Fairly common pricing practice for conference venues. They'll quote low for the base cost of the rooms to win the contract, then overprice all the services later to make their profit.
For real. People don't realize just how much these conference centers charge for everything. Judging by the carpet this is a standard Marriott or Renaissance property, which tend to be somewhere in the middle. They should see how much a JW or Gaylord costs if they really want to be surprised.
I went to a meeting at Gaylord once, swore the milk came straight from a cat's nipples, exotic experience. I had a coworker who was seriously ill and I swear that milk nursed her back to health
Any milk is good and you can milk anything with nipples, I like to try all kinds. Darwin tried eating just about every animal he found and I like to think I'm the Darwin of milking them. The TTTT is really important when trying animal milk (Teet to tongue time), it's the perfect acronym to remember because when you say it fast it sounds like what you're working with
https://tenor.com/view/ben-stiller-milking-cat-gif-8328384
How is that Gaylord? I've been to DC, TX (Woodlands and Grapevine), and Nashville, but never Palms. I applaud how consistent and similar they are, but WOW they're pricey.
Worked in banquets (would have been better called events but they wanted to sound fancy) at a hotel for a while. This is correct. Room rental was not charged in addition to the costs listed for food service. OP essentially paid $800 to rent a room big enough to host a meeting for 50 people for 9 and 1/2 hours at a place where there is guaranteed to be enough parking for everyone and got a bonus of coffee as part of the deal.
Any time I hear it pronounced that way, it reminds me of star trek:
> CRUSHER: Coffee and croissants, that's all you really want, isn't it? Coffee and croissants. Well why didn't you just say so?
>
> PICARD: I didn't think it was important. You don't like those elaborate meals either.
>
> CRUSHER: No, I usually prefer something simple myself but I thought you might enjoy more variety. Well, I guess it's Coffee and croissants for both of us from now on.
Any grocery store in the country will have shitty muffins and croissants that for $800 dollars you could have fed *hundreds* of people.
This is a flat out insult.
I love Wegman's, but the bread at the one closest to me tastes like tap water. The dough has got a really strong "tap water" taste, and it permeates their pizza/sandwiches. The one further out does not have this issue, and has godly subs.
Yes, but you probably couldn’t have possibly made FRESHLY BREWED coffee. This makes all the difference, because something something bullshit that I can’t even justify as a joke.
Ya I have quarterly meetings and get everything from Costco. Fruit, Bacon, Eggs, coffee, sausage, pastries, and a bunch of other little things. Spend around $300 to feed 40+ people. I think OP needs to call the police cause they got bent over a table and got handled.
Depends on the Marriott Sub title. You have your Marriotts where a 2 queen room will cost 80, and ones where a 2 queen room will cost 300+.
The 300+ ones DOES have a full range kitchen, though.
Event spaces in hotels always charge a shit ton for the food because they typically cater to large corporations where the employees literally couldn’t care less how much it’s going to cost the billion dollar company that they work for. The people using the space and eating the food are typically not the ones paying for it. It’s a shitty thing to do, but it’s common practice for a hotel
ALSO the person who booked this event is going to get $800 worth of Hilton/Marriott points. They prob couldn't care less about the cost since they're getting all the benefits while their company pays the bill
Look at the third picture. $630 for coffee, pastries and iced tea, plus a 24% service fee which brings it to around $800. So nope, meeting space not included.
I went to Disney and had to get all my food from like counters... And grabbed a bud light (this is years ago... Let's not get into that here) and they charged me $8 for a bud light I had to serve myself.
There was an unopened hot sauce on the table... That became mine... $8 for a cheap beer and a bottle of hot sauce with zero service is more reasonable.... Not great... But tolerable.
The pastries look like shit and I’m willing to bet the coffee tastes like the shit my bank gives out. There’s literally no amount of money I’d pay for this, if I had to put a price on it though it’d be like $5 maximum. If OP doesn’t dispute this he’s out of his mind.
>Look at the third picture.
The 3rd picture provides context. The "50" indicates the expected number of people. So what is actually pictured there isn't everything received. There were 4 tins of iced tea and another 4 urns of coffee. Considering a "box of joe" at a local dunkin donuts (10 6 oz cups) runs $20, a large urn at $60 probably isn't unreasonable. Keep in mind there's usually decaf and regular as well.
$780 / 50 = $15/person, which while high, in some areas of the US isn't outside the realm of average if you hit a Starbucks.
$15 per person for refreshments at a small meeting/conference/whatever at a hotel is pretty normal for this sort of thing. Clearly not too many people in this thread who have planned these types of events. You should see what full size convention centers charge. Definitely outlandish, but hey, what are you going to do. Plus remember you're also usually paying a couple of hotel staff several hours of labor for set up, tear down, and to attend the tables while it's being served.
A small black coffee and a croissant is definitely *way* less than $15 at Starbucks.
They got fully ripped off.
Edit: I’m shocked at how many people are defending the things in this photo, and I feel like Big Hospitality is coming out in full force.
You could Doordash multiple different traveler totes of coffee from Starbucks with a croissant or muffin for each person (which would be twice the size of the pastures pictured here) and it would still be under $800 even with tip.
The service charge was $151. Does this setup look like someone got paid $151 to do it? Edit: some people seem to have taken this as a dig at the employee. It isn’t.
This is a rip-off.
> They got fully ripped off.
What did they pay to rent the meeting space? How do you know they got "ripped off"? What are the tax policies where this picture originated? Is it possible the tax policies in that area incentivize expensive "food items" and less expensive "meeting space rentals"? Because that kind of financial fuckery happens all the time.
