When people are on a holiday, they start to say things like "it's ok, you're on vacation!" and "you should be able to enjoy yourself!" These statements are innocuous in general, but when they're applied to the second piece of chocolate cream pie on your plate during dessert, it can be problematic. People gain weight when they're on vacation and in the weeks leading up to it in a sort of pre-vacation indulgence binge. A hotel in Germany, the Hotel Ostfriesland, has an unusual pricing structure that was motivated by one guest's desire to lose weight. The owner charges by the kilogram.
It all started when a guest complained that she was gaining weight every year and, when she dropped 77 pounds in a year, joked that she should get a discount. And she did. The owner of the hotel has everyone hop on a scale to determine their room rate. Of course, he does have a maximum fee of €39 per night for a single room, which, at his rate of .50 euros per kg, comes out to be about 172 pounds. If a guest weighs less than that, they get a discount. If they refuse to get on the scale at all, there is a €51 (224 pound) double-room charge, though no one has yet refused.
At the moment, the charging structure appears to be working. The hotel owner said that he has had no complaints and that many people enjoy the fact that they can get a discount, sometimes going as far as stripping down (the men, not the women) to try and lower their rate further.
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