horrible coffee
 

A nice cup of coffee is one of my great pleasures, however, the coffee is absolutely horrible at almost every hotel I've ever stayed at. The good coffee I've had has been at random places in central America and in Kenya, everywhere else the beans are invariably of low quality, over roasted and old and in many places a nespresso, which is even worse.

I remember FDW mentioning kroner's coffee in Kreurig and have several similar stories, and every Aman, FS (except when Baltimore had La Mill), Westin, has just had bad coffee.

For me, coffee is an important drug and a huge luxury. But why are the hotels skimping so badly?

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Thanks..
Obscure2k
Luxury Hotels Moderator

When you have a truly superior cup, there's little that compares. The only thing I can think of is that tastes do vary. And for many people the idea of a good cup is that stuff they get from a certain coffee chain whose name I will not even credit by mentioning.

On many occasions I've enjoyed splendiferous coffee in Italy but the best Espresso I ever had was at a coffee house on Hudson Street in Greenwich Village named "Maurizio" after its owner. Long gone now, alas, but I probably had a hundred Espressos there. Never had a top-notch cup in a hotel, come to think of it, but have had many good ones. Salut!

If it is for you, why don't you try to bring your own?

My wife always travels with her set of coffee and two cup french press. As long as there is hot/boiled water available, then there is no problem.

Devil's advocate, but does she bring a burr grinder too? Because fresh-ground is really a palpable difference and don't even get me started on Espresso... :cool:

Yes, hand cracking one. :)

Whoa, I concede defeat!

I'm not sure which model invisible's wife uses, but the Hario mini-mill is quite portable and has a fairly consistent grind for when one is on the road.

I bring AeroPress with me sometimes.

I refuse to believe all coffee in all hotels is horrible except for one's own secret exclusive stash. For goodness' sake.

There was a thread in the Travel & Dining section a few years ago about identifying the best steak in the United States. Within 50 or 75 posts it was proclaimed that there are no good steaks in the United States -- Ruth's Chris, Morton's, S&W, Peter Luger, Gene & Georgetti: all dog meat -- except for one poster's secret steak supply grilled on his own secret grill in some undisclosed location.

There's discernment, and there's derangement.

I have to agree with the sentiment about Aman resorts. They usually have below-average coffee, with Amankila being the only exception (had had Bali coffee served in french press).

Another issue is that many hotels - instead of buying the right equipment and training their staff properly in using it - simply buy a fully automatic coffee machine that makes cappuccino at the touch of a button. It usually tastes terrible. Worst example is Rocco Forte Villa Kennedy in Frankfurt, which has coffee not better than the one from a vending machine. And that for an Italian-owned hotel.

I've noticed this with tea, as well. Few places are willing to splurge on the higher marginal cost of the really good stuff. Why serve TWG (US$1/bag retail) when Twinings (US 4-10 cents/bag) does the trick? There's little rhyme or reason in the pricing, so you can sample 4 places charge $3.50 for a cup of tea, and get 4 vastly different (in wholesale cost and quality) teas.

With coffee, I am reasonably convinced that I am just getting Nespresso or K-cups in many places that aren't hipster cafes. If I go to Hipster Cafe here in HNL, I get Coava or Four Barrel coffee 2 day air freighted from PDX or SFO ground fresh. Cost: $3.50 + tax. If I go to a diner, it's $2.95 for instant coffee.

It would seem as some are more passionate than others about coffee
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/18/europe...etti-moka-urn/

I think the best hotel coffee that I ever had is Park Hyatt Sydney. The cappuccino was perfectly executed every time and every morning.

I do this, too - I have an Aeropress and a hand cranked burr grinder and use the hotel coffee maker to heat the water. A few places that I've traveled regularly I could count on being able to get beans that he been roasted within the last day or two.