To think this cafe is right?

[KimberleyClark]

A cafe in Aberystwyth has asked people to stop hogging tables with laptops.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5361933pno

100% - to sit and take a table for hours for one person and order maybe 1 or 2 coffees is so rude.

A cafe is either a place for social catch ups or quiet calm . It is not a meeting space for Jenny to have her Skype meeting to discuss next quarters targets and expenditure. Hearing business talk at a cafe stresses me out.

They should stay home, in an office or a shared workplace.

It's up to them how they run their business, and depending on the area and footfall they might be right, but turning away regular customers, who are also there during quiet periods because they don't spend enough during busy periods, might not turn out to be as good for business as they think it will.

Fine if there are tables available but the minute someone buys something and needs a table the laptop-squatters need to move, immediately.

But they don't.

So...

I imagine they have monitored use v spend and how many customers are lost due to laptop users.

They could say 'no working at tables from 12-2pm for example if that is their busy time.

But in the end it is up to them and I am sure they have worked out what's best for their own business.

In our student heavy city you often can't get a seat because of students on laptops.

I dont think it's that simple.

It's a rainy Monday in Aberystwyth, no one except the "laptop squatter" is buying coffee at all. On Friday the sun's out and there are more people about, so laptop man is asked to move just as he completing something important (to him).

So, when it's raining next week, the cafe is empty M-F.

Their choice as business owners of course, but they can't expect regulars to keep coming if sometimes they get chucked out.

If a customer sat from 8-10.15, having only had coffee and toast, like the example in the article , but they didn’t have a laptop, would the cafe still ask them to leave? I don’t think 2 hours is particularly ‘hogging’.

I do regularly work from cafes but I don’t take phone calls; I order regularly; I move out if it gets busy; and I don’t take up a giant table. Sometimes big chains, sometimes small independents, but my own little rules apply wherever I am.

A cafe in Manchester had a poster up with a recommendad rate of coffee consumption if you were working there - something like a drink every hour, an order including food (cake/biscuit/sandwich) every two hours. I only went there once so no idea if it was successful!

Our work cafeteria is also a flexible working space but is strictly no work between 12 and 2pm.

I just went on Tripadvisor to see if it is a busy cafe... here are all the 'Insider Tips' which suggests it is usually very busy. So yes two hours for tea and a bit of toast when there are people waiting is not acceptable. I think the cafe is well within their rights to enforce a rule, given that some people appear to be incapable of determining what is reasonable and what is not.

The comments:

Worth waiting for a table at busy times
Read their review

Lorraine M
Visited Apr 2026

Beware there is sometimes a queue outside but it's definitely worth it
Read their review

Tuesday H
Visited Feb 2025

If they're busy, you can give your name and sit outside till a table is free
Read their review

travelwearylondon
Visited Aug 2025

Happy to adapt their menu to be gluten free
Read their review

Simon D
Visited Aug 2025

The American breakfast is lovely as is the full breakfast , ate here two days on the trot.
Read their review

Garry C
Visited Jul 2025

When you ask for a large coffee, you get a properly large cup! The full American breakfast was a nice option.
Read their review

Brendan Byrne
Visited Jul 2025

at busy times you may have to be patient to get a table, but well worth the waite
Read their review

paul r
Visited Mar 2025

If GF, the staff will tell you how they can make the meal a GF option.
Read their review

Rae R
Visited Aug 2024

If you're asked yo wait for a seat, wait....it'll be worth it!

It's not 'right' or 'wrong'. It's just up to the cafe who are making their rules to suit their own particular business.

For some cafes, customers who sit and work for a couple of hours are a lucrative source of income during off-peak times. It completely depends on the individual business and their specific location, business plan, premises etc.

Absolutely well within their rights to enforce a rule, and it would be sensible for their business. But make sure it applies across the board, not just if you have a laptop. There are plenty of other table hoggers!

Oh totally agree, also applies to two shoppers having a natter over nothing more than couple of doughnuts for two hours... go somewhere else!

A cafe I use has banned laptops completely

To be fair it's pretty small but as far as I can see it hasn't impacted on business at all.

2 hours with a coffee and toast absolutely is hogging. I don't take that long for a full meal out with DH.

And Aberystwyth is a university town…

The cafe I mentioned is in a university town - Canterbury - and has a lot of students going in there. I think the fact that it is (pretty) small is one of the deciding factors

I did see one cafe, I think it was Torbay area, that was offering "packages" to lap-top users if they wanted to stay beyond an hour. So they could have a hot drink only package which was, say, 4 hot drinks for the price of 3; or a breakfast package that included breakfast and a number of hot drinks; a lunchtime package etc. so laptop users couldn't just sit there all day with one coffee, they had to pay up front if they wanted to stay beyond an hour.

I thought it was a good idea. Extract a chunk of money off the lap-top users up-front. I am sure it probably put some off as they didn't actually want to spend anything.

We went to a cafe inside a bookstore. A girl came in and read a book for 10 minutes (dont know if she purchased the book from this store). Then put the book away, folded her arms, put her head on her arms and went to sleep. She was still there when we left, she didn't purchase anything at all from the cafe - what a cheek!!!

I was really looking forward to going to a small independent coffee place in London that I'd heard a lot about. But when I got there, every table was occupied by someone with a laptop. I hovered for a while, then passed some time in nearby shops in the hope that when I was done, there's be space for me. But no, there wasn't.

Initially I was sad to give up, but then I realised that the relaxing coffee and pastry that I'd been looking forward to, wouldn't have been that pleasurable in an office atmosphere.

I'm amazed that the place allowed this. It's a small establishment in a very busy area of London. So they would sell far now and have far more customers (and a much more pleasant ambience) if they limited how many tables could be used for working. It must be a really soul sucking place to be a barista.

True. But as above, a couple of shoppers don't suck the soul out of the atmosphere like people on laptops do!

Why do people using a laptop suck the atmosphere? As long as they’re sitting quietly, ordering etc etc? Why is a laptop different to someone reading a book or a kindle?

Because some of us find it difficult to relax in places that look like an office.

I think it's an acceptable thing to do.

How long would coffee and toast person stay sat there had they not of had their laptop with them, it's a business that earns its revenue by serving food/drink, not by selling office space.

Not many people that pop in for coffee/food would sit for hours after they've finished it just staring into space.

I do realise that some people go for a solo coffee or two, but a cafe full of laptoppers is very anti social and quiet, no ambience or atmosphere to the place. They are all sitting there looking at the screens on their own with no interraction with anyone else at all. I find it very soulless TBH and I will scarper if I see that kind of thing. Down with it all I say!

If space allows, then two or three tables max for laptoppers with a max stay of 90 minutes. Your receipt shows when you bought your first item and will be on a place holder on your table. When your time is up you're out mate.

Sophie‘s is always busy, everytime I’ve been I’ve had to queue, their veggie breakfast is great.