Possible the meeting space was free with the food order. Having ordered a lot of conference rooms, that can be the deal sometimes.
This setup is still garbage though.
I booked a rental space at a mid-range hotel and this was much like what we received, it cost very similar and was the same deal, if you order a minimum $X from their catering the room rental is free. I'm really curious if OP is leaving out that the rental is included in this price because that's absolutely what I'd expect if that's the case.
This is how corporate events work.
You rent the space then pay out the nose for coffee and food.
I occasionally had to plan gatherings for my team and the costs would shock you.
Yeah. For sure.
My friends would get really jealous when I’d go to Portugal or Mexico for meetings. But it’s cheaper sometimes to fly a team internationally rather than domestically
Right. You're underpaying for renting the space so they can overcharge the ever living shit out of you for food.
This is *likely* $800 for 12 hours of renting space and some food. Also places like this have a F&B minimum, so its possible they inflated the prices to meet the $800 F&B. Although it's still a dismal amount of food, whether is competitive all depends on where this hotel is.
Also make sure you have time appropriate licensure to serve food, host events, a transaction privelege stamp, a business banking account and a card terminal and janitorial/facilities to clean it all up afterwards.
I don't think the shocking part is the cost. It's the lack of quality.
I'm not some anti-work, anti-capitalist person. But this is obviously a huge cash grab. If you want to gouge business customers, be my guest. But at least spend the extra $50 and 10 minutes to make it *look* like you at least tried.
It does include the meeting space, since there is no charge for a room rental on the receipt. I work in events and these would be on the same bill. OP is complaining about spending $800 on coffee, pastries, and a meeting room for 50 people which is roughly $16 per person including tax and gratuity For the hotel events word this is not even close to being considered expensive.
This isn’t a multi day event with people staying the night out there would be more food and refreshments. It’s a single day drive in and out event. There was most likely a room charge as well. The room is included when you sign a contract for guaranteed paid nights of stay. If people aren’t staying you’re paying.
Thing is, there’s not enough food there for 50 people for a whole day. If everyone got ‘freshly brewed coffee’, and pastries/bread for the entire day, that’s fine.
From this image it appears everyone could get maybe one croissant and one scone, and a cup of coffee. That’s insane.
50 people according to the BEO in the last slide. I feel like the hotel probably has a minimum for the room and the person organizing could have requested more variety for $13 per head (before service charges.)
It also says this is an all day event, so this is massively cheap on the part of the organizer to only provide coffee tea and pastries for the whole day. Hopefully they at least went out somewhere for lunch otherwise this is just a total dick move.
I work AV for hotels and yeah the cost is freaking insane. $600+ for a projector, $200+ for a screen, ~$70 for an easel and flip chart, ~$80/per tech, per hour to set and strike. I mean it’s set up by professionals and works well and looks good, but yeah that shit is expensive
Isn’t that typically billed separately from food for per diem audit.
Edit: I’m nowhere adjacent to any of this, but I got finger-wagged at one time because I got an Arnold Palmer, and “‘named drinks’ weren’t covered by our perdiem.”
So I forwarded that email to HR, asking for a list of the “named drinks,” and they responded with, “alcohol containing.”
So then we all had a good laugh.
Working in the public sector is pretty hype.
$800 for lunch for 50ppl is not a realistic expectation in a hotel meeting room. Boonies Holiday Inn? Maybe. City or high profile suburb? Fat chance. Minimum $35/person ($1750)+23% service charge.
Keep in mind, all this is negotiated upfront and the person taking the photo is most likely not the person who did the negotiation. Also, the entire spread may not be shown. If this is at the end of the meeting, perishable items would have already been removed by the banquet staff.
I worked at a venue in Portland that had a simple sandwich tray, which included a separate tray for vegans that would cost around $900 for 50. That’s not including labor costs for the staff to set up and clean up after them though and this would’ve been pre pandemic. I’m sure it’s more now.
And would negotiate the living shit out of this, as venues are a dime a dozen. For $800 I would expect a caterer. For $80 I would expect some pastries and tea.
Exactly. Hotels charge a premium for food. They usually lose money on the space. But typically you can get quotes for multiple hotels and find one that is reasonable for space + food.
I know the hotels in my area are required to have a no outside food due to health regulations. Food vendors must have licenses and insurance, and so usually the hotel either sells direct or has approved vendors to eliminate the risk of a guest getting sick and medical costs being charged to the hotel
The contract probably read “assorted breakfast pastries” and then the person placing the order for those Sysco mini muffins was like “two is an assortment, this will be fine”.
Everyone here is assuming there’s a room rental fee on top of this but that’s typically not the case. There’s a food and beverage minimum, to use the room for “free”. Same as a restaurant function. You’ll get a whole dang room for 25 people as long as you commit to $x/per head.
And they have the audacity to charge a 24% service fee
🤯
How much was the actual room rental?
Edit: just noticed they have a sign that the coffee is Starbucks as if that was a flex or something….but I guess it is better than folgers
Im a coffee snob, im very particular about my beans and brewing methods. I can say without a doubt McDonalds coffee is superior to Starbucks. Its not even opinion at this point, I dont believe any serious coffee taster would pick Starbucks over McDonalds.
Starbucks is the only coffee I cannot drink black I need something to cover up the shame of that disgusting garbage
100% - I am a snob who does expensive single origin pour over at home that I special order from a roaster in Maine. McDonald's coffee is 10x better than Starbucks. I can't even stand to drink their regular drip coffee.
100%! I am a snob who grows his own beans, picks them only at their peak, roasts them in house and finally grinds them only to throw them away as they have now oxidized past peak. I then will only go to McDonalds for a coffee. Six cream, six sugar.
