Tips on Hotel Banquet Guarantees

Hotel banquet guarantees are a little tricky.

For BUFFETS I always under-guarantee by 1-2%. Hotels typically prep enough food for 2-3% overage, and with big events there are always a few cancels or no-shows.

For PLATED meals banquet kitchens need accurate counts but I still usually under-guarantee by a few people, provided I can up the number a day prior. This covers me in case there are a couple last-minute cancels.

My goal is to look after the client's funds by avoiding paying for more food than we need.