For a hotel food and beverage operation generating, say, $1 million a year in revenue, that 5% or $50,000 represents a significant loss. For large chains, the math can easily produce some fairly staggering loss figures.

The major reasons for this high rate of fraud loss include:

Moreover, liquor bottles, lobster tails, steaks and other high-value items are easily concealed and misappropriated by dishonest employees.

According to Derk Boss, Vice President of Surveillance at the Stratosphere Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, "The key to deterring and detecting food and beverage theft is effective implementation of controls, policies and procedures... and routine monitoring by department management to make sure that employees are adhering to required practices."

Common Frauds in Hotel Bars

With this backdrop of easy employee access to food and liquor inventory, combined with the all-too-common lack of tight anti-fraud controls, it is easy to see why the following bartender frauds are draining liquor profits in most hotel lounges:

These are just a few of the seemingly limitless varieties of fraud that hotel bars everywhere are vulnerable to.

Mitigating the Risk

Though time-consuming, regular monthly two-person inventory counts of liquor inventory are among the most effective ways to screen for fraud.

According to David Bleser, Vice President for Operations ...