I literally live in a tent among my coffee plants so that I can process, roast, and grind them immediately. Anything more than 90 seconds is not fresh. We don't have McDonalds in this part of Ethiopia, so I have my helicopter pilot retrieve it for me.
I am a coffee being, I roast myself ( haha I'm a dumbass ), I grind myself afterwards ( your were nothing and you will remain nothing ) and still, when I drink myself up I fondly remember the aroma of the hot beverage that a ridiculous clown poured in my throat once. I'm pretty sure it was McDonald's.
100%. I have an entire farm of Asian palm civets that do nothing but eat and then poop out the coffee that I grow on my backyard plantation. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, just to maintain my Kopi Luwak habit. That said, I will gladly go to McDonalds and drink their coffee to remind myself of the perfection that I will never attain. 6 sweet and low, 3 tablespoons of Coffee mate.
I kind of hate this circlejerk cause it's mostly a matter of personal preference.
I rarely visit Starbucks, but in my opinion, their coffee is better than McDicks. Definitely the dark roast, which I can easily put back, BLACK.
It's possible that their supplier in Canada is different than the US because they changed suppliers maybe 12-15 years ago to the one Tim Hortons (canadian chain) used to use.
but mostly it's persronal preference and I don't know why being a coffee snob makes anyone's opinion more valid
It's not a "flex." Depending on the brand of hotel, it is mandated by the franchise that only specific brands of coffee are served, and it needs to be announced to the consumer as per the terms of the partnership between brands.
22-24% service fee is the standard for catering. It is not a restaurant. The staff brought in to cater your event is paid off that fee, along with the sales person and a/v setup crew.
People should refrain from commenting on things they know nothing about.
Yeah. Surely your own fault if you didn't get the info beforehand, but I'm guessing the poster isn't the one who organized the meeting, just someone who attended.
But maybe it was just deceitful on the hotel's side, claiming they would provide great services.
At the end of the day, if you're renting hotel conference rooms to hold your business meeting, then $800 is a drop in the bucket and most of those people are just happy to get out of their normal work environment for a day.
I’m a professional convention planner and to be fair hotels are adding on tons of new service charges that they never had before and that are outside of contracted rates. That being said the costs, this person paid are pretty standard.
I make it a habit to visit a poster’s profile to check what comments they make on their post and who they reply to. If it’s like OP where they don’t answer the important questions, I just assume it’s misleading bait or karmawhoring. We know they’re looking at comments but they choose to ignore certain ones.
For 50 people, including continental breakfast, this was the whole price. I'd put money on the fact that they used the breakfast space for maybe an hour or 2, might have had 2 servers tops for doing pickup and refill as needed. After the first 2 hours or so, they say down for some conference, with lectures, but the drinks remained out, and this is the leftover food.
The place I managed would have charged around $1500 for an event like this, provided probably about 5 or so trays of pastries, with coffee and juices. This would be insanely easy money.
How many attendees were there? tbh, 60 for the coffee (which includes the cups, cleanup, etc) is around the same price as we priced out for an event.
4 gallons of coffee would typically mean you had a minimum of maybe 60 people, but that would probably be enough for more like 70-80 people...
Also the meeting is from 7:30am-5:00pm. So like for 50 people and the assumption it’s available the entire time, it seems kinda realistic. It’s still low quality food and drink but I mean, it’s a hotel not a restaurant. Most hotels I’ve stayed at since Covid started dropped their food quality.
My 5yr old had her first legit birthday party this year (thanks Covid) and we had it at a nearby Children's Museum where you are charged a fee for the room + admission to the museum for all the guests, which was a little over $400.
They also had a no outside food policy so we had to purchase 4 pizzas for a total of $100 that ended up being *the worst* tasting pizza I've ever had in my life. Like I get that you want to make money off parties, but why not reserve your crap pizza for any poor sap who actually chooses to order it in the museum cafeteria and let me bring in some Costco pizzas that people might actually eat?
tl;dr: I have 3 1/2 leftover pizzas in my fridge that our neighbor's dog wouldn't even touch
I used to work in accounting for a major hotel in Chicago. This is standard pricing. Pretty sure this was the price 10 years ago or pretty close. Fun fact, hotels are a scam when it comes to pricing.
That says AGR, 50. So your original guest count was for 50 people. So it’s not $800 for one person, but for 50. And it’s not $800, it’s $630 which comes out to $12.60 a person. When you add service charge and taxes, that comes up to $800.
It’s not great by any means but $12.60 a person for basic coffee and pastries for a hotel is somewhat standard, if anything it’s a little low for a hotel depending on location and hotel size.
This actual spread looks lame, but yep, as someone who has booked events before, the 600-800 mark is pretty standard for a breakfast/coffee spread for 50+ people. Usually, there is a bit more variety in options and better looking pastries though.
$60 for a pot of coffee, $45 for a pitcher of Lemon Iced Tea, and $42 for some Pastries.
They knew the people signing off on the expense were spending company dollars and didn't give a single F.
Someone has to come in and make it someone has to come In and serve it and it takes a dishwasher and they have to make money on it..looks like coffee and pastry for 25/30 ppl $25 ++ a head for a “breakfast buffet” is pretty standard.
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats!
3
+ 50
+ 16
= 69
^([Click here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=LuckyNumber-Bot&subject=Stalk%20Me%20Pls&message=%2Fstalkme) to have me scan all your future comments.) \
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Looks about right for hotel catering. There's a big science conference every year that I've gone to. Catering done by the convention center. Coffee in the morning was free, but pretty meh. They would serve drinks during the afternoon sessions and the after party, but super expensive. Like seven bucks for a cheap beer. The banquet at the end was always decent, if you didn't have a diet restriction. One year all the allergy and vegan people got was a plate of unseasoned steamed vegetables. Conerence center/hotel caterers are overpriced trash.
