Originally Posted by
synthzero
Hahaha - you haven't read the thread. I didn't do a glowing review of the current awful breakfast at the HC SC, I reviewed the old full service restaurant breakfast. And no, it's not always been the buffet for Globalists. I have stayed at this property many times on business trips, always ordered off the menu, and had the entire thing comped (until last week, when the menu option was gone). I don't recall there even being a buffet in the past, but now there is ONLY the buffet, for everyone, which I only realized because after I sat down no one gave me a menu nor came to take my order (they didn't know I was a Globalist yet - it was the same thing for everyone). I sat there waiting (in what used to be the restaurant) until I realized they had turned what had been a perfectly good restaurant breakfast into a train wreck of a buffet. If you think "it's always been a buffet for Globalists" I'm not sure we're even talking about the same property.
I have had a theory about why you think the SOMA buffet is so great, and you confirmed it just now. You can't tell the difference in *quality*, your evaluation is based primarily on *quantity*, as in number of different options, etc. The GH Berlin has German breads all around, which are light years ahead of the pedestrian American bread options - it's not remotely comparable. But the thing you focus in on is how many different options there are. For me, every different type of bread at the GH Berlin is a revelation of flavor; to you, they're just "bread".
This also explains why the fruit selection at SOMA is so impressive to you; when it's nothing more than the same fruit you can buy at a US supermarket pre-cut (or a Hyatt Place). You don't perceive a difference. Also explains how you could say Italian food in Italy isn't better than in the US, etc.
Of course, chacun a son gout - you don't perceive quality differences which to me are astounding, who am I to tell you you're wrong? We can never come to an agreement. But at least to me now I understand why we differ so much. It's rather amazing, to me, and just shows how radically people's taste buds differ.
I think you are conflating a few things.
First of all, Germany and Japan (and other countries) have a very different standards and food types. I agree, German bread offerings even in a middle of the road establishment can be quite superior to what you get in the US, simply because Germans value bread quality much more than the average American where Wonder Bread is considered “bread”. Similarly in Japan where overall their emphasis and appreciation for quality far outweighs what you get in America. I mean you goto even the 7-11 and FamilyMarts in Japan and what they offer is much better than what you can get here. Or they actually sell (and customers purchase) $100 melons and the like.
But in the US, the HR SF SOMA does offer a breakfast that is probably the best you can get in the US and you can’t compare it to what is available in other countries. But setting that aside, by definition a Grand Hyatt is supposed to be better than a Hyatt Regency, so saying that the GH Berlin is better than HR SF SOMA would be par for the course?