I understand that hotels wish to encourage social distancing during COVID-19 and the breakfast buffet is unlikely to return anytime soon. But no breakfast at all? How does that make sense?
Something as simple as breakfast at hotels has become an issue during COVID-19.
I’m heading down to San Diego today for a family wedding and wanted to stay overnight. Hyatt has several properties in the San Diego area, though all are closed expect for the Hyatt Regency La Jolla. That’s fine, I thought. I can use a Chase free night cert and the hotel looks very decent.
Even the pool and gym is open, so Augustine could go swimming and I could do my first gym workout in three months.
Sounds great, right?
I was curious about breakfast, though. The family breakfast is a big part of the fun of staying in a hotel and I noticed the hotel had the warning on its homepage:
LIMITED SERVICES – Food Services
A bulletin (.pdf) explained:
Restaurants and bars will reduce seating capacities to allow for a minimum of six feet between each seated group of guests traveling together. Table size will be limited to six guests or less at one table. Buffet options will not be available.
That’s fine. A la carte breakfast is preferred anyway.
I called the hotel to confirm if that was indeed the policy, since California has loosened up quite a bit over the last two weeks and many restaurants have now re-opened.
Surprisingly, I was told that breakfast was not currently served at the hotel. No in-restaurant dining, no takeout, and no room service…
I was told there was a decent place to eat about 10 minutes away by foot and also advised that the dining area of the bar would be open in the afternoon and evening. Coffee would also be available in the lobby.
So odd…no breakfast at all?
No Breakfast, No Stay
Obviously, this is a discretionary stay. Home is only two hours away so I’ll just drive back to LA instead. Had I really needed a place to sleep I could have dealt with no breakfast or stayed at a non-Hyatt property.
But it did surprise me that a full-service, four-star hotel would not offer breakfast at all. It is my understanding, though I haven’t stayed in a hotel in three months, that even limited-service properties are still offering bagged breakfast of pre-packaged items, much like Pizza In Motion received during a recent trip.
CONCLUSION
I’m curious what your breakfast experience has been at full-service properties. Have you been offered a more limited menu or nothing at all? As breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and I greatly enjoy a strong cup of coffee or cappuccino, berries and yogurt, and an omelet, I’ll just avoid discretionary hotel stays until breakfast returns. I’ll sleep better in my own bed anyway…
How about you? Do you care if a hotel offers breakfast?
How does forcing guests to go off property for breakfast make anyone safer? If anything it makes guests less safe. This is obviously a transparent cost cutting measure, nothing else. I’d inform the hotel that you don’t appreciate such nickel and diming, especially given they are violating the non optional promised benefits, and won’t return ever again.
It’s funny you mention the Hyatt at Aventine as I was looking to stay there for a night, but instead I chose to do an Amex FHR overnight at the US Grant a couple days ago. The hotel restaurant, the Grant Grill, was open but hours were limited, only open from (I think it was 7am) til 1pm. Room service was also limited to these hours. During this time you can pick from a pared down menu which consisted of a mix of breakfast and lunch/dinner items and some desserts. I was still able to enjoy a full breakfast in the restaurant and the food and service were still great. Only notable changes were that condiments and salt and pepper were in individual plastic containers, when you are seated you’re asked if you want standard or plastic disposable cutlery, tables were spread apart, and servers wore masks.
Who cares when you can just walk somewhere for a better breakfast ?
For business trips, that usually would mean getting up 20 minutes earlier to an already early schedule
For leisure, I tend to have a packed schedule so being able to have a decent breakfast in the hotel is also critical
Yeah, I earn my Hyatt Globalist & Marriott Platinum partially to get free breakfast. Why bother now?
If you don’t make my breakfast free, comp me something
I have been traveling on business trips since mid-April. Lifetime diamond with Hilton. All travel in Calif and Oregon. Like Matthew, I enjoy my coffee and yogurt in the morning. Early on, the complete shutdown was understandable. But I have seen little improvement over this period of time regarding food service. As the world moves on and opens up, these hotels are lagging way behind.
This week I was in Medford Oregon where all restaurants are open. Not at the Hilton Garden Inn. I pick these properties over Hampton and Homewood because they offer a full hot menu. Have to wonder if labor is an issue. Guess we’ll see if things improve in July when the extended unemployment expires.
In the meantime, breakfast requires stocking up at the store upon arrival.
Stinks! I am not going to any luxury hotel without a breakfast. And I WANT a buffet only if it is good. Not watered down crap
I received a similar notification for an upcoming stay at the Andaz San Diego. However, they are opening up the rooftop bar and on property restaurant at 11am each day. They were quick to offer the 500 point “promotion”. Quite disappointed.
I’m surprised that anyone would consider HR La Jolla a luxury hotel as it’s really nothing special. Lack of dining within hotel properties in SD may be related to the continuing uptick of CV. I think at this time we should find a way to let go of these trivial whines and just be grateful for what we do have.
That hotel is nothing special so probably better you didn’t stay. With the free night certificate a better hotel to stay at in San Diego is Andaz or the GH Manchester is fabulous and if you’re a Globalist they really treat you like a VIP. The manager, Daniel is fabulous and one of the best managers I’ve encountered. Those hotels might not be open yet however and maybe why you decided to stay at Aventine.