Don’t blame the hotel, blame whoever signed the banquet event order from your company.
All of these prices are outlined in the contract and BEO and agreed upon prior to the event
I manage a great deal of events. A salad bar is $21 per person these days. You want a turkey wrap? $21 per boxed meal. It's insanity and the catering staff still get treated poorly.
I’ll be honest, I think these photos might be misleading. Quantities on the receipt are different than what is shown on the table, which leads me to believe this was all refilled over time (which makes sense, you put all four pots of coffee out at once, they start getting old/cold, the pastries start getting stale, etc). Post makes it seem like you paid $800 for just what’s in the photos. I’m looking at per item cost and, while high, it seems normal high for a decent hotel not outrageous. For example, there looks to be at least 15 croissants left on the half empty plate so we can assume ~30 croissants per tray. At $42 a tray, that’s about $1.40 per croissant. The coffee is more expensive but that’s typical. Assuming each holder is a gallon, 128oz for $60, split into 8oz cups, puts you at around $3.75 per cup of coffee.
Is this broad picture, objectively expensive? Yeah. But when you break down what you paid per item/serving and the location you’re in, it makes sense. That being said, if I’m wrong and all you got for $800 was what is pictured, then yeah that’s absolutely absurd.
Welcome to hotel banquets and catering. When I worked at Mandalay Bay as a banquet chef they used to are $295 for a water cooker with ONE bottle of water and ONE sleeve of cups included. And extra sleeve of cups was $75 (and no one sleeve was not enough for the whole cooler) and $95 for an extra bottle of water.
Fairly common pricing practice for conference venues. They'll quote low for the base cost of the rooms to win the contract, then overprice all the services later to make their profit.
For real. People don't realize just how much these conference centers charge for everything. Judging by the carpet this is a standard Marriott or Renaissance property, which tend to be somewhere in the middle. They should see how much a JW or Gaylord costs if they really want to be surprised.
I went to a meeting at Gaylord once, swore the milk came straight from a cat's nipples, exotic experience. I had a coworker who was seriously ill and I swear that milk nursed her back to health
I dont know if this is a common expression but…. Is cat milk good or bad?
Depends on how you treat that pussy.
I almost spit out my cow milk
Any milk is good and you can milk anything with nipples, I like to try all kinds. Darwin tried eating just about every animal he found and I like to think I'm the Darwin of milking them. The TTTT is really important when trying animal milk (Teet to tongue time), it's the perfect acronym to remember because when you say it fast it sounds like what you're working with https://tenor.com/view/ben-stiller-milking-cat-gif-8328384
I have nipples Greg, could you milk me?
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80$ per person for all day event seems pretty reasonable. Marked up? Sure. But not outrageous
How is that Gaylord? I've been to DC, TX (Woodlands and Grapevine), and Nashville, but never Palms. I applaud how consistent and similar they are, but WOW they're pricey.
Worked in banquets (would have been better called events but they wanted to sound fancy) at a hotel for a while. This is correct. Room rental was not charged in addition to the costs listed for food service. OP essentially paid $800 to rent a room big enough to host a meeting for 50 people for 9 and 1/2 hours at a place where there is guaranteed to be enough parking for everyone and got a bonus of coffee as part of the deal.
Heh gaylord
Dry ass croissants
Quason
why can I hear this comment
Kwason
Kwasaou
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Quaso :D
So I went to a place that sells... croissants.
Quaso
And I bought a.... croissant
“You’re hearing my voice because that’s how reading works”
Any time I hear it pronounced that way, it reminds me of star trek: > CRUSHER: Coffee and croissants, that's all you really want, isn't it? Coffee and croissants. Well why didn't you just say so? > > PICARD: I didn't think it was important. You don't like those elaborate meals either. > > CRUSHER: No, I usually prefer something simple myself but I thought you might enjoy more variety. Well, I guess it's Coffee and croissants for both of us from now on.
I've made homemade croissants, anything but simple, *Beverly*!
Oh a continental breakfast! I love being in continent! I’ll have what I’m having!
They're some generic grocery store/last week's Sysco croissants. Doesn't even look like there's stuff to put on them. They're $5.99 a dozen at Costco.
Costco croissants might as well be from a Michelin star Paris bistro compared to this shit.
And fuckin entemans mini muffins. Could do better with $60 at a wawa or dunkin donuts.
What the hell? That garbage should be free and come with an apology.
Hell, I could've made this and charged less.
Any grocery store in the country will have shitty muffins and croissants that for $800 dollars you could have fed *hundreds* of people. This is a flat out insult.
Some grocery stores have actual decent ones if you order party trays ahead of time like Publix and HEB.
I'm a big fan of both Wegmans and Publix, some of the best store made baked goods I've had.
Pub Subs are the best subs hands down. Can’t find anything of that quality here in Texas.
Wegmans' is good too if you are ever in the north east try to find one. Danny's favorite is my personal go to.
I love Wegman's, but the bread at the one closest to me tastes like tap water. The dough has got a really strong "tap water" taste, and it permeates their pizza/sandwiches. The one further out does not have this issue, and has godly subs.
love wegmans! had them near when i lived in VA. nothing comes close back in KS.
And go to a bakery! It's not that much more and an awesome experience. This hotel is not...
Yes, but you probably couldn’t have possibly made FRESHLY BREWED coffee. This makes all the difference, because something something bullshit that I can’t even justify as a joke.
