SAMPLE, A PLACE LIKE YOURS · FICTIONAL HOTELS, FICTIONAL NUMBERS PUBLISHED DAILY, ABOUT YOUR HOTELS’ FOOD AND DRINK, BY SYPHOR The Morning Brief | MERIDIAN LANE HOTELS · ALL 3 | WEDNESDAY MORNING |
All 3Harbor HouseThe RiversideThe Commons $36,800 ▲ 4.8%vs. your usual Tuesday ($35,100) · rooms 84% full AGAINST LAST YEAR · ALL 3 | gray is last year | SALES | DEPT. PROFIT |
| Last 7 days | $250,000 ▲ 5.0% $238,000 | $57,500 ▲ $4,900 $52,600 |
| Month to date | $712,000 ▲ 5.2% $677,000 | $163,000 ▲ $13,400 $149,600 |
Rooms 82% full this week against 78% last year. |
THE ONE THING TODAY About $7,700 a month of banquet labor at the Riverside is call times and teardown, not service. Yesterday’s 10:30 call for a noon lunch is how it happens. On the Riverside’s $86,000 of banquets last month, 41% labor is $35,300. Getting to 32% saves $7,700 a month; the other two’s 30% saves $9,500. $92,000 to $114,000 a year. Of the $7,700, the extra 45 minutes on each call is $6,200 over 22 banquets ($280 each); teardown the other $1,500. |
ACROSS YOUR 3 HOTELS, YESTERDAY | # | HOTEL | SALES | LABOR | DEPT. PROFIT |
| 1 | Harbor House the busiest bar, $4,100 | $12,400 | 37% | $3,348 |
| 2 | The Riverside the 10:30 banquet call | $15,200 | 44% | $2,432 |
| 3 | The Commons | $9,200 | 38% | $2,208 |
Food and drink. |
SALES → DEPT. PROFIT · ALL 3 YESTERDAY Card fees $1,104: in A&G, not department profit. LAST 7 DAYS Card fees $7,500: in A&G, not department profit. For the week: department profit is before rent and overhead, the way your hotel P&L counts it. Labor and other expenses are estimates until payroll and the bills post. |
THE LEDGER · ALL 3 | Covers | 1,042 ▲ 3.6% Restaurants 486, bars 318, banquets 210, in-room 28. |
| Breakfast capture | 65% 298 of 460 occupied rooms. The Riverside 96 of 168, 57%. |
| Labor est. | 40.1% Kitchen 17.6%, service 15.9%, banquet floor 6.6%, $2,430. |
| Week vs. budget | $2,200 short Profit. Riverside banquet labor over the other two’s 30% is $2,190 of it. |
| Invoice prices | $410 a week more ▲ 13 up, 3 down All three hotels, every invoice line against last week’s. Tenderloin is $250 of it. |
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Banquets. The Riverside called 14 banquet servers at 10:30 for a noon lunch for 140: 90 minutes each at about $27 an hour with taxes, about $560 before a plate went out, $250 of it standing, per Nina’s note. The 14 servers stayed until 3:30, $1,890; with the kitchen and setup crew the lunch ran $2,650 of labor on $6,300, 42%. Harbor House’s meeting for 70: 4 servers, 5 hours, $540. $13.50 of floor labor a guest against Harbor House’s $7.70. Invoices. Tollgate Meat raised tenderloin to $15.70 a pound from $14.40 at all three, about $250 a week on 190 pounds. The 8-ounce dinner tenderloin at $52 costs 65 cents more, about $900 a month on 1,400 plates, menu unchanged. The other 28 pounds go to $68 banquet plates. Reviews. The Riverside’s buffet ran out of eggs by 9, four reviews say. Competition and weather. A new rooftop bar opened nearby; the Commons bar did $240 under usual. Rain Friday, 51°F, empties the rooftop: the Commons bar’s night. Events. The boat show starts Friday next to Harbor House, 30,000 over three days. IN HOUSE AND BANQUETS · ALL 3 | Friday | Harbor House 98% Boat show weekend. |
| Saturday | 4 banquets Riverside wedding for 180 and gala for 120; two Harbor House lunches. |
From your PMS and banquet book. |
FROM THE LOGBOOK · YESTERDAY The Riverside: Lunch for 140 went fine. Servers stood around 40 minutes before doors. Nina, banquet manager, 4:15 PM. Harbor House: Bar three deep 5 to 7. Need a second bartender for the boat show. Omar, F&B manager, 11:40 PM. |
MENU SANDBOX · TRY IT BEFORE IT GOES ON THE MENU | The 8-ounce tenderloin at $54 from Friday, at last month’s sales. Banquet menus at $72, about 275 plates a month, add $1,100. | +$2,800 a month now |
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THE ACTION LIST · TODAY, IN ORDER | 1. | Fix: Riverside F&B director. Banquet call to 45 minutes; servers out at the last plate, captains and setup on teardown. About $7,700 a month, about $600 on Saturday’s call for 30 servers. |
| 2. | Reprice: F&B directors. Tenderloin to $54 Friday, banquet menus to $72. +$2,800 a month now. |
| 3. | Add: Harbor House F&B manager. A second bartender Friday to Sunday, 5 to 9, $350 for 12 hours; 10 more $15 cocktails a night pays it. |
| 4. | Prep: Harbor House chef. Breakfast for 100 Friday, not 70: 196 rooms against last Friday’s 140, at the same 50% capture. 30 more at $24 is $720 a day. |
| 5. | Fix: Riverside chef. Egg par to the house count the night before. Half the gap to the group’s 65% is 6 breakfasts a day, about $150. |
| 6. | Do: Commons bar manager. A welcome drink for in-house guests Friday 5 to 7, about 40 at $3 pour, $120. It pays if 15 stay for a second $15 drink. |
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