One problem with offering breakfast that is included with the room rate at no extra cost is the potential to attract freeloaders at breakfast — but is what this hotel property is doing about it the best solution?
Freeloaders at Breakfast: What This Hotel Property is Doing About It. Hotel Review.
For years, people have reported that freeloaders who are not paying guests come in from outside and just help themselves to breakfast without paying a single penny. This can cost the hotel property money — but how much of the food is thrown out anyway at the end of the offering of breakfast?
Also, patrolling who is allowed at these complimentary breakfast buffets can also consume a significant amount of time for employees — and can be costly if a security guard is hired — so some hotel properties simply allow the interlopers to fill up, as long as they do not blatantly abuse the privilege…
…but not the Hampton Inn & Suites Jacksonville-Beach Boulevard/Mayo Clinic Area hotel property, whose interior front door remains locked during breakfast hours of between 6:00 in the morning and 10:00 in the evening.
Printed on the white sign that is taped to the glass door of the inner entrance of the hotel property are the following words:
PLEASE USE YOUR
ROOM KEY TO OPEN
DOORS!IF YOU DON’T HAVE A
ROOM KEY, PLEASE
PUSH THE WHITE
BUTTON TO ALERT THE
FRONT DESK.THANK YOU…
->->->->->->->->->->->
When I asked the person behind the front desk why the front door is locked through at least 10:00 in the morning — which is when the breakfast buffet closes — she responded that the procedure is to “protect the privacy of our guests”; for “increased security”; and to “help prevent people from coming in off of the street and helping themselves to the food in the breakfast area.”
As far as I know, the hotel property is not located in an area known for high crime — but many restaurants, fuel stations, and retail stores are concentrated in this area.
One issue which I see with this procedure is that it reminds me of the low budget motel properties that are located in areas with high crime rates which are locked and have the front desk in the tiny reception area behind bulletproof glass windows. That is not an impression that a mid-scale hotel property wants to impart on its guests…
…but I am not sure as to what else could resolve this issue. Would relocating breakfast areas to the top floor of hotel properties — emulating some luxury hotel and resort properties — be a more elegant solution to this problem?
Complimentary Breakfast
Breakfast is what is typically found at a Hampton by Hilton hotel property — but I must say that the attendants constantly cleaned the area and replenished the food and beverages quickly.
The center island contained cups of assorted flavors of yogurt, oranges, bananas, apples wrapped in plastic, hard boiled eggs that were not yet peeled, and plastic forks, knives, and spoons that were individually wrapped and sealed. One orange tasted rather bland and had seeds in it; while the hard boiled eggs were depleted and not replenished because they were out of them until the next day. That is a supply issue that should not have happened. How difficult is having enough eggs for breakfast? It was not like there was a mad rush for them.
The orange juice varied between almost tasteless and too strong — but the aforementioned bland orange was not much better. Cold water, apple juice, and strawberry kiwi enhanced water — as well as two percent milk — rounded out the cold beverages that were available for breakfast. Hot oatmeal and assorted cold cereal — with pecans and dried cranberries — were on display as well.
Slices of white bread and wheat bread — as well as assorted sliced bagels and assorted muffins — were all wrapped in plastic wrap. Only the scones were not wrapped. Peanut butter, cream cheese, butter, vegetable spread, and assorted flavors of jelly were available in individual containers. I was in the mood for a bagel — but as the bagels are nowhere near the caliber of the ones that are in New York, I placed an everything bagel which was already sliced in half into the toaster. Before the halves of the bagel came out toasted, the attendant came over to the toaster and wiped the area clean. I had never seen anything like that before.
I have come to dislike the hot food options at Hampton by Hilton hotel properties anymore. One side is either a facsimile of scrambled eggs or omelets; while the other side is invariably some type of grey sausage concoction…
…but the waffles definitely compensate for that, as I do like creating my own fresh waffles, which are more interesting because of the different flavors. On the day that the photograph above was taken, the two flavors of waffle batter which were available were malted vanilla and strawberry. Pumpkin spice was another flavor that was available. I like topping them with lots of whipped cream with toppings such as chocolate chips and strawberry sauce with large pieces of strawberries that were cooked. Pancake syrup, sprinkles, butter, caramel sauce, and chocolate sauce are available as toppings as well.
