I spend a lot of time in hotels, in fact I'd say around 50% of my time.
And I certainly have preferences for various hotels based on their location, price, design, amenities, etc. This is really a separate discussion which I'm sure Chino Loco will sound off on.
But when I am staying close to a client, one of the things that is important to me is breakfast. And so far I have stayed at numerous hotels across the South and they all have horrible breakfasts. Now while I might expect this from La Quinta, I do not expect it from Hyatt Place. What makes it horrible? White bread. Peanut butter and jams with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and trans fats. Boring fruit selection. Juices from concentrate. I was actually at one of the better La Quinta's in the US recently (in terms of design and comfort) but the ENTIRE breakfast was packaged foods. Bagels, muffins, and pigs-in-a-blanket all chock full of chemicals, binders, sweeteners, and preservatives in cellophane wrappers. Disgusting.
I avoid trans fat and HFCS like the plague, since these are killers (of both your waistline and your longevity). So these "buffets" are useless to me.
Now Hilton typically has a few better choices (and plenty of bad ones) and Marriott is often better still. But my next experiment will be with Starwood. I stayed at the aloft hotel in Nashville last week which was sexy and cool, but I did not eat there. Next week I am going to try the Sheraton in downtown Austin, as I've heard very good things from a colleague with similar dietary concerns to mine.
I'll keep you posted.
3 comments:
It's true that I'm not a big fan of the other hotel chains, being one of the most loyal Starwood fans out there. But I suspect the food choices you're exposed to are a result of the geography instead of strictly the hotel chains. Maybe folks in the south expect that kind of breakfast instead of healthier alternatives? All the hotels I stayed in Orlando had mostly crappy breakfasts, although they had fresh grapefruit. Atlanta wasn't great either. What really rocked was Germany, where a full healthy breakfast buffet with huge variety was par for the course.
Speaking of the horrible HFCS, check out this article that talks about it.
Good point.
Shite. I just realized.
I should've titled this post:
"Southern Fare Gone...South"
Dear Peter,
You need to go some business in Norway. Hotel breakfast is always complimentary and I guarantee you it will blow you away. You don't even need to step above average... it will still blow you away.
Roar
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