Hostel mess plans with check-in and leave
With SmartMy Hostel, a resident's mess plan starts at check-in and ends at check-out, from rules per hostel, room type and resident category. Approved leave switches the meals off with the plan's credit, and residents who are away are left out of the kitchen's headcount.
PLANSFrom GrowthWith SmartMy Hostel
Why it matters
A mess cooks from a list that someone types, and the list is always behind the hostel register. Residents on leave are still cooked for, new residents are missing for a week, and those who left stay on the list. In SmartMy Feast the mess plan comes from the hostel stay itself. It starts at check-in, renews each period while the resident stays and ends at check-out, with nothing typed in the mess office. An approved leave switches off every meal it covers. The kitchen's headcount leaves out residents absent at last night's roll call or out of the hostel for hours. The kitchen cooks for the people who will eat.
The problem it solves
- The mess cooks for 300 every night while 40 residents are home for the festival weekend.
- The mess office learns about new residents from the warden, days after they moved in.
- A resident on two weeks' leave pays for meals not eaten and argues about it at the end of the term.
- Residents who moved out stay on the meal list, and the cook keeps counting them.
How it works
- Set up the mess as an outlet of SmartMy Feast with its meal sessions and a meal plan. An example is a monthly plan of breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- Open each hostel in SmartMy Hostel, tab Mess, and add Mess Rules. Give Room Type and Resident Category (empty means every one). Then the Meal Plan, the Mess, the Customer Type and the Billing.
- At check-in the resident gets the plan of the most specific rule. It runs from the check-in day to the end of the plan's period, or to the day before the planned move-out.
- A daily job gives each resident in house the plan of the next period, as long as the stay lasts. The stay's Mess tab shows the plan, the mess and the end date.
- When a hostel leave, outing or vacation is approved, every plan meal that starts and ends inside it is switched off. It gets the credit the meal plan allows. A cancelled leave or an early return switches the meals after the return back on.
- The kitchen's Headcount and Demand Forecast leave out switched-off meals. They leave out residents absent at last night's roll call for meals before noon. And, with door devices, residents out for longer than the hostel's hours.
- At check-out the plan ends that day. The meals left are credited as the meal plan says.
Everything it does
Mess rules (per hostel)
- Room Type and Resident Category: empty means every room type or category
- The rule that names both wins over one that names one; then the first in order
- Meal Plan and Mess (a Feast outlet of the same Entity)
- Customer Type: Hostel Student to start with; given to a resident who has no food customer type yet
- Billing: Included in the rent; with SmartMy Campus fees also Mess fee (fee module) with a fee plan
- A resident who already holds an active plan for the day is not given a second one
The plan on the Feast side
- A meal plan subscription per period, marked with its Hostel Stay
- Included in the rent: the plan's own price is 0; the rent carries the mess
- Meals switched off by leave are opt-outs naming the hostel leave and its reason
- The resident answers meals, sees the menu and what is owed in the SmartMy Feast app and portal, and does not buy a plan there
- The counter serves the plan meal by card or app QR like any member's
Leave and meals
- Approved leave, outings and vacations switch off each plan meal that starts and ends inside the leave
- Meals already switched off, or not covered by the plan, are left as they are
- Cancelling an approved leave switches its meals back on
- Marking the return switches back on the meals that start after the return time
- Credit for a meal switched off follows the meal plan: nothing, money to the wallet, a refund at the end, or one more day
Who is left out of the headcount
- Meals switched off by an approved leave
- Residents marked absent at the previous day's finished roll call, for meals that start before noon
- With SmartMy Hostel door devices: residents whose last punch is out. They have been out longer than Not Counted for Meals After (hours out), for today's meals
- The hours out are measured when the headcount or forecast is counted, not from the start of the meal; count again close to the meal
- Not Counted for Meals After (hours out): per hostel, 0 to start with, which means not used
- Anyone left out is still served if they come
Check-out
- The plan ends on the check-out day
- A period not yet started is cancelled
- The meals left after the last day are credited as the meal plan says
Who uses it
Hostel managerSets the mess rules of each hostel and the hours-out setting.
Food administratorKeeps the meal plans, the mess outlet and its sessions.
