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Go to Denny's - even the Hampton Inn itself admits how bad their breakfast has become

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Go to Denny's - even the Hampton Inn itself admits how bad their breakfast has become

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Old Mar 16, 2012, 9:10 am
  #1  
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Go to Denny's - even the Hampton Inn itself admits how bad their breakfast has become

Prominently displayed on tables in the breakfast area at the Hampton Inn in Canon City, CO: An ad for breakfast at Denny's next door, offering 20% off your meal when showing your Hampton room key.
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Old Mar 16, 2012, 9:18 am
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I stayed at this property approx 2 years ago and concur the breakfast was less than satisfactory. Still, the take out bag wasn't so bad. Fresh fruit is a great start to the day.
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Old Mar 16, 2012, 9:22 am
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It's a very nice, if standard, Hampton with very helpful staff. (Although the "high speed" internet is a joke). But the breakfast is the corporate "brand standards" exercise in mediocrity that Holiday Inn Express, for example, puts to shame. It didn't use to be like this; five years ago, Hampton breakfasts were much better and local management was allowed to "personalize" the breakfast with local offerings.
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Old Mar 16, 2012, 9:34 am
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By all means, I 100% agree - HI breakfast sucks...if I have a chance, I will evade to Hilton Garden Inn even if I have to drive extra miles to be there. Unfortunately, HI is still my only choice at some middle of nowhere towns.

I stayed at HI Kalamazoo last fall, and skipped the Hampton free breakfast; instead, I went to Denny's the next door, which has far superior quality.
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Old Mar 16, 2012, 9:36 am
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Originally Posted by lewende
By all means, I 100% agree - HI breakfast sucks...if I have a chance, I will evade to Hilton Garden Inn even if I have to drive extra miles to be there. Unfortunately, HI is still my only choice at some middle of nowhere towns.
Agree on all counts.

Originally Posted by cblaisd
It didn't use to be like this; five years ago, Hampton breakfasts were much better and local management was allowed to "personalize" the breakfast with local offerings.
I know of one Hampton where the manager quite agrees and adds some very nice "non-brand-standards" items to his breakfast fare. He told me that he has to hide the stuff related to this whenever "corporate" comes to inspect.
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Old Mar 16, 2012, 9:37 am
  #6  
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The few Hamptons I stayed in that chose to vary had things like decent biscuits and gravy, etc. The others - other than the fruit and very few items, really stink. The Unidentified Frying Objects one sees in a Hampton are really great incentivizers to escape and evade to another Hilton property (e.g. HGI!)
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Old Mar 16, 2012, 9:39 am
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Originally Posted by JDiver
The few Hamptons I stayed in that chose to vary had things like decent biscuits and gravy, etc.
Exactly. But they are getting fewer and fewer, and they do so at risk of getting their hands slapped by corporate.
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Old Mar 16, 2012, 1:46 pm
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I agree HI's breakfast are awful.

Fortunately I rarely stay at HI's. If I do, it is normally a park/fly by the DTW airport and when I stay there I just go to the skyclub if my upgrade hasn't cleared. The oatmeal and bagels in the skyclub are a lot better than hampton breakfast.

The waffles are ok but that's about all I'll eat from there.
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Old Mar 16, 2012, 2:16 pm
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Happy

I spend a lot of nights at a Hampton Inn in RI and I am quite pleased most days.

Sausage patties, bacon. bagel toppers . waffels, . Always a good selection of english muffins, bagels and muffins and donuts. Good selection of cereals.

Fresh fruit. I rarely have a complaint except if occupancy is real low then they will serve sausage bits in gravy (ugh).

Rest of the time I can't imagine why anyone would complain unless my locally owned one does a better job then most.
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Old Mar 16, 2012, 2:39 pm
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I am staying at newer Hampton Inn in Jacksonville Southside area (great property, great location) Anyway, the food is just as bad as other HI's at this new location.. At least the coffee is good.. But even newer HI's still offer up the same inedible crap.

And for anyone on here who has been a subcontractor or employee of CSX. Man, who needs rubber breakfast food from HI when you can go to the CSX cafeteria for breakfast and throw down a great selection of fresh cooked foods for a fairly reasonable price. You don't have that luxury at most businesses, but CSX kills it when it comes to on-site breakfast and lunch for employees and contractors/consultants.
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Old Mar 16, 2012, 5:21 pm
  #11  
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Originally Posted by firecat69
...then they will serve sausage bits in gravy....
YUM!
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Old Mar 16, 2012, 5:41 pm
  #12  
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I've had some really awful HI breakfasts in some of the Texas locations. In one case they served absolutely nothing but coffee. They claimed the food hadn't arrived.

Why?

Don't we deserve better?
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Old Mar 16, 2012, 10:27 pm
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My main complaint: That vile "Light 'n Fit" yogurt they serve. (I'm sure you can guess my personal nickname for it. ) I'm a vegetarian and I like to have a halfway decent protein source in the AM; usually yogurt is it since I can't eat bacon or sausage. Sorry, but mostly-water gruel flavored with chemicals doesn't really fill the bill.

Also hate it when the fruit compote is full of ice. It's also usually only cantaloupe and that other green melon I don't like. Sigh. At least they usually have cereal (great since the juice is also slightly-flavored water.)

Come to think of it, I really should fire HI. Especially since I keep having a great experience at DT/ES/HS etc.
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Old Mar 17, 2012, 8:03 am
  #14  
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There are a few plausible reasosn for the appearance of Denny's promos on Hampton Inn tables:

1. As a service to guests. Denny's may be open 24/7. Hampton food service will not be.

2. Co-ownership of both businesses.

3. Denny's pays a fee to the Hampton property.

These are all utterly free from irony.

The sentiment that Corporate standards force mediocrity has been explored in other threads (in which the good JDiver has posted). The argument - umm - lacks intellectual traction.

If one wants to explore the idea that Hampton standards demand no better than mediocrity for breakfast, go for it. Lots of HHonors FlyerTalkers have figured that out - and look for HGIs or Doubletrees at comparable price points.
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Old Mar 17, 2012, 8:21 am
  #15  
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Originally Posted by 3Cforme
There are a few plausible reasosn for the appearance of Denny's promos on Hampton Inn tables:

1. As a service to guests. Denny's may be open 24/7. Hampton food service will not be.
While true, the promo specifically says "breakfast" (when the Hampton "food" service is open)

2. Co-ownership of both businesses.

3. Denny's pays a fee to the Hampton property.

These are all utterly free from irony.
Not sure what "irony" has to do with it, but these are plausible, yes.

The sentiment that Corporate standards force mediocrity has been explored in other threads (in which the good JDiver has posted). The argument - umm - lacks intellectual traction.
I don't know what that means. I've had a Hampton manager himself express his frustration at the brand standards diminution.

If one wants to explore the idea that Hampton standards demand no better than mediocrity for breakfast, go for it. Lots of HHonors FlyerTalkers have figured that out - and look for HGIs or Doubletrees at comparable price points.
Indeed, as have I. But as noted by others, sometimes the Hampton is the only HHonors property choice in a small town.
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