Coffee: It can make a big difference for hotel guests

 

Coffee is incredibly serious business particularly for travelers.

But I was still astonished at the number of thoughtful comments that arrived in the last 24 hours on my story headlined, “Hotel coffee besides Starbucks that I can live with.” The story jumped off my experience with a new coffee brand at IHG’s newest brand. (I was skeptical, but yes, I gave it the thumbs up.)

Road warriors from the around the world, including Australia, weighed in in comments on TravelUpdate.com as well as my Facebook page (“Barbara DeLollis”).

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Rather than curate them, I decided to post them below so you can read them yourself and comment as you see fit. I’ll explore some of the trends, such as BYOC, in future posts.

I hope hoteliers read all the comments because they underscore the importance of good coffee. They also highlight the risk hotels take when providing awful coffee. As we see with the photo above taken by longtime reader and road warrior Peter Chang of the “American flavour” coffee packet shows, coffee can wind up a joke.

Enjoy!

Chris Connell N’espresso machine in room (with lots of capsules) Le Meridien Taipei
23 hrs · Unlike · 1

Bruce Ford I was in a Marriott Concierge lounge in Atlanta this week and they had Gevallia
23 hrs · Unlike · 1

Barbara Delollis Chris: Love that stuff. Bruce: Is that good – or not?
23 hrs · Unlike · 1

Bruce Ford Oh yes it’s good. In fact the lounge manager said she changed it three weeks ago
23 hrs · Unlike · 1

Doug Levy Before Starbucks went national, I traveled with my own supply of coffee to brew in hotel rooms.
22 hrs · Unlike · 1

Barbara Delollis Doug: That’s hardcore. But Sandra Mckenna might top you: She’s traveling with her own portable coffee maker. This discussion will prompt a post about hardcore coffee-travel practices. Keep ’em coming!
22 hrs · Like · 1

Sandra Mckenna It has become a matter of survival
22 hrs · Unlike · 1

Patrick A. Goff I always travel with a kettle and a pile of Earl Grey tea bags – but then I’m English, can’t stand American coffee…
22 hrs · Unlike · 1

Barbara Delollis Oh Patrick…. that’s so…. Patrick!
21 hrs · Like

Patrick A. Goff If I have coffee it’ll be from a cafetierre – what you call a French coffee maker I think
21 hrs · Like

Patrick A. Goff With Nicaraguan or Kenyan coffee – and none of those calorific syrups that disguise the flavour
21 hrs · Like · 2

Karen McAllister Nothing worse than being an early morning riser and having the hotel not serve coffee until 7:00….
21 hrs · Like · 2

Mike Holovacs Patrick, does Panamanian coffee not make the cut for you? What about Jamaican?
21 hrs · Like · 1

Darlene Fiske My sister and I pack our own coffee maker when we go on trips! It’s less than $20 – which ends up being how much we’d pay for one pot from room service. We just leave it at the hotel. Have coffee maker, will travel!
21 hrs · Like

Michael Forrest Jones · Friends with Susan Deluzain Barry
Wish I could get Lofbergs lila coffee to put on the comp breakfast at a decent price…
19 hrs · Like

Barbara Delollis This just in via Twitter from Mark:
19 hrs · Like

Barbara Delollis Mark H. Anbinder @mhaithaca 14m
@barbdelollis OK, I don’t love most hotel coffee either, but I’d take Peet’s over Starbucks any day! Hampton robust blend is reliable.
19 hrs · Like · 1

Peter M. Chang This is what I got from a boutique hotel in Ulanbator, Mongolia:
Peter M. Chang’s photo.
19 hrs · Like

Michael Juell I’ve used Peet’s, Sark’s, and had 2 resorts that had Starbucks..it’s all in the taste and the price that makes the difference.
19 hrs · Like

James E. Knauff III When real Starbucks stores prepared coffee beverages requiring espresso, there was skill involved. Pulling the ideal shot made a significant difference. Now, all Starbucks rely on machines to measure the pour. Therefore diminishing my desire to go there.
18 hrs · Like · 1

Greg Marquez Theres lots of really good local roasters out there. I’d love to see chains support local roasters before the big guys.
17 hrs · Like · 1

Allegra Tasaki Peet’s
16 hrs · Edited · Like

Alexis Henderson Now this discussion is right up my alley. I will not leave my room for coffee and room service is really expensive. I travel with an electric water boiler and Starbucks instant French or Italian roast packets. I generally have a room with a fridge so in addition to bottled water, I buy cream before or right after checking in.
12 hrs · Like

John Ruda I’m a coffee amateur so I can’t speak to the quality of the beans or the brew, but I do like that Kimpton’s lobby coffee stations tend to provide flavored syrups and during warmer weather also offer iced coffee.
John Ruda’s photo.
9 hrs · Like

John Ruda The Kimpton Palomar in Phoenix also offered quite the hot cocoa station in December…
John Ruda’s photo.
9 hrs · Like