I totally agree with you that I expect breakfast to be included. If not then I believe some Hyatt’s will give you some award points back. I’m staying at Grand Hyatt Huntington Beach and although their lounge is closed they said I could get breakfast downstairs in the restaurant and as a Globalist It was free.
1. A Ritz Carlton had a limited room service menu in Miami. Brought after almost two hours in a bag and plastic.
2. A Full service Hilton had a Starbucks open in the lobby only.
3. A Residence Inn offered grab and go. Just cereal and bakery items with coffee to be taken to your room or car.
4. A Marriott Courtyard had nothing. “We are renovating our lobby and social area so all food service is suspended. They directed me to a Starbucks nearby.
5. An Embassy Suites shockingl had the full service free breakfast. I avoided it as everyone was unmasked and milling around the omelette bar. Went to a Starbucks.
6. A Hampton Inn. Grab and go bag and coffee station.
That’s my summary of the past week and my first trip. It’s completely random but consistently limited, other than the Embassy Suites…which was the worst hotel in terms of safety…no shields at desk, staff not wearing masks, and no distancing encouragement to guests.
Surprised that the La Jolla Hyatt did not have something set up with grab and go. That’s the norm now. Wondering if the employee did not communicate properly what the actual was. But still, I am mostly just going to a Starbucks every morning and either brining back to my car or room. After waiting two hours for cold eggs served in a bag at the Ritz Carlton for $400 a night I canceled all the other full service hotels I had booked this month and just going limited hotels with nearby Starbucks for breakfast.
This is exactly the reason why I think the current uptick in the travel industry is a mirage, as I posited in Kyle’s column last Sunday. People getting out this summer are going to realize how much the “new normal” of travel sucks now because of [insert reason here] and decide it’s not worth doing again until CV runs its course.
I don’t care about breakfast, but I know others do, and if this is enough to get you to forget about discretionary travel, can you imagine the complaining from the less experienced?
2 hotel experiences in the past week – One luxury and one limited service:
Inn at Bay Harbor (Marriott Autograph Collection) – Plat breakfast was still a buffet, but servers would plate it for you (i.e. you could ask for omelet, waffles, sausage, fruit, oatmeal, etc) and would bring coffee/juice to your table.
Staybridge Suites: To-go bags in the lobby with fruit, granola bar and water, plus a coffee station (with hand sanitizer next to it).
For luxury hotels that usually would provide something, I would expect some sort of breakfast to be available, but streamlining their offerings a bit in light of everything of everything is understandable.
Hyatt Regency isn’t luxury. It’s a premium brand.
A lot of the COVID stuff is just morphing in to ‘cost cuts’ to save money in a period of low business. We’re personally swearing off ‘full service’ properties until the situation improves for actual delivery of earned elite benefits. Right now they have ‘full service’ prices (not a lot of discounts out there in my experience for hotels that claim to be struggling for business) but little to no services. I might as well pocket my cash.
Here in Europe (Germany and Switzerland) it seems things are a bit better on the breakfast front. Still no buffets, but in the three hotel stays I’ve had in the past two weeks, all offered a regular breakfast, just with most items being brought to the table.
They were not luxury hotels (Westin, Radisson Blu, Courtyard), but they are charging less than half their pre-covid rates.
It is very strange that the gym and pool are open, but the restaurant isn’t (in any capacity).
Obvious cost-cutting under the guise of safety and hygiene theatre. Boycott these nefarious businesses I say.
It seems to me it’s lazy taking advantage of the situation for cost-cutting when there’s no breakfast at all, while most state and local rules where I’ve visited started allowing at least packaged and grab-n-go options weeks ago. But fortunately for me, this Home2 Suites (MKE Airport) offers a comparatively generous “limited” breakfast of many items the staff individually pre-packages overnight (while gloved and masked) plus even, upon request) the microwavable breakfast sandwiches guests can go nuke back in their kitchenettes.
Not only was b’fast cancelled, the airport Days Inn also discontinued their free shuttle service. All these cuts were in the name of COVID. Most of the hotels by ATL airport have pooled their shuttle services. sadly, the reservations agent wasn’t informed and did not convey the information when I made the booking. I am not happy I have to dish out more money for an Uber ride for services that was advertised.
I have been staying in Italy for a couple of weeks and everywhere are there are changes due to coronavirus. I’m disappointed in general in the breakfast here which tends to be just a quick espresso and a croissant but now the tenancy is to give you a voucher to go to a bar to obtain such items which is holding satisfactory in my opinion.
This has actually made me consider using airbnb far more because one of the points of travelling is to actually meet people and interact at breakfast.
I personally chalk it up to not only cost savings for any hotel as well as partial laziness.
They no longer have an expense for breakfast (a la carte items presents reduced cost), they have less staff required and so on, so forth.
Frankly, being a stickler for cleanliness long before covid I believe and expect that hotels should have been maintaining a high level of sanitation and cleanliness covid or not. So nothing should really have changed much for hotels.
They could easily place hand sanitizer stations near buffets and have food shields. Problem solved. Eat at your own risk.
They are twisting this to their financial benefit like so many others are as well. Pathetic.