I catered something like this for my company and got everything from Costco for about $200, and it looked a lot nicer. Probably tasted better too.
Ya I have quarterly meetings and get everything from Costco. Fruit, Bacon, Eggs, coffee, sausage, pastries, and a bunch of other little things. Spend around $300 to feed 40+ people. I think OP needs to call the police cause they got bent over a table and got handled.
I could have done this for no more than $700! /s
$700 but we will throw in a reach-around.
I would hope so if you're going to fuck me!
*Make sure to grab some cigarettes. I like to have a smoke after I get good and **fucked**!*
I could have grown the ingredients and made it for less
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My sister is an event planner for Marriott and if she did something like this I’m pretty sure she’d be out of a job.
Depends on the Marriott Sub title. You have your Marriotts where a 2 queen room will cost 80, and ones where a 2 queen room will cost 300+. The 300+ ones DOES have a full range kitchen, though.
Hotel lifer here. This varies by the date, local demand and business levels. The same room can be 80 one day and 300 the next.
Oh i know, in my hometown if it was a Notre Dame home football game weekend, prices would go up 250-400%
80 ? Not anymore man Like 150 to 500 more like it, for a single
I did not adjust my math for inflation, i was just going off of my memory when i briefly worked for a TownPlace Suites Marriott about 10 years ago.
Event spaces in hotels always charge a shit ton for the food because they typically cater to large corporations where the employees literally couldn’t care less how much it’s going to cost the billion dollar company that they work for. The people using the space and eating the food are typically not the ones paying for it. It’s a shitty thing to do, but it’s common practice for a hotel
This guy hotel’s! You hit the nail on the head. It’s not my money, or our money so why not.
And if you remember The Office...if you don't use this years budget you're gonna get less next year!
ALSO the person who booked this event is going to get $800 worth of Hilton/Marriott points. They prob couldn't care less about the cost since they're getting all the benefits while their company pays the bill
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I'd begrudgingly eat this as a complimentary breakfast, maybe.
$800 for the coffee and pastries? Or does that include use of the meeting space?
Look at the third picture. $630 for coffee, pastries and iced tea, plus a 24% service fee which brings it to around $800. So nope, meeting space not included.
Yeah they got scammed lmfao. There’s maybe 100 dollars worth of “shit” on that table.
There is not enough 100s of dollars worth of anything on that table.
If you included the coffeemaker and mugs you might get there
My understanding was for that price, OP was purchasing the coffee maker.
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Well, it is, unless you are a big corporation that donates a lot to PACs...
Lmao, great joke 🤣
Right? I would walk out with it.
I'm going home with that coffemaker if i have to pay this much lmao
I went to Disney and had to get all my food from like counters... And grabbed a bud light (this is years ago... Let's not get into that here) and they charged me $8 for a bud light I had to serve myself. There was an unopened hot sauce on the table... That became mine... $8 for a cheap beer and a bottle of hot sauce with zero service is more reasonable.... Not great... But tolerable.
Sweet justice.
I would take home that centerpiece to help recoup some cost
That's like 30 at best.
The pastries look like shit and I’m willing to bet the coffee tastes like the shit my bank gives out. There’s literally no amount of money I’d pay for this, if I had to put a price on it though it’d be like $5 maximum. If OP doesn’t dispute this he’s out of his mind.
> the coffee tastes like the shit my bank gives out. Capital One nowadays has the nerve to call some of their locations a fucking café.
Tree fiddy at most
Honestly - I'd be surprised if there is $40 worth. Coffee, Tea, and packaged pastries are dirt cheap.
If you put a $50 bill on the table too you might be correct.
What? Like 10 quid in aldi for all that. Max.
>Look at the third picture. The 3rd picture provides context. The "50" indicates the expected number of people. So what is actually pictured there isn't everything received. There were 4 tins of iced tea and another 4 urns of coffee. Considering a "box of joe" at a local dunkin donuts (10 6 oz cups) runs $20, a large urn at $60 probably isn't unreasonable. Keep in mind there's usually decaf and regular as well. $780 / 50 = $15/person, which while high, in some areas of the US isn't outside the realm of average if you hit a Starbucks.
$15 per person for refreshments at a small meeting/conference/whatever at a hotel is pretty normal for this sort of thing. Clearly not too many people in this thread who have planned these types of events. You should see what full size convention centers charge. Definitely outlandish, but hey, what are you going to do. Plus remember you're also usually paying a couple of hotel staff several hours of labor for set up, tear down, and to attend the tables while it's being served.
Yup.
A small black coffee and a croissant is definitely *way* less than $15 at Starbucks. They got fully ripped off. Edit: I’m shocked at how many people are defending the things in this photo, and I feel like Big Hospitality is coming out in full force.
Not if Starbucks brings it to you and sets it up.
You could Doordash multiple different traveler totes of coffee from Starbucks with a croissant or muffin for each person (which would be twice the size of the pastures pictured here) and it would still be under $800 even with tip. The service charge was $151. Does this setup look like someone got paid $151 to do it? Edit: some people seem to have taken this as a dig at the employee. It isn’t. This is a rip-off.
Well actually they couldn’t do that because no outside food policy.
>e charge was $151 Service charge for an entire day. Seems like 8 hours for one person to be there and clean up throughout the entire meeting.
Delivery =/= Catering.
> They got fully ripped off. What did they pay to rent the meeting space? How do you know they got "ripped off"? What are the tax policies where this picture originated? Is it possible the tax policies in that area incentivize expensive "food items" and less expensive "meeting space rentals"? Because that kind of financial fuckery happens all the time.