Light Roast, Dark Roast, and Decaffeinated Roast coffee is available not only at breakfast; but also throughout most of the day as well. A variety of tea, sweeteners, hot chocolate, creamers, and hot water are available as well; and they may be taken on the go with cups, lids, and “jackets” for the cups to protect hands from being scalded from the hot liquids. One can also pick up a copy of Jacksonville magazine — as well as a USA TODAY newspaper.
The Room
Next to the room number of each room is a black and white photograph, as has been typical of Hampton by Hilton hotel properties for years. An ice machine is located adjacent to the elevators, of which two are available for the five floors of this hotel property.
The bathroom is located on the right side of the entrance to the room in the above photograph; and the door to the closet doubles as a full length mirror. Three large hooks are mounted on the wall on the left side of the entrance to the room. Inside of the closet were eight hangers, an ironing board, an iron, an extra blanket, a plastic laundry bag, a luggage rack…
…and a safe.
The bed was comfortable in which to sleep.
No art work or hooks were mounted on the wall adjacent to the bed, which is unusual for a Hampton by Hilton property — but the headboards inexplicably had some sort of schematic electronic theme going on.
In the room was a flat screen television, a cabinet with a miniature refrigerator, a microwave oven, a coffee station, an ice bucket, three empty drawers, and a desk area.
A built-in desk with an orange adjustable chair is located on the left side of the aforementioned cabinet; while two square ottomans were situated on the right side of the cabinet. The lamp on the desk was extremely bright. Hidden on the right side of the desk is two Type A Universal Serial Bus — or USB — ports and two electrical outlets. An oval mirror hangs on the wall over the desk. One thing which I have never seen in another Hampton by Hilton hotel property is the three colorful slats of interesting art that is hanging on the wall to the left of the desk.
Under the cabinet is a microwave oven and a miniature refrigerator. I received two snacks and two complimentary bottles of water, which I placed in the miniature refrigerator.
Below the microwave oven was a coffee machine with assorted tea, coffee, paper cups, and condiments in a tray — as well as an ice bucket.
The temperature to the room is controlled by a climate control unit under the window. The thermostat on the wall is useless, as the controls are directly on the unit itself.
The Bathroom
The bathroom was that of a typical Hampton by Hilton hotel property.
A mirror was installed on the wall above the vanity, which included a large dispenser bottle of ZERO/o body lotion on the right, a box of tissues, and two rolls of toilet paper. Adjacent to the vanity was an adequate number of assorted sizes of towels with a toilet below them.
A Conair electric hair dryer was mounted on the wall to the left of the vanity and had a small green light which was bright enough to be a night light. A bar of ZERO/o soap, a packet of makeup remover wipes, and a wash cloth which was wrapped in a hand towel were on the left side of the sink.
The adjustable shower head constantly leaked water into the bath tub — which otherwise had great water pressure and temperature. The curved shower rod helped to keep the shower curtain from sticking to the wet skin of my body. Two convenient small shelves were permanently mounted on the walls surrounding the bath tub.
Installed in the wall above the bath tub were bulk dispensers of conditioner, shampoo, and shower gel — all manufactured by ZERO/o with naturally KIND formulation. I do not know what that means — but I do like the scents of these amenities and how well they seem to work for me in ensuring that I am clean.
Two sets of hooks are in the bathroom: one set was mounted on the wall; and the other set was mounted on the door. I cannot overstate how important hooks are in a bathroom when one wants to keep towels or clothing nearby and clean. I personally use hooks almost every time I stay at a hotel property.
The View
The view from the room generally shows the intersection of Beach Boulevard and Hodges Boulevard and much of the retail businesses that are near that intersection — including the top and rear of Greystone Plaza, which is an older strip mall that has seen better days. While this hotel property is convenient to restaurants, fuel stations, and retail stores, it also illustrates an annoyance.
