Buffet Breakfast

The London hotel I have just been looking at charge an extra thirty pounds per person for 'breakfast included'.

I just might get brave and take a large handbag.

I am a B and B owner. I would be quite happy to give people a doggy bag for food that we have cooked and they couldn't eat. We do best quality food and cook 2 of everything eg sausages, bacon etc. plus cereals. Toast and juices etc. fruit is the one thing we can put out again for breakfast. On the tray in the rooms there are biscuits, variety of teas. Hot chocolate coffee. Everything used and eaten costs us. We try to be fair on pricing. Take into account area. I have amazing views. We are near Bath. We don't make much money. With heating, water is metered. Repairs. Good quality bedding. I am very accommodating. I know people spend their hard earned money and I want them to feel special and individual and welcome. Will give people lifts sometimes if they are stuck. Let them arrive early. But to take food for other meals unless of course you don't have time for breakfast, I will do takeaway bacon or sausage sandwiches, I find totally unreasonable. Fortunately the only thing my guests usually take is water. I put bottled water on the trays in the rooms for those taking medication. I supply shower gels etc.

We enjoy having breakfast in the hotel and apart from the occasional piece of fruit I haven't taken anything away. However, when we are away with the family and young grandchildren I don't think its too unacceptable to take fruit or a yoghurt back to the room for the children - usually for their morning break or as part of their lunch. We pay for the children and they don't have that much at breakfast.

two things here really; nobody, even very rude princesspamma would disagree with taking doggy bags containing left overs from your own meal, it would only get thrown in the bin surely? But, I have seen some piggish behaviour at buffet tables, food getting piled on plates and then left, and I have felt ashamed of my fellow guests as I watch the generally low paid staff pick up the mess of uneaten food, and wonder what low opinions they must have of us all. This is not the same as taking a banana or an apple with you to eat later., making yourself and your family a packed lunch from the breakfast buffet when you are on a bed and breakfast basis is stretching it a bit to my opinion.

Of course, the real drawback is, even if you eat it later it still makes you fat.

NanKate, the Harvester near us never has enough plates to put your bread rolls on, maybe one was for her and one for somebody else. If there aren't any side plates available, it would be impossible to balance two bread rolls on top of your salad. If you fill up your bowl with salad, it means you don't have to keep going back and fore to the salad bar anyway, so not necessarily greedy as you are alllowed free salad refills.

Buffet breakfasts usually offer loads of options and you can stuff yourself so it seems inappropriate to take anything away. I stayed at a budget hotel with my grandchildren and paid £6 for my breakfast and nothing for the children, although they ate as much as me. I consider that very cheap. The hotel room was spacious and clean with comfortable beds. I do wonder how they can be so much cheaper than other hotels which look no better.
I stayed in a guest house with my grandchildren when they were smaller and one of them wrote on the sheets. The owner charged me for the sheets which I thought was perfectly reasonable.

I'd be interested to hear the views on doggy bags of those who are so disgusted by the taking of a piece of fruit or bread roll at breakfast time - is that a sort of legitimate stealing?? Can't see the difference myself. DH invariably takes a banana away with him at breakfast time & we usually have a doggy bag for leftovers and why not??

Well, jings as I expected, GNHQ say that princes spammy's post doesn't break the guidelines, so it can stay.

I really must take a good look through the threads to see whether there are any where I can work in a post claiming that other posters make me sick. Clearly I am being too polite.

I consider this behavior to be greedy and vulgar, something I would never do, can't say that I have witnessed anyone do it, but then I don't watch other people that much, because this would be rude.

No, jings not ridiculous. She was insulting, not to one poster, maybe, so GN will probably not act, but to many. NO-ONE was as nasty as she makes out. They condemned those who piled their plates and then wasted food, they condemned those who took whole bunches of bananas or stuuffed their bags with all they jam in, butI don't recall anyone being horrified at a piece of fruit or croissant.

Saying that are all nosy busybodies and they make her sick was over the top.

I like a few others, don't always like to eat a huge breakfast, unlike DH who goes for the full English and maybe a bit more at a buffet. So I don't see what's wrong with me taking perhaps a muffin and some fruit for mid morning. I certainly don't regard it as "stealing" when I've paid for it. Ddil has been known to fill a small bag sometimes when she's paid for DGD who's eating nothing at the time. Shocking!

You actually reported her Elegran?! Oh for goodness sake. Ridiculous!

We had a 'doggy bag' in a parador in Spain, which they kept in the 'frig overnight for us. We had, quite reasonably, to sign a disclaimer about any subsequent ill-effects.

I was ahead of you, and acted on my impulse, Jane10.

Without the last three sentences that post was fine, but then the spamma princess wound herself up until she became personally insulting - not acceptable! It has been reported to GNHQ. The poster's opinion of GNers is so low that I frankly don't care if she thinks worse of me.

I thought of. not 'bought of'.

Actually, what of the food could they possibly put out again? Certainly not the cold meats, and I would hope they would get fresh rolls in daily.

I think the only reason they don't like anyone taking food away is for health and safety reasons. If someone ate a slice of meat later that had not been refrigerated and then became ill, the hotel would have no proof that the food hadn't been consumed at breakfast time, and they would be in trouble.

Btw, no one on here has actually said they take much away, so why the fuss?

I bought of Teetime' post in bed last night. DH wondered what I was giggling about.

NonnaW, you speak sense! If you have to leave, I'll come with you .....

Now, back to the OP; on a coaching holiday in Germany about 30 years ago most of the party was mortified by the hoovering up of rolls, meat, cheese & fruit by one couple. "But this is the only way we can afford 5 holidays a year" was their reason.

So, no wouldn't do it myself (except maybe the odd bit of fruit ......)

And here we go again! Disagree with people's opinion if you must but is there really any need to get quite so offensive about it?

I would say that no one on here minds about the odd bit of fruit, it's the principle of (in some cases) going b&b then taking food so you don't have to buy lunch that people disagree with

And now having dared to express an opinion I'll probably have to leave GN as I will be persona non grata.

Well, despite previous post I have just remembered nipping back into a hotel in central Krakow, where we had just had breakfast. I took an apple from the buffet, but it was not for me - we were about to go on a horse-drawn tour of the city and I wanted to give it to the horse.
The horse really enjoyed it.

A piece of fruit or a leftover croissant ( which would be thrown away) is fine IMHO but not more than that.You do see a lot of greed going on, both in heaped plates to eat there, and food taken away.

Well, some of us were, roses, perhaps to point out that just taking small quantities of food from a breakfast buffet to eat later is neither criminal not immoral.

I don't think we are really talking about the odd banana here though, are we?

Erm its surely possible to disagree with other posters without being as offensive as Princesspamma. Should I report her or would that just reinforce the stereotype she seems to have of us! None so blind etc