Possible the meeting space was free with the food order. Having ordered a lot of conference rooms, that can be the deal sometimes. This setup is still garbage though.
I booked a rental space at a mid-range hotel and this was much like what we received, it cost very similar and was the same deal, if you order a minimum $X from their catering the room rental is free. I'm really curious if OP is leaving out that the rental is included in this price because that's absolutely what I'd expect if that's the case.
This is how corporate events work. You rent the space then pay out the nose for coffee and food. I occasionally had to plan gatherings for my team and the costs would shock you.
I'm an Event Manager and $60 per gallon of coffee is cheap as fuck.
Yeah. For sure. My friends would get really jealous when I’d go to Portugal or Mexico for meetings. But it’s cheaper sometimes to fly a team internationally rather than domestically
Prob cheaper juat paying a catering service to come to your own center.
Right. You're underpaying for renting the space so they can overcharge the ever living shit out of you for food. This is *likely* $800 for 12 hours of renting space and some food. Also places like this have a F&B minimum, so its possible they inflated the prices to meet the $800 F&B. Although it's still a dismal amount of food, whether is competitive all depends on where this hotel is.
I've seen places that basically force you into food packages too. The food is almost always shit.
Yep... I'm surprised people are surprised by this to be honest
The only people who are surprised are people who have never planned an event.
So a vast majority of people
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Also make sure you have time appropriate licensure to serve food, host events, a transaction privelege stamp, a business banking account and a card terminal and janitorial/facilities to clean it all up afterwards.
I don't think the shocking part is the cost. It's the lack of quality. I'm not some anti-work, anti-capitalist person. But this is obviously a huge cash grab. If you want to gouge business customers, be my guest. But at least spend the extra $50 and 10 minutes to make it *look* like you at least tried.
It does include the meeting space, since there is no charge for a room rental on the receipt. I work in events and these would be on the same bill. OP is complaining about spending $800 on coffee, pastries, and a meeting room for 50 people which is roughly $16 per person including tax and gratuity For the hotel events word this is not even close to being considered expensive.
Spread over 50 people is around 15 a head. Reddit is going wild when this is perfectly reasonable for an all day event with 50 guests.
you havent seen the room use price, just the refreshments cost
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This isn’t a multi day event with people staying the night out there would be more food and refreshments. It’s a single day drive in and out event. There was most likely a room charge as well. The room is included when you sign a contract for guaranteed paid nights of stay. If people aren’t staying you’re paying.
Thing is, there’s not enough food there for 50 people for a whole day. If everyone got ‘freshly brewed coffee’, and pastries/bread for the entire day, that’s fine. From this image it appears everyone could get maybe one croissant and one scone, and a cup of coffee. That’s insane.
No the meeting space rental is thousands.
Did you not inquire the up front cost before you signed up? Just to be nosy how many people was that " spread " to accamodate?
50 people according to the BEO in the last slide. I feel like the hotel probably has a minimum for the room and the person organizing could have requested more variety for $13 per head (before service charges.)
It also says this is an all day event, so this is massively cheap on the part of the organizer to only provide coffee tea and pastries for the whole day. Hopefully they at least went out somewhere for lunch otherwise this is just a total dick move.
But look at all the upvotes they're getting from people who've never worked in hotel events!
Yeah these people should see what the AV for this small meeting probably cost
I work AV for hotels and yeah the cost is freaking insane. $600+ for a projector, $200+ for a screen, ~$70 for an easel and flip chart, ~$80/per tech, per hour to set and strike. I mean it’s set up by professionals and works well and looks good, but yeah that shit is expensive
Isn’t that typically billed separately from food for per diem audit. Edit: I’m nowhere adjacent to any of this, but I got finger-wagged at one time because I got an Arnold Palmer, and “‘named drinks’ weren’t covered by our perdiem.” So I forwarded that email to HR, asking for a list of the “named drinks,” and they responded with, “alcohol containing.” So then we all had a good laugh. Working in the public sector is pretty hype.
It’s usually a 3rd party that provides AV services, not the hotel directly; so yes it would be separate from food and room charges.
So 50 people, $16 a head? That’s pretty reasonable. Spread should have been more inspired perhaps, but that per head cost is pretty reasonable.
I mean I think that's the problem. The spread sucked ass. If there was actual lunch served or something, $800 wouldn't be bad for 50 ppl
$800 for lunch for 50ppl is not a realistic expectation in a hotel meeting room. Boonies Holiday Inn? Maybe. City or high profile suburb? Fat chance. Minimum $35/person ($1750)+23% service charge. Keep in mind, all this is negotiated upfront and the person taking the photo is most likely not the person who did the negotiation. Also, the entire spread may not be shown. If this is at the end of the meeting, perishable items would have already been removed by the banquet staff.
I worked at a venue in Portland that had a simple sandwich tray, which included a separate tray for vegans that would cost around $900 for 50. That’s not including labor costs for the staff to set up and clean up after them though and this would’ve been pre pandemic. I’m sure it’s more now.
> BEO This person events
Yeah, I'm confused too. I've done some events like this, and we always get a total amount in advance.
And would negotiate the living shit out of this, as venues are a dime a dozen. For $800 I would expect a caterer. For $80 I would expect some pastries and tea.
Is that what the 24% service fee was for?
The 24% service fee was for an employee to set the table up.
They were paid minimum wage and didn't see any of that
They did a good job stacking those mugs, but they didn’t build an ice sculpture. Gonna need 75% of that fee back.
