All inclusive resorts, buffet restaurants... What will happen to them?

[Bluewavescrashing]

Stayed in a huge hotel in Majorca a couple of years ago. 6 swimming pools, water park, 5 different restaurants, entertainment etc. There was actually an outbreak of hand foot and mouth which we managed to escape. Packed with people all toughing the same tongs at the buffet, tables and sun loungers close together etc.

I'm not bothered about doing that sort of holiday again--it was easy and fun but too busy for my liking so we booked a campsite chalet in France for our next holiday. But what will happen to these hotels now? Will they close or adapt to covid restrictions? Will people still want to go?

Yes. How will this work?

But surely people will still want to go?

They'll probably adapt. You'll find that many you will have to tell a server what you'd like and they'll pick it out for you.

I think Disney are moving some of their buffet style restaurants to 'family style' which is where each table gets their own shareable platter of foods that can be refilled (by a server) if need be.

I don't doubt people will still want to go - especially if they think they're getting a 'bargain'.

Everyone will forget about this and move on. Even 3 months ago seems like years.

Sharing platter on your table is a good idea.

If hotels don't pack people in as they currently do, prices will rocket.

Going forward there's lots of places I'd pay a bit extra to go to on the premise that it was not as busy as I've witnessed in the past.

Although in the shorter term, I'd want a lot of reassurance of cleanliness measures etc. I won't be going anywhere until next year at the least.

We have a chinese near us that does buffet differently and has done for years, you pay your £14.99 or whatever it is, but then you pick from a menu which dishes your table wants. There is no limit but you know it's always hot and fresh and you can order more if you really like something.

Everyone will forget about this and move on. Even 3 months ago seems like years

Yep.

People have short memories. They have always been a nightmare for norovirus. I personally avoid, I dislike buffets and crowds but it's going to be a case of what you think is acceptable risk going forward. I honestly suspect we will end up catching it and then it mutates but we will have partial immunity, just like with the common cold. Unfortunately some people won't make it past their first encounter so that's where a vaccine comes in, fingers crossed it works

I live overseas in a very touristy place that has huge All Inclusive hotels with waterparks, in fact, the majority are like this. Hotels have started opening at 50% occupancy, you pay AI but you order your meal from a menu. I presume that you can order more if you want it. It remains to be seen how successful it is and also whether they have many guests.

50% occupancy in high season would be quite attractive to me... We liked the convenience of all inclusive but not the crowds!

Not my cup of tea but guess it depends if you fancy it or not really and what they say locally i guess

We also used to have an all you can eat buffet Chinese near me that you picked from a menu and could order more if you wanted it. I loved it as I don’t like communal buffets much.

My colleagues in Holland are back eating inside restaurants and staying at hotels that include a breakfast buffet! From them it sounds pretty normal again. 🤷‍♀️

I would be delighted if the buffet was banned. They make me want to vomit. All those people touching the food. We generally avoid all inclusive resorts because of this unless there are table service restaurants. The breakfast is still usually buffet but I order something freshly cooked from the egg station to get round my buffet phobia!

The hotel I go to every year in
Kos is still having the buffet but they are serving it to you.

The hotel I go to every year in
Kos is still having the buffet but they are serving it to you

Then it's not a buffet, by definition.

Hotels can charge less for buffets than table service because they need fewer staff. If they are operating at 50% capacity and waiting tables the prices will go up surely, so it won't be such great value anyway.

A good breakfest buffet is always one of the highlights of a hotel stay for me. Even if you can still order as much food as you like, having to ask staff every time you'd like another cup of coffee or slice of toast just isn't the same.

I was just about to say I hate buffets but then realised that’s not strictly true as I like breakfast buffets at good hotels!!!!

But yes, one solution is where you have all the food served buffet style but serving staff stand at different serving stations and put the food on your plate.

I wondered too how his would work. Restaurants like Cosmos are buffet ones, people pay to help themselves . It’s how the business mode is set.
With regards to all inclusive food abroad, it won’t obviously be help yourself. I generally find that all inclusive food encourages people to be greedy because they want their money’s worth.
People behind a servery isn’t he same as all you can eat. People will eat less than normal.
I think the all inclusive model will change, I think more people will now go self catering as they won’t see the appeal with the end of help yourself buffet.

I'm also wondering how AI hotels will treat this. Pre coronavirus, there were buffet style AI and a la carte AI, with the latter being considerably more expensive, presumably due to extra staff costs of providing table service.

So even if there's less food waste, the buffet style AIs aren't going to be able to switch to table service and still charge the same amount and cover their costs. They're going to have to put their rates up or go out of business. I'm also not sure if a buffet served by staff will work, as that will lead to queues, and then they'll have to put queue management in place, which they might not have room for.

I did read about some of the big Egyptian AIs operating on 1/4 capacity, but that's obviously not sustainable long term.

@PrimalLass exactly!

And in the meantime they can get round the issue with servers or table service.

But having servers or table service isn’t what people pay for when it comes to all inclusive. The help yourself service is what it’s all about.
Table service will also make things slower surely, as more staff will be needed, at a busy hotel anyway. You don’t need many staff when people help themselves.
Then the hotel has to look at paying more staff for meal times which may not be possible.
Couldn’t they have a system where a few people go up at a time, before sanitising their hands? Got to be better than table service? Perhaps give people meal times to stop everyone coming at once?
If you pay for all inclusive, table service just isn’t the same.

The help yourself service is what it’s all about

I disagree with this. It's about paying a fixed price for your holiday without having to budget for food and drink and not have to worry about carrying money around on holiday.

We don't do AI because I don't like buffets (don't mind them for breakfast like a PP) but for lunch and dinner I want to sit at an outside table and have my food brought to me, and that type of AI is very expensive, so we generally self cater and eat out most of the time, so we can go to a variety of places and are not tied to the hotel.

It's not relaxing to have to queue up to get your food and it's not sociable when everyone spends the meal getting up and down to go back to the buffet station. I doubt many people prefer a buffet over table service but those who choose it are likely to do so because they can't afford or don't want to pay for table service AI.

I doubt many people prefer a buffet over table service but those who choose it are likely to do so because they can't afford or don't want to pay for table service AI

Well, I prefer buffet style. It's got nothing to do with money. I just prefer the spontaneity of being able to get an extra cup of coffee or slice of toast without having to call over a waiter and wait for them to go and get the food and bring it back to me.

For me, a genour breakfast buffet is one of the highlights of a hotel stay and if it's unavailable, it would be one more thing making me think twice about booking a holiday.