jasonvr

On my last few stays at the ES in Santa Clara, CA I have had increasing difficulty getting butter for my complimentary breakfast. With items like french toast and pancakes, and the fact that I grew up a mere 2 hours from Wisconsin, butter is a staple of breakfast in my mind.

Several stays ago I noticed that only Promise psread was out but I was able to ask for butter which they brought out from the back.

On my most recent stay I was told they no longer have butter, only Promise. This was told to me by one of the staff in the morning. I didn't believe it so later that day I ask the bartender (Romero, who is the best ever, first name basis with all the regulars, etc) and he was in disbelief and had not heard of that. So he walked back into the kitchen to ask. He comes back with a bewildered look - it is true. Butter has been completely removed.

Now, this isn't going to keep me from going back (I've been to this ES 45 separate times according to my spreadsheet), but french toast and pancakes just aren't the same with coagulated vegetable oil and syrup on it (certainly doesn't roll off the tongue very well either ).

Has anyone else seen this at other ES's or HH properties? Is this a trend expanding to other properties? Is this some ill conceived cost cutting measure (really, how expensive can butter be)?

cblaisd

Two Hampton Inns this week still had little butter packets, at approximately -10F.

jasonvr

And the Hilton in Santa Clara (literally less than a mile down the street) did also have butter in the Exec Lounge (hotel hopping for the end of the Q3 promo).

I'll be curious to see if anyone else has experienced this elsewhere or if it is a completely isolated thing. If it's isolated, I think I write an email to the hotel.

It'sHip2B^2

I've not had problems at my usual ES or HIS. But I don't do butter all that often. The person at the omlette station usually seems to have a bucket of it and a 2 oz cookie scoop to dollop it out.

I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't read this place was in crazy CA. California is filled with vocal people who think that world's problems can be solved by restricting personal choice. In headlines recently I've seen Happy Meal bans and trans fat bans. I believe that CA recently banned trans fats in certain applications. I would guess that your missing butter is the latest victim (since butter can contain up to 4% trans fat). As added evidence it appears that Promise is trans fat free.

Sorry, Jasonvr, but it seems that if you want butter you need to move outside that crazy state. I did and I don't regret that decision in the least. Plus I now have a ton more money after taxes.

jasonvr

Interesting theory, hadn't considered that. There does seem to be some conflicting info. Wikipedia shows the 4% figure you quoted (naturally occurring trans-fat) but the Promise website actually lists butter as having 0g per serving... Probably that whole <0.5g = 0g for nutrition facts and butter pats are small enough that even 4% is less than 0.5g.

Oddly, living in the state I didn't even know about the restaurant ban on trans fats. It is confusing though because I don't know if that means only in preparation (i.e. I still have the right to put a trans-fat on myself, such as possibly butter) and whether it is only artificial trans-fats or also includes natural trans-fats such as those in butter and beef.

kymbakitty

I hope this is not a "Hilton" thing...as I don't really think it is a California thing...I've heard more on this topic in the State of New York than California.

My husband wouldn't touch margarine (Promise) if that was the last thing left on earth! I don't eat butter/margarine...learned to go without it years ago because it just wasn't that important to me, but my husband enjoys butter and he eats it in moderation and is not overweight and quite healthy. He would be VERY bummed if there was no butter for breakfast.

I hope this was an anomoly.

cordelli

In some states, it's added trans fats, so butter is still OK, as they don't add it into the food (think twinkies here). But many restaurants have just stopped using butter because it has trans fats, so if you "add" it to a dish, you are adding trans fats, so they think it's a violation.

I don't think it's ever been settled if adding butter to pancakes or green beans is a violation of the law of added trans fats or if the butter counts as a food and the pancakes or green beans count as a food, but many food places have chosen to err on the side of no butter or other trans fats.

It'sHip2B^2

The restaurant preperation is key, I think. At an unattended buffet (like Hampton's) it's not a restaurant prepped meal. But the omlette station makes the ES buffet a gray area. It may be that your location made the decision that it was easy/cheap enough to get rid of the butter and avoid the possibility of a legal challenge down the road.

I would guess that the law is less than clear about added vs. naturally occurring trans fats as "all" trans fats are "bad"or so they say. I think the law applies to oils. But what is meant by oil? And does butter count as oil since they are interchangable in just about every application?

The good news is you can use your in-room mini-fridge to keep little single serve butter patties cold. You can probably pick them up at the deli of the local Ralph's.

jasonvr

Definitely thought about it. 1 stick for the week I am there. I'd never go thru it all, but at least I'd have it. Kinda sad - I had worked out a perfect system for getting the butter patties soft. Get the french toast/pancakes, put the butter in between and let it soften up while I get my orange juice - perfectly spreadable!

jasonvr

Wouldn't ya know it, I got an email requesting me to fill out a satisfaction survey for my last stay. Basically the hotel got everything as a 10 (which I believe) except the restaurant. In the free response section I listed the only 3 things that could be changed to make the hotel perfect:

1) Bring back butter
2) Get actual HD channels on the big 50" HDTVs in each room like the Hilton down the street
3) Fix the MyWay selections. Most times what is waiting in my room is not what I requested.

The last time I filled out one of these surveys with a negative comment it was personally replied to by front desk staff and things got changed for the better.

Keyser

no more butter....

what is this world coming to????

3Cforme

Forget about the disappearance of butter... it's the appearance of whole grain baguette at Parisian bakeries that really signals the decline of civilization.

pinniped

At first I thought this was going to be a case of a hotel removing all breakfast spread products for the purpose of saving 2 cents per guest.

I don't really care what kind of spread is there as long as something is there... It's been years since I've eaten true butter as a standalone ingredient (obviously it's *in* all sorts of recipes at restaurants and whatnot) but I also don't think I'd want to rock a totally dry piece of toast. Ick.