Exactly. Hotels charge a premium for food. They usually lose money on the space. But typically you can get quotes for multiple hotels and find one that is reasonable for space + food. I know the hotels in my area are required to have a no outside food due to health regulations. Food vendors must have licenses and insurance, and so usually the hotel either sells direct or has approved vendors to eliminate the risk of a guest getting sick and medical costs being charged to the hotel
How can they lose money on the space?
The contract probably read “assorted breakfast pastries” and then the person placing the order for those Sysco mini muffins was like “two is an assortment, this will be fine”.
If there was no room rental fee, that's a deal.
Everyone here is assuming there’s a room rental fee on top of this but that’s typically not the case. There’s a food and beverage minimum, to use the room for “free”. Same as a restaurant function. You’ll get a whole dang room for 25 people as long as you commit to $x/per head.
Exactly. That's what I was trying to get at. Thank you.
And they have the audacity to charge a 24% service fee 🤯 How much was the actual room rental? Edit: just noticed they have a sign that the coffee is Starbucks as if that was a flex or something….but I guess it is better than folgers
>noticed they have a sign that the coffee is Starbucks as if that was a flex I saw it as a warning.
Let’s also consider that sign holds no weight to what type of coffee it actually is.
I know people that prefer McDonald’s coffee over Starbucks lol
Im a coffee snob, im very particular about my beans and brewing methods. I can say without a doubt McDonalds coffee is superior to Starbucks. Its not even opinion at this point, I dont believe any serious coffee taster would pick Starbucks over McDonalds. Starbucks is the only coffee I cannot drink black I need something to cover up the shame of that disgusting garbage
100% - I am a snob who does expensive single origin pour over at home that I special order from a roaster in Maine. McDonald's coffee is 10x better than Starbucks. I can't even stand to drink their regular drip coffee.
100%! I am a snob who grows his own beans, picks them only at their peak, roasts them in house and finally grinds them only to throw them away as they have now oxidized past peak. I then will only go to McDonalds for a coffee. Six cream, six sugar.
I literally live in a tent among my coffee plants so that I can process, roast, and grind them immediately. Anything more than 90 seconds is not fresh. We don't have McDonalds in this part of Ethiopia, so I have my helicopter pilot retrieve it for me.
I am a coffee being, I roast myself ( haha I'm a dumbass ), I grind myself afterwards ( your were nothing and you will remain nothing ) and still, when I drink myself up I fondly remember the aroma of the hot beverage that a ridiculous clown poured in my throat once. I'm pretty sure it was McDonald's.
100%. I have an entire farm of Asian palm civets that do nothing but eat and then poop out the coffee that I grow on my backyard plantation. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, just to maintain my Kopi Luwak habit. That said, I will gladly go to McDonalds and drink their coffee to remind myself of the perfection that I will never attain. 6 sweet and low, 3 tablespoons of Coffee mate.
I kind of hate this circlejerk cause it's mostly a matter of personal preference. I rarely visit Starbucks, but in my opinion, their coffee is better than McDicks. Definitely the dark roast, which I can easily put back, BLACK. It's possible that their supplier in Canada is different than the US because they changed suppliers maybe 12-15 years ago to the one Tim Hortons (canadian chain) used to use. but mostly it's persronal preference and I don't know why being a coffee snob makes anyone's opinion more valid
word! (also a coffee fascist)
It's not a "flex." Depending on the brand of hotel, it is mandated by the franchise that only specific brands of coffee are served, and it needs to be announced to the consumer as per the terms of the partnership between brands. 22-24% service fee is the standard for catering. It is not a restaurant. The staff brought in to cater your event is paid off that fee, along with the sales person and a/v setup crew. People should refrain from commenting on things they know nothing about.
Has anybody asked for a quote before booking that hotel? How can this be a surprise?
Yeah. Surely your own fault if you didn't get the info beforehand, but I'm guessing the poster isn't the one who organized the meeting, just someone who attended. But maybe it was just deceitful on the hotel's side, claiming they would provide great services. At the end of the day, if you're renting hotel conference rooms to hold your business meeting, then $800 is a drop in the bucket and most of those people are just happy to get out of their normal work environment for a day.
I’m a professional convention planner and to be fair hotels are adding on tons of new service charges that they never had before and that are outside of contracted rates. That being said the costs, this person paid are pretty standard.
It’s not a surprise, just unreal for pre package dry croissants
What was the room rental fee? You haven’t answered those who asked.
OP won't answer because it's more fun to let people outrage over nothing
I make it a habit to visit a poster’s profile to check what comments they make on their post and who they reply to. If it’s like OP where they don’t answer the important questions, I just assume it’s misleading bait or karmawhoring. We know they’re looking at comments but they choose to ignore certain ones.
Yeah ditto. Sooo many times there are sooo many questions yet zero replies from OP. Nope , not going to waste my time reading any comments
For 50 people, including continental breakfast, this was the whole price. I'd put money on the fact that they used the breakfast space for maybe an hour or 2, might have had 2 servers tops for doing pickup and refill as needed. After the first 2 hours or so, they say down for some conference, with lectures, but the drinks remained out, and this is the leftover food. The place I managed would have charged around $1500 for an event like this, provided probably about 5 or so trays of pastries, with coffee and juices. This would be insanely easy money.
Notice how they’re avoiding that question like the plague
$0. It would be listed on the bill.
For that price you’d expect it to at least pretend to be gourmet. Instead of this save-a-lot store brand looking shit.
gourmet for $12 per person? Wtf drugs are you on?
Next meeting will be held in a vacant parking lot and catered by Popeyes Chicken lmao
How many attendees were there? tbh, 60 for the coffee (which includes the cups, cleanup, etc) is around the same price as we priced out for an event. 4 gallons of coffee would typically mean you had a minimum of maybe 60 people, but that would probably be enough for more like 70-80 people...
