ABSTRACT
Accepting these points it would be useful to outline the problems of restaurants in hotels. A shorthand sketch would go something like this: guests do not want to eat all their meals in the place where they are staying therefore there is a lack of demand especially at lunch and dinner. Another way to put the same problem is that restaurant cannot compete effectively with local independent restaurants. In psychological terms it is represented by the desire to 'get out', for something different and the need to explore. In sum, pull and push factors both work against the hotel restaurant. Yet restaurant space is deemed necessary because breakfast is necessary and what is more, any competent banqueting department should make profits. Add to this the financial perspective about overheads and expensive physical space and the problems mount. Furthermore, there are a couple of 'own goals' to take into account. In many hotels there is still a problem of direct access from the street. The absence of this is seen as a deterrent to non-resident customers because entrance through the hotel makes the restaurant invisible but, even if it is visible, passage through the hotel carries overtones of social thresholds which may add to the deterrent effect (Riley, 1984).
