Rejuvenated

Welcome to the world of freeloaders! I have had my share of kids free loading on my fries for an elementary school lunch.

waynelorentz

Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo checks each guest going into the breakfast area. If you don't have a particular slip of paper, you are charged about US$30 for breakfast.

Hotel Kaiserin Elizabeth in Vienna doesn't overtly check your identity, but you are required to display your room key on your table. The keys are attached to massive brass fobs with the room number etched into them.

Most other hotels I stay in don't have free breakfast.

mattkorey

People really want to go to this much trouble for a fairly non-tasty breakfast? I've seen these buffets and they are nothing to write home about to say the least. I like them in Europe a little better, but to take the trouble covertly sneak in and rish that embarassment? Crazy!

jimbo99

I feel its the something for nothing mentality.... A bit like people sneaking stuff into their pockets and bags from VIP lounges. Maybe its the adrenalin rush from doing something so naughty...

mattkorey

OK, I get that. It's sort of like taking the little shampoos or conditioners from the hotel rooms. But at least you are actually a guest in the first place!

LapLap

When I was in my teens a load of my friends from Spain did a tour of Northern Europe with their school/college (they were doing COU) whilst I was living in England.
Their longest stay (in Cologne) coincided with Easter when I had some free time.
I got a cheap boat/rail ticket and went to see them (this was before Easyjet so it was expensive and difficult to travel to Spain for non 7 day trips, especially at Easter). I thought I might be able to find a hostel once I was there.

Never needed to, one more Spanish speaker in the group and the hotel never raised an eyebrow. The beds were huge, we were skinny, and I was able to come down and eat breakfast with everyone.

So I guess I've been a freeloader too.

bumpme

I could care less and I don't want to be some hotel breakfast buffet police.

BamaVol

At a BW in Paris last spring, a worker would approach our breakfast table each morning to get us to sign next to our room number. Most mornings, someone had already signed on our line. I have no idea if they were freeloaders or confused.

It was a very nice buffet and I'd risk embarassment tomorrow if I could put my hands on a plate of that pain au chocolat!

dietwater

Acutally I had hilton staff working in their VIP lounge enrouging us to bring water/soft drinks/snacks back to our rooms. So YMMV on that.

stevechin

I had people attempt to freeload off a group I was with.

Last year, I was with a bunch of co-workers attending a convention in San Jose. All 16 of us stayed at the San Jose Hilton Garden Inn for 2 days. On the last day, our boss decided to treat us to breakfast!^ At the San Jose Hilton Garden Inn, the dining area is part of the lobby. The tables weren't arranged together, so we were spread out among 4 tables. I think the continental breakfast costs around $7 and a full breakfast with custom made omlettes and waffles is $11 (I think...)

We were eating breakfast and when the bill came, it was for 18 breakfasts. My boss asked about the 2 additional breakfasts and realized they had added on a couple seated at another table. The 16 of us and the couple were the only people eating in the lobby. When he told the waitress/cook, she said the couple specifically told her they were part of our group.

My boss had the waitress/cook correct the bill. All 16 of us turned at once to see who was claiming to be part of our group. The couple looked up and had that guilty look when they realized we ALL KNEW. The couple received their own bill.


Steve

pinniped

I've seen the same thing at most Marriott/Hilton lounges. I don't think there's any rule that you have to remain in the lounge to eat or drink unless it's liquor and their license requires you to consume it in the lounge. (Even that is rare, I think.)

I commonly drop by the lounge at whatever hotel I'm staying in to grab a bottle of water after I've gone for a run. In the mornings, I sometimes grab a water and a banana to take with me for later in the day. I've even seen hotels provide little brown bags for people who want to take a bagel or fruit with them.

But anyway...back to the original topic of the thread:

(1) I've never seen breakfast poaching at any of the roadside motel brands mentioned in the OP. Seems like a poacher would have to be pretty gutsy to drive up, park, walk in, and start chowing down. Furthermore, why? It's not like those places are serving up caviar and Cristal. Others have speculated that it's the thrill of something for nothing, but is it really all that big of a thrill? I think I'd be thinking "I'm poaching a crappy motel breakfast. This isn't really all that fun - or all that tasty." So I suspect it's a fairly uncommon practice.

(2) Inviting a caravan into the executive lounge with you. This I *do* see on occasion. At least, I suspect it. I usually see it in the form of a full-on business meeting taking place in the midst of the lounge. OK, perhaps a chance that everybody is Gold or everybody booked rooms on the C-level, but still I suspect there's some lounge-sneakage going on. I stay at Marriotts often with coworkers who aren't frequent Marriott guests. I usually don't even mention the C-lounge to them - if I want to meet up with them for beers, I meet them in the hotel's main lounge.

747LWW

They still have this policy....as of a few months ago.

Susie Stewardess

You should be ashamed of yourself! Hissing about someone lower than your caste snagging a bite to eat. Shame, shame, shame...

pinniped

Well, technically, the OP was about people stealing food. (We all sort of wandered off into the gray area of the etiquette of airline/hotel lounges.) The only people who should be ashamed are the poachers themselves.

BamaVol

Yeah, like Hampton Inn - they provide a breakfast bag; usually has a water, apple, granola bar and muffin.

Of course, I've been known to eat breakfast and take the bag, turning it into "lunch to go". I guess that confirms my freeloading status.