During my banter with the friendly employees behind the front desk as I was checking in to the Hyatt House Louisville – East hotel property, one of them informed me that the hotel property was the number 1 ranked best breakfast of all Hyatt Houses in America.
Number 1 Ranked Best Breakfast Of All Hyatt Houses In America?!
I stopped what I was doing and took a moment to process that statement. “Did you say that the complimentary breakfast here was ranked number one of all Hyatt Houses in the United States?”
“That’s right”, he replied proudly.
“They actually give awards for that?” I asked.
“Yes”, he reiterated as he pointed down to the part of the front desk which displays the award.
I was in disbelief. I thought he was joking. Sure enough, there was the award in all its glory…
…and not only that, but the hotel property boasts through another sign that “You’re in the top 10% of hotels worldwide” in 2013 as awarded by Travelers’ Choice.
That moment about the award-winning breakfast reminded me of the “award-winning room service” in this short movie starting at 7:14. The entire video is a total of 14 minutes and 13 seconds if you want to watch it below.
Anyway, breakfast is my least favorite meal — but I was looking forward to dining on a breakfast that actually won an award. This must really be some hotel property.
After waking up the next morning, I headed on downstairs for breakfast, which is included in the room rate. Plenty of places were available at which guests could sit and enjoy breakfast — both indoors and outdoors. The entire area appeared to be quite clean.
The entrance to where the food is located in the breakfast area greets guests with assorted hot beverages and condiments for those beverages. Note that the rating from the health department is a nice big green A, which is definitely a good sign of cleanliness.
Guests can have no fewer than three types of omelets custom prepared at the window. I was told that pancakes can also be ordered here. Note the huge tip jar by the bell and the sign at the window. Condiments — including pancake syrup and not maple syrup — were available near the window as well.
The hot items included scrambled eggs, seasoned potatoes, and apple cobbler — none of which looked appetizing. Two round flat pork products were offered as well: sausage patties and Canadian bacon.
I overheard someone who complained that the oatmeal was not real, was too sweet, and much of it was packaged from a weird off brand. I do not eat oatmeal, so I cannot comment on it. The “bagels” were the typical dough balls with a hole in it and not reminiscent of a real bagel.
Also available at this station was white sausage gravy, biscuits, assorted packaged danish, packaged blueberry muffins, hot water, English muffins, bread, an assortment of tea, and assorted toppings.
Another station offered cold hard boiled eggs, assorted dry cereals, packaged blueberry Greek yogurt with no other flavors, a huge bowl of what appeared to be plain yogurt, a huge bowl of cottage cheese, a huge bowl of prepared strawberries in a sugary syrup, milk, apple juice, cranberry juice, orange juice, and assorted condiments. The orange juice had some pulp in it and tasted more “real” than at the breakfast buffets at other similar types of hotel properties — but it was most likely packaged and not freshly squeezed.
Plates and bowls — as well as assorted condiments, a microwave oven, a toaster, napkins, and plastic cutlery were available at another station.
When I went back into the elevator, I noticed a poster which advertised fresh fruit, oatmeal and granola. Was the adjective fresh only for describing the fruit; or was it supposed to be for the oatmeal and granola — thinking about the comment of how the oatmeal was not fresh?
Surprisingly, no fresh fruit was available, either — not even an orange, an apple, or a banana — unless the strawberries, the apple cobbler, and the juices are supposed to count towards that.
Final Boarding Call
As I said earlier in this article, breakfast is my least favorite meal; so take my opinion with a grain of salt — but this complimentary breakfast buffet did not win any awards with me.
I do not like omelets, scrambled eggs, pork sausage, Canadian bacon, cottage cheese, oatmeal, Greek yogurt, or plain yogurt. I was not in the mood for apple cobbler. I did not feel like ordering pancakes or wrestling with a dough ball pretending to be a bagel. All I ate that morning for breakfast were some seasoned potatoes — I did not finish them because they were dry and not very appealing — and a couple of cold hard boiled eggs with a glass of orange juice.
The only way I could think that this breakfast won any award was how the omelets — and, perhaps, the pancakes — were prepared. Breakfasts do not win awards on prepackaged items, of which there were plenty.
One of the best breakfast buffets which I ever had was at the Holiday Inn Vilnius in Lithuania, to give an idea of what I enjoyed for breakfast.
I am sure that what the Hyatt House Louisville – East hotel property offered for breakfast that morning is perfectly lovely for many people…
…just not for me.
All photographs ©2023 by Brian Cohen.
