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Our restaurant is a cost centre, not a profit driver

Half board is running, the restaurant is full — and F&B still ends the year in the red

Typical for: resort hotels with half board · properties where the restaurant is a duty offer · operations that do not account for F&B as its own division

Documented by Hospis

Updated: 25 August 2026

How you recognize it

  • F&B has no P&L of its own — revenue and cost disappear into the overall operation
  • The half-board share is charged internally at a flat value nobody has reviewed in years
  • Guests eat, drink water, leave — aperitif, wine and dessert are never actively sold
  • The restaurant is staffed for 120 covers every evening, whether 60 or 110 guests are in the house
  • Outside guests barely come, because the restaurant does not exist to the outside world
  • The head chef decides the menu, nobody decides the result

Matching Hospis

VW

Valentin Walch

MAJOVA — F&B · Wine · Menu Architecture, Lech am Arlberg
Works with protel · Mews · Mews POS · Smart Host
AdviseImplement

Turns half board into a selling path — menu, wine pairing and flow built so the evening carries margin.

Mapped to root cause
Additional revenueMenu architectureWine & pairingCosting
View profilePersonally vetted · independent match
GS

Gerhard F. Salmutter

F&B concept · Bar & beverage concepts · Spatial aesthetics — Vienna
Works with Novatouch · protel · Mews POS
AdviseImplement

Gives the restaurant a profile of its own — name, signature and room that also bring outside guests into the house.

Mapped to root cause
Restaurant profileF&B conceptOffer & menu
View profilePersonally vetted · independent match
JT

Javier Torrente

Operations · Concept · Team — Palma de Mallorca
Works with protel · Mews · Mews POS · Smart Host
AdviseImplementOperate

His core focus: accounting for F&B as its own division and tying capacity, rota and opening hours to occupancy.

Mapped to root cause
F&B as a divisionCapacity & staffingProcesses
View profilePersonally vetted · independent match

Which path fits your situation?

01

Diagnosis

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A vetted Hospi analyses your situation in a structured way — in conversation and with a written result. Every statement clearly labelled: FACT, BENCHMARK, HYPOTHESIS or CONCLUSION. You get a concrete path, not a sales meeting.

  • A legitimate outcome is also: no engagement needed.
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02

Urgent support

Acute situation? Your case is reviewed with priority — response within 48 hours.

Cause fields — how to tell them apart

A hotel restaurant rarely loses money because the food is bad. It loses money because it was never treated as a business of its own.

These fields are complete, and many properties get there on their own — that is what this page is for. The cost simply does not appear on an invoice: internal hours, a few attempts, and a season that keeps running in the meantime.

01

F&B is not accounted for as its own division

How you spot it

There is no monthly F&B P&L with its own revenue, food cost and payroll. The internal half-board value is set, not derived. Nobody can say whether the restaurant makes or loses money on a Tuesday in January.

The way out

Set F&B up as a profit centre: charge half board internally at a realistic value, allocate food cost and payroll, calculate monthly. Only then does it become visible which levers exist at all.

02

The additional revenue is left on the table

How you spot it

The half-board guest gets the menu — and nothing else is offered. No aperitif moment, no active wine recommendation, dessert and digestif are never sold. Revenue per guest is half board plus water.

The way out

Think of the evening as a selling path: aperitif at the bar before the menu, wine pairing as an offer rather than a list, service trained to recommend. That is training and process, not investment.

03

Capacity and staffing follow the house, not the demand

How you spot it

The restaurant rota is the same across the season, regardless of occupancy and weekday. Opening hours are historic, not demand-based. On weak evenings there is more staff than guests at some tables.

The way out

Tie restaurant scheduling to occupancy — the arrivals list and the half-board count are already known. Set opening hours and the number of seatings by guest structure. Capacity becomes plannable as soon as someone looks at the numbers that already exist.

04

The restaurant has no profile of its own

How you spot it

The restaurant is called "restaurant", offers "regional and international cuisine" and does not exist to the outside world. Locals and guests from other houses do not come, because there is no reason to. The restaurant lives on half board alone.

The way out

A concept that can be told: a name, a signature, a reason to go. Become visible to outside guests — that brings revenue on weak days and lifts the level for house guests along with it.

Frequently asked

Should we abolish half board?
Not hastily. Half board secures occupancy in the restaurant. The question is whether it is valued correctly internally and whether anything is sold on top of it.
How much additional revenue is realistic?
That depends on the house and can be measured in three weeks: count the aperitif and wine ratio before and after. The number from your own operation is worth more than any benchmark.
Is an outward-facing concept worth it for a resort hotel?
If the location provides demand, yes. If not, the lever stays with internal charging, selling and capacity — and that is often enough.

Describe your situation

The problem context is automatically included — you do not need to repeat anything.

Problem
Our restaurant is a cost centre, not a profit driver

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