While I was on a business trip recently, I experienced what I consider to be the most ridiculous hotel breakfast service that I have ever experienced.
The Most Ridiculous Hotel Breakfast Service That I Have Ever Experienced.
Large signs on supports within the dining area instruct patrons to order at the table with their smartphone. Patrons are not greeted to the dining area by a human being. No one guides anyone to where to sit. No physical menus are available.
Only a few people were in the dining room on the morning that I was there. The dining room looked clean; but the ambiance and decor were somewhat dated.
The dining area itself was rather spacious, with plenty of room in different — and, sometimes somewhat eclectic — sections where people seat themselves.
Along with plastic bottles of ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise which were upside down, cutlery wrapped in napkins were in baskets on each table.
Deciding what to eat was unpleasant at best, as everyone who accessed the menu on their portable electronic devices was greeted with uncontrollably constant skipping and shaking, which resulted in a difficult time in both reading the limited items that were featured — and actually ordering them.
A robot appeared near the entrance and stopped at the podium where a human being would typically be greeting customers.
The robot had a tray of food which it brought from the kitchen. It briefly played music to alert a human being to complete the delivery of the food from the podium to the table.
Why is a robot needed to bring food out from the kitchen when it does not even complete the delivery to the diners themselves? Perhaps that might explain why only a few people were in the restaurant during the prime hours of breakfast.
One of the people who was seated at my table was given a dirty mug for his coffee. He had to wait until our food was brought to our table by a human being for him to ask to have his mug replaced with a clean one. The food was okay and nothing about which to rave.
Hot sauce was requested at the table. A human being brought a large bottle of Tabasco which was almost empty. Someone could have at least expended the effort to either refill this bottle — and perhaps cleaned the crust of old dried hot sauce from around the cap — or brought a newer bottle.
Final Boarding Call
If a hotel property is part of what is purportedly a “full-service” brand, then the entire experience needs to be full service — including the restaurant and bar area…
…but to offer an impersonal experience that is both limited in service and rather strange in general almost suggests to me that the hotel property simply “gave up” on the concept of full service. No self-service buffet of any kind was offered as an alternative. I do not even understand the purpose of the robot. Does it really save the hotel property money versus an employee who can take a few extra minutes to go into the kitchen and retrieve the food?
In my opinion, the breakfast at hotel properties which are part of the Hampton Inn and Home2 Suites brands — as only two of many examples — far exceeds the abysmal experience in this restaurant, which is located inside of the Hilton Omaha. At least a waffle is available at hotel properties that are a part of those brands.
This hotel property has no executive lounge; so no other dining option is offered…
All photographs ©2023 by Brian Cohen.
