A complimentary breakfast buffet may be a favorite perk at many hotel chains nationwide - but these days, not everyone in the buffet line may be a paying guest.
Viral videos making the rounds show buffet crashers strolling into hotel dining rooms, piling up plates with food and heading out - no payment in sight.
The buffet configurations can make it difficult for hotels to monitor who belongs in the breakfast area, according to Kenneth Free, Connecticut-based hospitality expert and president of Straightline Hospitality.
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"Because most complimentary breakfasts are in smaller, limited-service properties, they usually don't have the personnel resources to aggressively police whether breakfast patrons are truly guests of the hotel," Free told Fox News Digital.
Complimentary breakfast is a common offering at many hotel chains, including brands like Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Residence Inn, where self-service buffets are often included with overnight stays.
Since the meals are often self-serve, some non-guests are able to blend in without drawing attention, said Free.
"In most cases, the best a hotel can do in these circumstances is to ask all staff members to be alert [about] suspicious activity, such as 'guests' entering from the outside, as opposed to coming from the in-house guest room elevator bank," he said.
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Free said unauthorized use of hotel amenities can greatly impact the guests who did and do pay.
When "breakfast shoplifters succeed in pilfering breakfasts… additional financial pressure is applied to the hotel, causing it to investigate cost-savings measures."
In turn, the quality of the breakfast offerings may go down, he said. Free believes hotels might even consider increasing nightly rates for guest rooms.
Many travelers online expressed dismay about the breakfast bandits - with some hotel employees even unofficially confirming the scam is definitely a trend.
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"Literally anyone can walk in, go upstairs and eat all the breakfast they want. No one checks," said one commenter on Instagram who claimed to work at a major brand.
Another commenter said, "I hope everyone knows that this is equivalent to walking into a restaurant or gas station and helping yourself. It's theft."
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California-based hospitality expert Sarah Dandashy, a travel media personality and creator of the Ask a Concierge brand, told Fox News Digital that while hotels do have systems in place, enforcement can vary.
"Complimentary hotel breakfast is meant for registered guests," she said.
"So most hotels have some kind of process in place. Usually that means a room number check, sometimes a guest name, sometimes a voucher, sometimes key-card access. It really depends on the hotel."
Dandashy said the level of oversight depends on how the property is designed and how busy the breakfast area is.
"Some hotels are pretty relaxed. Others are more structured, especially if breakfast is included and the space gets busy fast," she said. "Either way, staff is usually keeping an eye on things."
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She added that hotels like to find a balance between monitoring access and maintaining a welcoming environment.
"You do not want guests feeling like they are being interrogated before coffee," Dandashy said.
"At the same time, if anyone can walk in, it creates crowding, extra cost and a worse experience for the actual guests."
Fox News Digital reached out to several hotel chains for comment.
Meanwhile, in one recent viral clip, a woman declared, "They make it so easy to get the free hotel breakfast when you're not staying at a hotel." The video shows the creator eating eggs, sausage and other buffet items at an unnamed location.
A person on Reddit shared a "hack" a couple of years ago. "The trick is to not go for the upscale resorts… Common hotels with bland, generic breakfast are a dime a dozen and super easy to walk into," the person wrote. "I've literally jogged into them like I'm getting BACK from a morning run, eaten breakfast and walked out."
