
I can understand the reluctance of staff to confront them but I assume it adds costs for the rest of us.

In my travels recently this has become more obviously common.

pauleeepaul

Yawn. It is the establishment's job to sort this out, if the losses are big enough they will react.

Plus everything isnt always as it appears . We RV'd across the country in 2020, staying every 3rd night in an HI or HS, with the bus in the lot and all of us in beds in the property.

pstm91

I don't understand that at all. It's the staff's job to ensure guests are receiving everything they've paid for and enforce security procedures at the hotel. Telling people who are not guests that they cannot be using the facilities should not lead to an altercation because the non-guest has no leg to stand on. I know people are crazy, but that's what the police are for, should it turn into a situation.

erik123

It's called a proletarian breakfast.

bitterproffit

About 10 years ago, I stayed at the Hampton Inn in downtown Ft Lauderdale where I was hit up for money at the breakfast by other 'guests'. I chatted a bit with a couple of the other guests at breakfast and they were staying at the homeless camp down the street. It was early and breakfast had just opened. I suspect that this particular Hampton has made the lobby a bit more secure since then. It didn't bother me, but I can also see it being a safety issue.

I am not going to freak out that a homeless couple got some bananas and some yogurt, but I did question how secure the facility was after that. I suspect the front desk had no clue they had even come in. To me, that is the real concern. The doors are locked at night, but at 7 AM it was open and due to the design of that Hampton, it was easy to come in and go to the breakfast area upstairs and other areas without even walking near the desk. While the couple I talked to was just down on their luck, in a downtown area, I expected a more secure facility.

I mentioned it at checkout and the desk manager was really surprised to hear it. I don't even think they realized it was happening.

_fx

Security also costs money, and labor is expensive these days. Maybe the hotel decided they'd rather spend a few extra dollars on tea and cereal than pay someone $20/hr to guard a largely worthless buffet.

arlflyer

I did come across one Hampton property in the past few months that simply had the front door key card reader active at all hours (as opposed to the usual overnight hours). Pretty simple solution to cut down a good bit of this behavior - sure, someone could follow a guest in, but that's likely to be noticed by the guest and called out.

That being said, with the growth of van life, etc., I've heard of some businesses getting entrepreneurial with this customer segment - since the OP mentions campers, could it be possible that the property manager is simply selling parking spots with breakfast perks attached?

Adam1222

This has been happening as long as continental breakfasts have been served in hotel lobbies. Not sure it's a trend or you just are noticing it now. You can find threads about it on here and reddit from over a decade ago. So I wouldn't be "disturbed."

The marginal cost to "us" is likely less than security, given that food costs for a Hampton breakfast are lower than labor costs. The labor costs for the breakfast itself probably aren't impacted by an extra five or even 10 people grabbing a mini muffin.

The Road Goes On Forever

This is not a new concept. It's been going on since...forever at select service properties. As long as the person(s) involved aren't drawing attention to themselves and showing up every day, it would be hard to figure out who is staying and who isn't unless you're directly asking every person. Buildings can have multiple unlocked access points and 99% of staff could care less. You're not paid enough to go full Inspector Clouseau attempting to sniff out who should/shouldn't be drinking coffee or eating. Sure, there are context clue questions you could chat someone up with and figure it out but again, nobody cares enough to go down that road unless something egregious is occurring.

Error 601

I happens anywhere there is food laid out. I have been to events at hotels where the food placed out for coffee breaks and lunch could be rather picked over before the group it was intended for reached it in the first place. I was at one event where a group from a financial institution just wandered over and ate our lunch.

I have also been to a few hotels that have put their breakfast either behind a card reader or moved it elsewhere in the building.

returnoftheyeti

In our late teens to early 20’s we used to drive to the “rich neighborhoods” and go to any and every graduation party we would see.

We were usually very stoned, generally well behaved, and very well fed.

This thread reminded me of this for some reason.

testycal

But if the Lounge concierge can control traffic why not the hotels?

Adam1222

I'm not sure if this is a joke, but I don't believe any Hampton Inns have "Lounge concierges"...or concierges of any kind

stupidhead

Also by the time it's out on the breakfast buffet, it's already a sunk cost. The food and drink has already been paid for regardless of where it goes.

It's not like the hotel can return the uneaten food to the caterer for a refund.

gaobest

Dealing with the masses is part of staying at a lower budget hotel chain. Once you see this at Hyatt regency or a Waldorf / Conrad, then I think it’s fair to complain.

also the free breakfast food at Hampton / hyatt house / embassy - it’s pretty awful as is the free coffee. It’s just really not great. Actually the free lobby coffee at Autograph in kaua’i (Koloa landing) was really very very bad. The lobby iced tea and lobby ice water and fitness center water were all really good. The free coffee was awful. Omg!!! Awful.