Maybe it's just the places I've stayed (I don't travel a ton) but it seems like in room coffee is becoming less common.

Kettle + Handpresso (https://www.handpresso.com/en/handpr...-black-16.html) is far better than a coffee machine

Even growing up with my grandparents, I only saw an electric kettle for the first time when my UK-citizen roommate bought one.

If you're looking for something functional, hot, caffeinated, and familiar, instant coffee is an acceptable substitute. Not everything has to be bougie all the time ;-)

Also for what it's worth, I've found European instant coffee to be significantly better than American.

When I worked in the City of London from the mid-1990s, Nescafe was very much the coffee of choice in the office. The current coffee fashion really had not caught on yet. There wasn't a Nero/Costa/Starbucks at every corner.

I've mostly seen little tubes of Nescafe granules in rooms outfitted with an electric kettle.
I can remember living in southern Europe in the 1970s, when Nescafe was what you got if you asked for "American coffee." (my experience limited to places that would serve backpackers).
Honestly, I don't actually consider Nescafe coffee. It doesn't taste anything like any coffee I ever tasted.
But, still, as it's own drink, it's okay.

I think the last hotel I stayed in in Europe was about 20 EUR a night for a place in Berat, Albania. It didn't have a coffee maker either. :)

Trust me, I’ll take a nespresso over instant. I’ll take the Hilton Garden pod over instant. I’ll take euro instant over hampton drip brewed,

in my perfect hotel, it has a kettle, a nespresso with several pods, and a beer tap.

I have a dual voltage travel kettle that I take anytime I stay in a hotel anywhere and I am from the US. I refuse to use any hotel kettle or coffeemaker as there is a very high likelihood it has never been cleaned and I have read reports that kettles are commonly used by various nationalities to clean underwear in them by boiling it in a kettle. I will not name the countries whose citizens do this.
I have stayed in several 4* hotels abroad where there was a sign stating that only water could be put in the kettle. Good enough for me.
So my instant coffee is packed along with the kettle. Not the best tasting but the convenience is great.
I also bring my own collapsible silicone coffee cup too. I will not use ceramic coffee cups or glasses in hotels either as there is no guarantee those are clean either. I just get a glass from the bar as those should be clean.

Thanks you for the underwear cleaning tips! I had never heard that.

I did buy an electric kettle for home use. It’s great for boiling water for tea. Including pitchers of iced tea.

I have a minipresso that uses nespresso capsules but it broke halfway thru my last europe trip. I bought it for traveling in china outside the major cities , result is very good. I just didn't expect to need it in western europe.

For the tea drinker, you can still boil water with the coffee maker.... Good for cup ramen too

There have been automated electronic ones on the market for a while now! I first encountered them at a conference in Istanbul in 2011 (easily best coffee I've ever had at such an event) but haven't managed to justify the cost ever since, as the old-school copper ones we use at home don't require further capital outlay. Of course even the automated cezve/μπρίκι might stump many a traveller.

More on topic: most countertop coffee machines I've encountered in hotels produced mediocre coffee at best, and I find a simple electric kettle a lot more useful and versatile, serving more constituencies of travellers. I tend to drink coffee in the morning when leaving the hotel anyway, but often enjoy a cup or two of tea while working in the lead-up to bedtime when I don't wish to leave the hotel room anymore. Thus, not knowing what awaits me at destination, I always travel with a few reasonably pleasant teabags. Those who feel similarly about coffee can always bring premium instant coffee in an analogous fashion: a friend of mine swears by her stash of Douwe Egberts instant coffee for travel to Nescafe-land. While a kettle works for both of us, most coffee machines are useless at making tea.

As to OP's query, some parts of Europe strongly associate coffee with social interactions and wouldn't envisage anyone wanting to drink coffee in a hotel room while on their own, and better hotels certainly wouldn't dare suggest their guests drink one made by a tabletop machine. Cultural differences, eh?

I think local custom and expectation has a lot to do with it,
Some chain hotels which have a presence both in UK and Western Europe will provide a kettle plus tea/coffee supplies in UK but not in mainland Europe.
In the past, I've never needed to have a travel kettle in UK but have packed one on trips across the channel in case there are no tea/coffee facilities
Now, it's not worth packing one as many hotel have coffee available in the lounge or close by.

Almost always a kettle. Almost never a coffee machine. Due to a horrible coffee addiction, and the fact that I usually drink 3-4 cups in the mornings, and the Mrs usually has 2, we almost always end up buying a cheap French Press and a bag of coffee. Then we just make it in the room. We leave the pot behind. Still cheaper than room service, coffee on demand, and when you wake up at 4 am because jet lag there is coffee.

one time i stayed at a motel (or motor lodge) where the owner put ziplock bags of coffee grounds in each room. very snazzy joint.