Beach Boulevard is also United States Highway 90; and therefore also carries a lot of traffic. The hotel property is located on a small piece of land near — but not at — the intersection; so only one entrance to the hotel property exists which also serves as an exit. When leaving the hotel property, drivers can only go westbound on Beach Boulevard, as no way exists to cross the median to access the eastbound lanes — which are necessary to get to the Mayo Clinic. Worse is that no U-turn is permitted at the traffic light — so to get from the hotel property to the Mayo Clinic, the fastest way is to:
- Immediately cross five lanes of traffic to go westbound on Beach Boulevard
- Wait a long time at the traffic light to turn left onto Hodges Boulevard and head south
- Wait a long time at another traffic light to use the first U-turn available to head north on Hodges Boulevard
- Turn right onto Beach Boulevard to head eastbound — and even though a dedicated lane is available to turn right, expect to wait until traffic is light enough to continue driving on Beach Boulevard
The Mayo Clinic is only 3.4 miles away from the hotel property and the drive can take as few as nine minutes — but the combination of the traffic pattern and heavy volume can render the trip to be as long as 20 minutes. Although this is not a major inconvenience, it is an annoyance — especially when a family member or friend is a patient of the Mayo Clinic who needs treatment and is the main concern on the mind of the driver.
The Fitness Room and Indoor Swimming Pool
Energize your mood and elevate your strength in the fitness room, which includes a treadmill, large mirrors, windows, cycling machines, and a flat screen television…
…as well as assorted weights, a bench, and medicine balls.
Remember that if you ever need cold filtered water, you can almost always get some in the fitness room, which usually has a cooler that dispenses either bottled water; or has water that is filtered from the plumbing of the hotel or resort property, as shown in the above photograph.
The fitness room is separate from the indoor swimming pool, which is located directly across the hall on the first floor of the hotel property.
The shallow end of the swimming pool is at a depth of three feet and six inches…
…while the deepest part of the swimming pool is five feet and six inches.
The Rest of the Hotel Property
If you forgot to pack a comb, toothbrush, toothpaste, shower cap, razor, shaving cream, or any other necessities, you can always ask at the front desk — but they were out of toothpaste when I asked for some. A dish of complementary candy was on the front desk — probably in time for Halloween. Also on the front desk was the usual display of snacks that are complimentary to members of the Hilton Honors membership program who earned Diamond or Gold elite level status, which contained a:
- Bottle of water
- Can of Coca-Cola
- Can of Sprite
- Package of Lorna Doone cookies
- Package of Swedish fish candy
- Package of trail mix that was both sweet and salty
A variety of snacks, frozen foods, and beverages are displayed for sale adjacent to the front desk. Assorted sundries are also available for purchase.
The Business Center is equipped with two computers, a printer, a telephone, a box of facial tissues, a paper shredder, and a trash can.
For some bizarre reason, the only office supplies that were available in the Business Center were a couple of yellow highlighter markers and a plethora of clear thumbtacks. No pens, paper clips, or a stapler were anywhere in sight. The plants were real, though.
A stylish and nicely decorated comfortable area where one can relax and watch television is located adjacent to both the front entrance and the breakfast area across from the front desk.
Final Boarding Call
I recommend staying at the Hampton Inn & Suites Jacksonville-Beach Boulevard-Mayo Clinic Area hotel property. It is quite clean, comfortable, reasonably priced, and convenient to the Mayo Clinic — despite the heavy traffic and the inconvenient U-turn that is required to get there.
I paid $545.71 in total for my stay, which includes all taxes and fees for four nights. The room rates were different each night — ranging from $111.20 to $127.20 per night excluding taxes and fees — so that is an average of almost $136.43 per night, which includes all taxes and fees. It is the least expensive lodging option within 3.5 miles of the Mayo Clinic.
Hampton Inn & Suites Jacksonville-Beach Boulevard/Mayo Clinic Area
13733 Beach Boulevard
Jacksonville, Florida, 32224
United States of America
1-904-223-0222
Free parking is available on premises.
All photographs ©2024 by Brian Cohen.