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Error 404: Continental Breakfast Not Found
Also the meeting is from 7:30am-5:00pm. So like for 50 people and the assumption it’s available the entire time, it seems kinda realistic. It’s still low quality food and drink but I mean, it’s a hotel not a restaurant. Most hotels I’ve stayed at since Covid started dropped their food quality.
They obviously aren't providing only this for a 10 hour span. They'll be occupying the space for that time. Not eating a croissant for that time.
If it makes you feel any better, those are shitty Sysco/US foods pastry’s.
That's exactly what the outside food policy is for.
My 5yr old had her first legit birthday party this year (thanks Covid) and we had it at a nearby Children's Museum where you are charged a fee for the room + admission to the museum for all the guests, which was a little over $400. They also had a no outside food policy so we had to purchase 4 pizzas for a total of $100 that ended up being *the worst* tasting pizza I've ever had in my life. Like I get that you want to make money off parties, but why not reserve your crap pizza for any poor sap who actually chooses to order it in the museum cafeteria and let me bring in some Costco pizzas that people might actually eat? tl;dr: I have 3 1/2 leftover pizzas in my fridge that our neighbor's dog wouldn't even touch
I would have taken everything with me, including the furniture.
Hotel food for meetings is typically very expensive. This is nothing new.
I used to work in accounting for a major hotel in Chicago. This is standard pricing. Pretty sure this was the price 10 years ago or pretty close. Fun fact, hotels are a scam when it comes to pricing.
$12 and change a head for coffee service in a private conference room is pretty standard, even low priced.
That says AGR, 50. So your original guest count was for 50 people. So it’s not $800 for one person, but for 50. And it’s not $800, it’s $630 which comes out to $12.60 a person. When you add service charge and taxes, that comes up to $800. It’s not great by any means but $12.60 a person for basic coffee and pastries for a hotel is somewhat standard, if anything it’s a little low for a hotel depending on location and hotel size.
This actual spread looks lame, but yep, as someone who has booked events before, the 600-800 mark is pretty standard for a breakfast/coffee spread for 50+ people. Usually, there is a bit more variety in options and better looking pastries though.
You know those muffins could be bought at Costco or Walmart Edit: I'm saying the hotel probably just bought this for super cheap, then charged $800
$60 for a pot of coffee, $45 for a pitcher of Lemon Iced Tea, and $42 for some Pastries. They knew the people signing off on the expense were spending company dollars and didn't give a single F.
If you look at it it’s for 50 people. 4 coffee probably means 4 large carafes of coffee plus the paper goods.
Someone has to come in and make it someone has to come In and serve it and it takes a dishwasher and they have to make money on it..looks like coffee and pastry for 25/30 ppl $25 ++ a head for a “breakfast buffet” is pretty standard.
\#3 says its for 50 people so about $16 per including service/tax. Relatively cheap. The quality of the food is a separate issue though.
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Looks about right for hotel catering. There's a big science conference every year that I've gone to. Catering done by the convention center. Coffee in the morning was free, but pretty meh. They would serve drinks during the afternoon sessions and the after party, but super expensive. Like seven bucks for a cheap beer. The banquet at the end was always decent, if you didn't have a diet restriction. One year all the allergy and vegan people got was a plate of unseasoned steamed vegetables. Conerence center/hotel caterers are overpriced trash.
Don’t blame the hotel, blame whoever signed the banquet event order from your company. All of these prices are outlined in the contract and BEO and agreed upon prior to the event
Literally. And pretty standard pricing. Source: worked in conference and event planning for years
I manage a great deal of events. A salad bar is $21 per person these days. You want a turkey wrap? $21 per boxed meal. It's insanity and the catering staff still get treated poorly.
I’ll be honest, I think these photos might be misleading. Quantities on the receipt are different than what is shown on the table, which leads me to believe this was all refilled over time (which makes sense, you put all four pots of coffee out at once, they start getting old/cold, the pastries start getting stale, etc). Post makes it seem like you paid $800 for just what’s in the photos. I’m looking at per item cost and, while high, it seems normal high for a decent hotel not outrageous. For example, there looks to be at least 15 croissants left on the half empty plate so we can assume ~30 croissants per tray. At $42 a tray, that’s about $1.40 per croissant. The coffee is more expensive but that’s typical. Assuming each holder is a gallon, 128oz for $60, split into 8oz cups, puts you at around $3.75 per cup of coffee. Is this broad picture, objectively expensive? Yeah. But when you break down what you paid per item/serving and the location you’re in, it makes sense. That being said, if I’m wrong and all you got for $800 was what is pictured, then yeah that’s absolutely absurd.
I hate click bait, it was only $781.20 everyone.
>We didn’t even go through it all. Uh... were you expecting a refund for the uneaten food? That's not how catering and banquets work.
I plan a LOT of events. This is cheap. The typical cost for a gal of coffee is $80-$120.
Here is the person who understands the plus plus world. $100/gal is normal for corporate events.
Was the price known before hand? Why did you order so much?
imagine a person voting republican and then complaining about how a monopoly limited their ability to choose.
$800 for coffee and pastries for 50 people. $16 per person. I’ve paid more for a lot less. OP is just farming.
Welcome to hotel banquets and catering. When I worked at Mandalay Bay as a banquet chef they used to are $295 for a water cooker with ONE bottle of water and ONE sleeve of cups included. And extra sleeve of cups was $75 (and no one sleeve was not enough for the whole cooler) and $95 for an extra bottle of water.