Kitchen managerReads the headcount and the forecast and cooks for it.
WardenApproves leave and closes roll call, which keep the headcount right.
ResidentGets meals with the stay, answers meals in the app and gets credit for meals missed on leave.
Where you use it
- Web: the hostel's Mess tab and the stay's Mess tab in SmartMy Hostel. Food Service > Planning > Headcount and the Demand Forecast in SmartMy Feast
- The SmartMy Feast app and diner portal: the resident's plan, meals to answer and the menu. (The app is built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not in the SmartMy Hostel apps: the mess menu; residents read it in SmartMy Feast
- Not a separate mess line on hostel invoices: with hostel billing the mess is included in the rent; a separate mess fee needs Campus fees
What you control
Settings
- Mess Rules per hostel: room type, resident category, meal plan, mess, customer type, billing
- Billing: Included in the rent to start with
- Not Counted for Meals After (hours out): per hostel, 0 (not used) to start with
- Per meal plan: the credit for a meal switched off
Approvals
- Hostel leave chain: the leave's approval is what switches the meals off
Notifications
- No message of its own: residents hear about the leave decision through the hostel's leave messages
- Members still get the Meal Answer Reminder and the Weekly Menu of SmartMy Feast for meals that are on
Works with
SmartMy HostelNeeded for this page: hostel stays, mess rules, leave, roll call and door punches. The link needs hostel billing (Hostel Growth).
SmartMy StayPGs and co-living on SmartMy Stay use the same mess rules, built on the Hostel modules.
SmartMy CampusNeeded only to bill a separate mess fee on the student fee ledger.
Questions
Does the mess office add each new resident?
No. The plan starts at check-in from the hostel's mess rules, and the next period starts by itself while the resident stays.Are meals switched off when a student goes home?
Yes, once the leave is approved in SmartMy Hostel. Every plan meal inside the leave is switched off, with the credit the meal plan allows.What if the student comes back a day early?
When the warden marks the return, the meals after the return time are switched back on.Will a resident left out of the headcount be refused food?
No. The headcount only changes how much is cooked. The resident is served if they come.Can the mess fee be billed apart from the rent?
Yes, with SmartMy Campus fees: choose Mess fee (fee module) and a fee plan on the rule. Each period becomes a mess fee due on the student's fee ledger.Does this work for a PG?
Yes, with SmartMy Stay, which runs on the same hostel modules. The mess is then included in the rent.Related features
SELLINGMeal plans with opt-outs and creditSell a meal plan for a day, a week, a month, a term or a year, covering the sessions and weekdays you choose. A member who says "not eating" before the cut-off gets that meal back as wallet credit, a refund at the end or an extra day. Joining late is charged only for the meals left.MEAL PLANNING AND ENGAGEMENTAre you eating? Headcount before the cut-offPlan members say Eating or Not eating for each meal before its cut-off, on the portal or in the app. At the cut-off the members' count is frozen, walk-ins are added from the last four weeks, and the kitchen cooks for that number.WITH OTHER SMARTMY PRODUCTSMeals on the student fee ledgerWith SmartMy Campus, students become food customers and their parents their menu contacts. Canteen purchases, meal plans and wallet top-ups can be charged to the student's fee ledger. Mess fees become fee dues with the usual receipts, reminders and late fees.KITCHEN PRODUCTIONRecipes, forecasts and production plansWrite each dish as a recipe with its yield, preparation loss and cost. Each meal gets a forecast of how many will eat and what to cook. The kitchen's day becomes a production plan with the raw materials it needs. Any shortfall goes to the store in one click.PORTAL AND APPSSmartMy Feast app for dinersThe SmartMy Feast app for iPhone and Android holds the diner's QR card for the counter. It also has today's meals to answer, two weeks of menus, the wallet, bookings with their slips, meal plans and history. Parents switch between their children.SET-UPOutlets, counters and meal sessionsSet up each mess, canteen, tuck shop or cafe as an outlet with its own counters, open days, meal sessions, selling methods and payment modes. Serving times and cut-offs can differ by outlet and by weekday.
See it with your own menu.
Tell us how many outlets you run and how people pay today. We will show you a day in your mess or canteen on SmartMy Feast.