RBH58

If my company ever books me into an HI, I make them pay by going out an expensing a lavish "real" breakfast. What HI serves doesn't qualify as food IMHO.

Ravenboy2001

I was at HI/S in Jekyll Island, GA two nights ago. Purposely got up early to take a walk on the beach. When I passed the breakfast area to grab my coffee, there was a big guy in a tank top and flip flops throwing down a huge plate of rubbery food. This was about 6:45 AM. I spent about an hour walking the beach. Came back and and refilled my coffee and the same guy was still sitting there eating.

I went up, took a shower got dressed and checked out you guess it, the big dude in the tank top was still eating at about 9 AM.

Wow...

kymbakitty

I wonder what he would do if there was "good" food available. I guess at this point it wouldn't make any difference. Food is food, I suppose.

Kind of sad. This is just a snapshot of our times. As you have probably heard by now, the generation nipping on our heals is the first one that is not expected to outlive their parents. Poor kids....where do you think they picked up all the habits from...you can't drive a car to the store to get food when you are 10 years old!!!!!!

bsmits

One nicety that I wish they'd introduce more widely was last year at the London Docklands: a fairly busy holiday weekend, and finding a nice card in the room (then HH gold, so breakfast included) saying "due to the holiday weekend the breakfast area will be very busy. Would you like to have breakfast served in your room instead for only UKP 6 per room, full choice of the menu?"

You bet we did -- only 6 quid or the two of us avoiding the rush? Sign us up! When we went downstairs to leave for the day the breakfast queue was still stretched across the hall.

Hhonor Gguard

Makes sense. My property uses the "cow" dispensary (that's a word, right?) for milk. I was almost going to recommend pouring the milk into your bowl and emptying the cereal boxes at the table, but how weird is that?!

Regardless of how we all feel about breakfast, I think we're all agreed: Cereal goes first and then milk gets poured on top of it. Anything else would be ridiculous!

OB one

That sounds like a great idea especially when they know the breakfast area will be packed - and anything off the menu seems a bargain. @:-) That said, I am not sure too many Hampton's offer room service, and even if they did, I am not sure I want someone to carry up my stale bagel, sausage patty, egg thingie and coffee on a tray for 6 pounds. Eggs Benedict and fresh fruit - now that is a different question.

Ravenboy2001

There are some great ideas in this thread, but I know of one suggestion that ALL HI's should take to heart. Especially ones in tourist areas in the summer time.

If you have a husband and wife and 3-4 kids, by all means SEND THE KIDS TO THE TABLE to wait.

I have two kids myself, and we do not allow our kids to run around the breakfast area of hotels. They sit at a table and wait for us to get their stuff.

The HI/S I mentioned a few posts ago is currently catering to a lot of family/kid vacation travel, and the breakfast area was completely overrun with kids digging into stuff instead of waiting at a table.

toomanybooks

I am wondering how anyone who stays at a Hampton Inn can consider him/her self "important."

Companycar

I know I think I scared many of the guest this morning when I flew into the Breakfast area like I was on a mission. There were two older Russian ladies (I think) that were perplexed by the Waffle maker when the timer went off they couldn't open the machine because it was still flipped over. At that point I started to get anxious because the waffle was burning.

That's when I realized I'm insane!

jamesteroh

I am surprised at how operating a waffle machine seems like rocket science to some people.

The courtyard in Toronto I stay at frequently, has plastic cups of waffle batter prepoured with instruction on another sign on how to operate the machine. step by step instructions anyone that could read could understand and I am amazed at the number of people that still mess it up. Several times I have seen people flip over the waffle maker to see how the waffle was doing (says right on the sign the timer will go off and I think they even put up another sign telling people not to open the waffle maker until the timer goes off). The one that really upset me was once I was making a waffle and I will go grab fruit will the waffle is baking and some guy and his daughter come over and start messing around with it and flipped it over were confussed. DUH there was a waffle in it, MINE. I go over as he is taking it out and he ask if it's mine and I say yeah and of course it's ruined. I grab another cup of batter and he got kind of nasty stating his daughter was hungry and they were next in line LOL. And this is a pretty nice hotel and breakfast buffet as well.

I guess some people have no common sense

Companycar

I have pretty much no choice to stay in HI as I travel in some rural areas and HI Fairfield or Holiday are all there is. So It's a loyalty thing that we should be rewarded for not about being important. We aren't suggesting separate buffet lines for diamonds and another for the occasional traveler. Just some manners and hope the other guest would realize that they are not the only ones in the breakfast area.

Ravenboy2001

Amen.. 60% of my biz travel is to VERY rural areas.. I frequently have to find the nearest town 30 minutes away from my work sites, and HI is the only game in town sometimes.

I'll give them credit, some of their newer properties are really nice, such as the aforementioned Jekyll Island HI/S. It's probably the nicest one I've ever stayed at.

tlhanger

We stayed at one in June. I told my husband go downstairs and get me two boiled eggs and a yoghurt. He came back up and said no eggs no yoghurt. We went out.

JamesS

I found the breakfast at a hotel in Elizabeth, NJ to be pretty dire - can't remember the name off-hand, but I do remember it was full of Continental crew. Even free it wasn't worth it: we ended up going to the diner around the corner to buy a decent breakfast and some orange juice which had actually encountered an orange at some point.

The Mariott Courtyard across the road was much, much better in every way, but of course I had to find that out the hard way...

vickiburton

YUM!! Biscuits and gravy! Makes me want to check into my local HI this weekend! Better yet, I offer myself to management to supervise the breakfast area.