I don't get the vitriol towards Hampton breakfast.

I'll usually do oatmeal, a banana, and a little bit of protein (some combination of bacon/sausage/turkey-sausage/eggs) with coffee and maybe juice. If one particular item doesn't look appetizing (bagel toppers, mexican potatoes maybe) I'll skip it but there's plenty available so I've never felt like it was hard to put together a reasonably appetizing breakfast. I've never seen a Hampton breakfast where more than one hot dish looked unappetizing... I've definitely never been completely put off by the whole spread. I'm more likely to be bothered by the crowd than the food, but that's usually only in central-Florida.

Especially if I have morning meetings, I'd almost always prefer to have a quick meal in the lobby (especially if there's anything to discuss with anyone traveling with me) than leave earlier to make another stop along the way or do drive-through. If my morning is open, I like being able to walk down towards the end of breakfast when the crowds are far less, sometimes even taking it back up to my room to eat and work. I'm rarely, if ever, motivated to leave the hotel for breakfast... especially not based on the quality of the food.

I'll go a bit further and say there are times I'd even prefer the Hampton breakfast to the free continental-only restaurant offerings at some lobby restaurants... there's a raised dress code expectation at many (Palmer House, for example) but the free offering excludes any protein other than boiled egg and maybe locks. I usually don't like to use my breakfast allotment to upgrade a free breakfast, especially in a big city where I might like an afternoon coffee at a nice cafe somewhere.