Food and Beverage Services Offered
by Full-Service Hotels
Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2nd Ed.
Ninemeier and Perdue
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
O.H. 11.1
SPECIAL HOTEL FOODSERVICES
Restaurants typically offer a la carte dining, and many are able to
serve banquets to relatively small groups of guests. Hotels offer
foodservices not seen in most other types of hospitality
organizations:
Banquets for very large groups of people. Some hotels have
ballrooms and meeting spaces that can serve several thousand or
more guests at the same and/or different events.
Room service. The service of food and beverages within a guest
room is uncommon in any other segment of the hospitality industry.
Employee foodservices. Large hotels may employ hundreds or
thousands of staff members. Employee cafeterias are sometimes
available for their exclusive use, and a subsidized meal is
considered a fringe benefit.
Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2nd Ed.
Ninemeier and Perdue
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
O.H. 11.2
Management Positions in Food and
Beverage Service (Small Hotel)
Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2nd Ed.
Ninemeier and Perdue
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
O.H. 11.3
Management Positions in Food and
Beverage Service (Large Hotel)
Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2nd Ed.
Ninemeier and Perdue
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
O.H. 11.4
Management Positions in Food and
Beverage Service (Very Large Hotel)
Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2nd Ed.
Ninemeier and Perdue
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
O.H. 11.5
Why Room Service May Not Be
Profitable
• Labor costs are high.
• It takes a significant amount of time to
transport food from the kitchen to (often)
remote guest room areas and back to the
kitchen.
• Expenses for equipment can be significant.
• Costs for items such as glasses, cups,
flatware, and serviceware increase room-
service costs, and these items are frequently
stolen.
Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2nd Ed.
Ninemeier and Perdue
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
O.H. 11.6
Special Room Service Operating
Concerns
• Communication problems. These can arise when
incomplete order information is received from the
guests.
• Lost opportunities for upselling by the order taker.
• Within-guest room service challenges.
Room servers must set up the meal, explain
procedures to retrieve items, present the guest
check and secure payment, open bottles of wine,
and provide an attitude of genuine hospitality.
Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2nd Ed.
Ninemeier and Perdue
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
O.H. 11.7
Why Banquet Events Are More
Profitable Than a la Carte Dining
• Banquets frequently celebrate special events and
create opportunities to sell more expensive and
profitable items.
• The number of meals is known in advance, and it is
easier to schedule production and labor
requirements.
• There is less likelihood of overproduction of food.
• Banquet planners can frequently sell hosted or
cash bars that enable increased sales of alcoholic
beverages.
Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2nd Ed.
Ninemeier and Perdue
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
O.H. 11.8
BANQUET CONTRACTS AND BILLING POLICIES
Topics to be addressed include:
• Last day a banquet space will be held without a signed contract
• Time by when an attendance guarantee must received
• Cancellation policy: an explanation of fees to be assessed if
the banquet contract is canceled
• Guarantee reduction policy: if the final guarantee is less than
the specified percentage of the initial guarantee, an additional
charge may be assessed
• Billing: information about the amount and schedule for guest
payment
• Information about the service of alcoholic beverages
• Other information
Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2nd Ed.
Ninemeier and Perdue
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
O.H. 11.9
Alcoholic Beverage Service
in Hotels
• All hotel employees (not just food/beverage
servers) must receive training to recognize
intoxication.
• Intoxicated guests may need to travel long
distances within the hotel to reach their
guest rooms.
• Issues such as underage drinking in guest
rooms and transport of alcoholic beverages
to guest rooms by minors can cause
problems.
Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2nd Ed.
Ninemeier and Perdue
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
O.H. 11.10
