To make lunch from the buffet breakfast at our (frankly) ludicrously expensive hotel in Crete

[luverlyjubberly]

We are off on holiday tomorrow and we booked this a year ago.....before my dh lost his job and before we couldn't really afford it. However, it was too late to cancel without losing our money and we didn't want to disappoint the kids, so we are off anyway. This means we are staying in an expensive 5 star resort on a small budget. I'd already paid for the bed/breakfast so I'm thinking, since they have a massive buffet (we've been before) that we ought to stock up on rolls, cheese, ham, fruit etc and feed ourselves this at lunchtime to save money. We have two kids who would be happy enough with this and I reckon it would save us a small fortune. However dh is really against it saying that it's something he'd never do, we'd have to do it on the quiet - which he hates the idea of - and he thinks it's giving our kids the wrong message (like we are stealing or something)....

Views please.. don't kill me please - I'm just trying not to go into mounds of debt...

All this stuff about being a posh hotel is making me laugh. Having worked in a 5star london hotel for a while down to a bog standard 3 star the 'posher' guests were teh worst for snaffling all sorts of things from rooms.

Generally when a hotel has guests on a B&B pakage the Chef will get an allowance of for example £5pp for breakfast. Bearing in mind the bulk order (even more buying power for big hotels) it never costs them that much to cater for each individual. Occupancy is forecasted in advance so yes they have an fairly good idea of how many covers to cater for, but it is not an exact science. But on the whole, it is very easy to make a fantastic GP on breakfast even when some guests fill their boots and more!

I agree with the idea that you should ahve breafast as late as poss and stuff yourself with as much as you can - that is what I would do

Well I would never dream of taking anything for lunch for myself,dd or DP.......have been known to "snaffle ham" for starving four footed creatures though

I've only managed to get though about 1/4 of the thread but a bit surprised at how many people are against! what do you think happens to the food that doesn't get eaten at brekkie? The vast majority is binned - mostly just the food sealed in packets will make it back onto the buffet the next day, and (unpeeled) fruit..

If you're worried about the staff having an issue with it, I'd casually say to the head waiter "it's ok if the children take some of their breakfast away with them isn't it?". We've done this before and been encouraged, even given a little basket to take it away with us. The chef at the omelette bar used to make up yummy omelette sandwiches for us!!

I'm totally with spink on this.

Take as much as you can, for as long as you can get away with it.

Even if they catch you, just look stupid, act innocent and say sorry!

At the end of the day, some folk eat more than others at breakfast so it will even itself out..

GO FOR IT....ABSOLUTELY YANBU AT ALL.

Enjoy!!

I don't think taking food to eat at lunchtime is any worse than putting loads of food on your plate and then only eating half of it, I wouldn't do it though.

When we are on holiday, especially somewhere hot, we usually have a big breakfast and that keeps us going until dinner time, we might have an icecream during the day.

op enjoy your holiday.fill your bag,hat,boots, in fact any non-permeable item with grub.

lordy you will be like a mere bread-thieving-croissant-munching-dairy-eating-ham-lovin-common-thief

contributing to decline of values
eroding jobs
driving hoteliers to the wall

Cor

Come on the revolution let them eat cakes (but only if one has paid the full buffet tariff)

i think its a good idea, ssaves on waste too.

well done op have a great time

The other guests should get up earlier then..

how is one economising family taking a few items equate to not giving a stuff about others?huge exaggerated extrapolation and a bit mean

crickey!they are merely considering economising to minimise expenditure Not wilfully purposefully inflicting misery/harm on others

calm down
get a sense of perspective

I've done it before. But you have to but loads on your plate so then they'd have to throw it away anyway so it doesn't matter if you take it with you or not. Or can you ask if you can eat breakfast in your room cos it is easier than getting kids up, washed and dressed to come down for it?

TBH I would and DH (then DP) and I have done. I've never found the waiters to have a problem with it.

I'd say to go for it, and have a nice holiday

thanks for that elucidation.principally i am astonished at the alarmist disproportionate responses.

too stark
too concrete
exaggeration of consequences

any other issues involving moral turpitude that need the MN jury?

where i work has a breakfast buffet. Nothing is thrown away. Cereal is in kellogs variety boxes, yoghurts obv in pots, all fruit has skin on it. We do have tinned grapefruit - not sure if they throw that. I know bread isn't thrown away. juice is in a big dispenser and gets used throughtout the day as does milk.

oh and the cheese is those little mini prepacked ones, butter, jam, spread etc all in individual pots.

my friend was offered a box by the staff at her 5*hotel in the Maldives as it (croissants and so on) doesn't last - she was a bit peeved that they hadn't thought to do this on the first day!

If the breakfast was actually waiter service rather than a buffet would you ask for a second plateful so you could keep it for lunch? I think not.

Like many others, I think it's fine to take a banana for a child for later but not a full lunch.

Ditto have a late breakfast, then get the kids some fruit/ crisps/ a croissant from the supermarket later on to last them until dinner time.

DrNortherner, you are clearly referring to me with your comment "All this stuff about being a posh hotel is making me laugh" and I'm not sure what work you did in hotels but clealy budgeting was not part of it from what you said as £5 allocated to breakfast is way out.

I made a perfectly valid and fair comment that it's better to be upfront and honest about what you're doing, rather than sitting there trying to stuff your bag full of food.

I have total sympathy with the OP having booked an expensive holiday and now facing the need to economise but the thought of people booking holidays and trying to squeeze as much out of it as possible by stealing is pretty pathetic.

hey when y'all finished pondering profligate theft.

do you think about anything more minor

• Proposed anti-terrorism laws to detain suspects for up to 42 day
• Ramifications of new Mental Health Act
• economic crisis

oh you know not so significant compared to this great moral dilemma

WScottishMummy - but those topics are serious.

This thread (now that the OP has made up her mind - and to a certain extent before that) is sport.

That's what you don't seem to be getting.

Yes Blu. It's like fox hunting. And the so called 'chavs' amongst us are just waiting for the hounds.

I really don't see what the big fuss is about here. It's no big deal in my book but some of the reactions have been a little draconian imo to say the least.

Theft, corruption, erosion of moral standards? I thought we were talking about a few bread rolls and a slice or two of ham. Better get the axes out and start drawing the lines on people's wrists now!

I love the story about one person getting the buffet and then feeding it to the rest of the table.

When we were in Corfu last year, it was the generally the Brit families doing this - piling their plates sky high because it "was all free" and leaving two thirds of it or letting the kids chuck it round the table and leaving behind a scene of huge waste and devastation, then filling their bags up with the bread, meats, cheeses and fruits quite blatantly before leaving the restaurant at breakfast.

Vulgar to the nth degree, apart from wasteful and dishonest, in my honest, and non-snobbish opinion.